“I feel like an actor who has to endure a role rather than perform it,”
explains Gaetano Renda from the Cinema Centrale in Turin. The Covid
emergency has highlighted the fragility of the Italian cultural system:
cinema and theatre represent an important industry but are sectors that
are often neglected by the country’s institutions. As well as
substantial economic losses, the jobs of the many professions such as
technicians, administrators and artists are at risk. Serious questions
remain concerning the potential long-term effects, which could include a
desertification of entertainment, the loss of a nationwide presence or
even untamed deregulation. Cinema and theatre, in fact, do not
perform only an artistic function, but also a social one: their venues
are often bastions of creativity, coexistence and integration within
communities. “We have transformed this phase into a moment of
experimentation,” explains Corinne Baroni of the Teatro Coccia, “we are
working with a perspective of playing with technological innovations,
with the language, with a multidisciplinary form. Perhaps this is the
solution: involving the public and guiding them towards greater
interaction.”
An interview in Italian by Mario Calabresi to Lorenzo Ventavoli with my photos: https://mariocalabresi.com/le-stagioni-del-cinema/