The Skylark
Synopsis:
The reason why the Pinacoteca di Brera is still a ‘living’ museum today is because of a volcanic, countercultural woman who assumed its direction during the Second World War: Fernanda Wittgens. Because of her stature she was called the ‘lark’: small but capable, in flight, of tripling her size. With courage, Fernanda saved both the masterpieces of art and the lives in danger of many Jews from the war. The film, to be shot over the arc of a year, is a witness for the last period of the directorship that has been completely inspired by Fernanda and her human lessons. Fernanda’s life thus becomes an occasion to show the complex machine that Brera has become during the last years.
Producer: Marco Malfi Chindemi
Director: Mattia Colombo, Francesco Clerici
Nation: Italy
Estimated length: 80 minutes
Screenplay: Eleonora Mazzoni, Laura Sudiro
Editing: Valentina Andreoli
Photography: Jacopo Loiodice
Production: Rossofilm s.r.l.
Budget forecast: 200.000 €
Funding confirmed: 50.000 €
Missing resources: 150.000 €
Objective: CO-PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, PRE-SALES
Shooting start: February 20th, 2023
Planned end of shooting: December 31th, 2023
Director’s notes:
Two great masters of cinema have approached the narrative of a museum: Philibert and Wiseman. Our film crosses observational documentary and historical documentary reconstruction; and it does through powerful archive images that dialogue with the present. Scenes of what happens in Brera today mingle with the main events of Fernanda’s life, told through the words of her very passionate letters. We thus discover Fernanda’s beginnings as an assistant, the war, the reconstruction and the successes of the activities that made Brera famous worldwide.
Production notes:
The film is inspired by the book by Giovanna Ginex, L’ALLODOLA, it makes use of her scientific contribution, and on the support of the Pinacoteca di Brera and its superintendent. The project received the support of MIBAC and was recently submitted to the attention of NEXO and shortly with Istituto Luce Cinecittà for the acquisition of archival materials.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY
Mattia Colombo
The documentary Alberi Che Camminano, written with Erri De Luca and distributed by Feltrinelli, was in competition at the Festival dei Popoli, Sundance and the Trento Film Festival. I Want To Sleep With You, an Italian-French production, won the Corso Salani Award. Il Passo produced by RAI Cinema was in competition at Visions du Réel. Il Posto produced by ARTE, finalist for the David di Donatello, candidate for the Nastri d’Argento, was in competition at Visions du Reél, Hot Docs, DMZ, Festival dei Popoli and won the MFN Award in Milan. The documentary Sconosciuti Puri, MFN award, finalist at the Solinas Prize, Audience Award at Biografilm and Prix du Jury Interreligieux at Visions du Réel, was presented at Hot Docs and Karlovy Vary.
Francesco Clerici
Il Gesto delle mani, his feature-length documentary, was presented at the Berlinale 2015, FORUM section, winning the FIPRESCI international critics award. His works include AR works, short films, books, experimental films and documentaries, they have been presented at festivals all over the world (London Film Festival, Busan IFF, Viennale, RIDM Montreal, Dok.fest, Leipzig, Sarajevo film festival and many others), and in venues such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the BFI in London, the Cineteca Mexicana, the Documentary Cinema Center in Moscow, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, the Barbican, the MART in Rovereto, the Palazzo Reale in Milan. In 2018, the Grenoble film library dedicated a retrospective to his work.
PRODUCTION Rossofilm s.r.l. | PRODUCER Marco Fabio Malfi Chindemi | CONTACTS marco@rossofilm.com
Rossofilm is an independent production company that moves between cinema and documentaries, advertising and theatre.
- L’ULTIMO SPEGNE LA LUCE short film by Tommaso Santambrogio, 2021, selection at Settimana della Critica di Venezia e candidade at David di Donatello.
- GENITORI QUASI PERFETTI, co-production film by Laura Chiossone, 2019.
- MILLE FOIS RECOMMENCER co-production international documentary by Daniela De Felice, 2019
- LEONARDO DA VINCI. IL GENIO A MILANO, executive production documentary by Luca Lucini, 2015-2016
- TRA CINQUE MINUTI IN SCENA production film byLaura Chiossone, 2013
- PER IL TEMPO CHE RESTA, production documentary by Laura Chiossone, 2012