Italian genius: memory and invention. Hundreds of interviews and stories of the Italian genius, in all its expressions, have been collected through the language of cinema thanks to the national project Italian genius under the stars, promoted by Generali Italia and created in collaboration with Old Cinema. The initiative was created to enhance the creativity and genius loci of our country: that unique imprinting that the world has always recognized us.
From May to July 2017, with a Cinetour in seven cities in Central-Southern Italy, Genialità Italiana transformed squares and public parks into open-air cinemas and, with a crew and a tam-tam on social networks and on the web, were collected in a documentary film the interviews and instant videos with the best stories of innovation and creativity.
In the frame of the 74th Venice International Film Festival, in collaboration with Luce Cinecittà, this project was presented today, between a local dimension and digital storytelling, which won over 5 thousand people. On this occasion, the trailer of the docufilm (15 minutes) was screened as a preview, a brief window on the collective story created in four months of on-the-road searches and spontaneous reports in digital format. And among hundreds of interviews collected, the three most beautiful stories were awarded.
Marco Sesana, Country Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Generali Italia said: “Knowing how to recognise, value and support talent is part of the spirit of Generali Italia. We have created Genialità Italiana sotto le stelle to enhance creativity, bring out the best talent stories of our country and at the same time bring people closer to culture, fundamental ingredients to also contribute to the development of our territory, starting from Central-Southern Italy ”.
The great directors Gianni Amelio, Edoardo De Angelis and Mimmo Calopresti took part in the appointment, who on this occasion received the award as ambassador of Italian genius.
In addition to the directors awarded on this occasion, other great names in Italian cinema such as Giovanni Veronesi, Sergio Rubini and Antonella Stefanucci took part in the Cinetour and embraced the entire project as ambassadors. The initiative's originality and scope were also shared by Pupi Avati and Roberta Torre: all filmmakers and artists who represent Italian cinematographic genius around the world.
In the trailer of the docufilm, there are the three most significant stories awarded today in Venice: Alessandra Farris, who in 2014 with her start-up "IntendiMe" invented a universal sound detector, a hardware and software system for deaf people, already winner of the "Popularity Award" Woman of the Year 2017; the young Neapolitan chef Giancarlo Tamburrino, who demonstrates the quality of the fish and its preparations with direct Facebook from the fish market and his restaurant in Brianza; Nicola Benedetto, entrepreneur and councilor for infrastructure of the Basilicata region, who in 2015 recovered an ancient steam factory born in 1884, restarting some local artisan productions.
The stages of the Cinetour
Naples (May 19-20), Palermo (May 26-27), Cosenza (June 9-10), Cagliari (June 16-17), Pescara (June 23-24), Taranto (July 7-8), Matera ( 14-15 July): these are the stages of the Cinetour, a journey through real places and on the Internet.
In every city, a "Cinema Paradiso", recreated in a square or in a public park, has re-established the relationship between citizens, places and cinemas, and has allowed the public to meet award-winning directors and to attend 21 screenings with wireless headphones. author, including great successes, cult and animated masterpieces, all inspired by the interweaving of genius and local identity. But that's not all: every city has turned into a set. Stage after stage, the project team has unearthed pearls of genius, the heart of Italy that pulsates and reaches its goals. She took to the streets and entered homes, companies and laboratories, interviewing artists, administrators, entrepreneurs, startuppers and "geniuses next door". At the same time, on the official website www.genialitaitaliana.generali.it, all Italians were able to upload their own video made with a video camera, smartphone or tablet, and thus share their story of genius until 1 August to participate in the selection for the documentary film.
Accompanied by the hashtag #geniality, Italian genius under the stars is a first multiplier of positive and unpublished images of Italy, between creativity and new entrepreneurship. The feedback from social media to the project was also positive.
“Italian genius was an incubator of ideas and a spin-off in the field – says Ambra Craighero, founder of Old Cinema – which has generated a new link between cinema, the territories and a leading company like Generali Italia. It was a pyrotechnic journey of emotions and encounters with artists, combined with the discovery of how genius is nestled on the road, often hidden".
“The award of Italian genius under the stars makes me particularly happy” says Edoardo De Angelis, six David di Donatello in 2017 for Indivisibili, guest of the Cinetour in Naples on May 19, “because our genius is above all a sense of adaptation to difficult situations and adverse: a tough resistance that never stops seeing beyond the obstacle”.
“I experience this acknowledgment of Italian Genius as a reward for research, knowledge, and an encouragement for creativity and the strength to do new and out-of-game things”, comments Mimmo Calopresti, master of documentary and masterpieces such as I prefer the noise of the sea. “The secret of genius and its exportability is just the opposite of global: the trump card is the local, not only with food and the territory, but also with cinema. Conversely, it is the average product that goes into crisis”.
