Final development

Behind the Magic Wall

Fabrizio Laurenti | Italy

LOGLINE

We could hear the sound of an outdoor cinema.

Synopsis:

This film is a tribute to cinema as a symbolic but also a physical place. A journey in search of lost cinema theaters and the little-known figure of the film rojectionist. We will be guided by the memories of those who spent years in the projection booth and the testimony of film directors particularly fond of pre-digital cinema such as Tornatore, Sorrentino and Wenders. The magic wall is the one that separates the audience in the autitorium from the mechanical heart of the projected cinema. The light that came from behind that wall is relentlessly fading until nothing will be left but a memory. Before the light beyond the magic wall fades out completely and only darkness remains in the auditorium, we want to celebrate it with this film.

Expected running: 60’
Screenplay: Fabrizio Laurenti
Editing: Angelo Musciagna e Fabrizio Laurenti
Cinematography: Yari Marcelli
Production: Istituto Luce-Cinecittà
Producer: Maura Cosenza
Estimated budget: € 150.000
Financing in place: € 45.000
Gap financing: € 105.000
Looking for: co-production, commission, distribution
Shooting: 14/06/2021
End of shooting: 14/10/2021

Director’s Note:

Growing up in pre-digital cinema we believe that cinema on film is not destined to disappear due to digital. As vinyl is back in vogue after the dominance of the CD and mp3, the film retains its aesthetic and poetic sense that makes it irreplaceable. In our film, the very particular bond that is established between the cabin operator and the projector gives rise to a reflection on the very origins of cinema and the uncertainty of its future the way we know it.

BIOGRAPHY

Fabrizio Laurenti has worked in feature films, TV and documentaries in Italy and the U.S..
He directed several horror films including “La casa 4 – Witchcraft”, and the TV series “Voci notturne” for Rai. His documentaries include “Mussolini’s Secret” for Rai, “Mussolini’s Body”, “Life as a B movie: Piero Vivarelli” which opened at the Venice Film Festival and winner of the Nastro d’Argento 2020. His most recent work is “Stolen kisses, homosexual loves in Mussolini’s Italy”.

Angelo Musciagna, as well as having been a cinema projectionist in his youth, has held various technical positions related to pre and post digital cinema. As an editor for the Istituto Luce-Cinecittà he has more than twenty documentaries to his credit.

PRODUCTION Istituto Luce-Cinecittà | PRODUCER Maura Cosenza | CONTACTS m.cosenza@cinecittaluce.it | 3207678670 | www.cinecitta.com | via Tuscolana, 1055, 00173, Roma (RM)

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