A feature-length documentary dedicated to one of the great composers of the twentieth century and a short film exploring the relationship between memory, objects and emotions: Camilla Cattabriga CCS is at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival with Walter Fasano’s Nino – Un film su Nino Rota and Giulia Cosentino’s Se mai le cose. The films were presented respectively in Venice Open – Out of Competition, in the Film on Films section, and at the Venice International Critics’ Week, in the SIC@SIC competition.
Born in Bologna in 1995, Camilla Cattabriga graduated from DAMS and completed her studies at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia – Scuola Nazionale di Cinema in 2019, specialising in cinematography. She is also co-founder, editor and creative director of Eki, a biannual magazine dedicated to light. Her most recent work includes Giovanni Tortorici’s Ketticè, shot on 35 mm, which was presented in the International Competition at the latest edition of the Locarno Film Festival and released in Italian cinemas on 3 September.
NINO – UN FILM SU NINO ROTA
by Walter Fasano
10 September, 7.30 pm – Sala Perla – Press and Industry
10 September, 10.00 pm – Sala Darsena – Press and Industry
11 September, 2.45 pm – Sala Grande – Public and all pass holders
12 September, 4.15 pm – Sala Casinò – Public and all pass holders
The cinematography for this documentary was shot in three separate blocks: one by Leonardo Mirabilia CCS, one by Clarissa Cappellani AIC and one by Camilla Cattabriga CCS.
Directed by Walter Fasano, Nino – Un film su Nino Rota paints a portrait of a composer whose extraordinary career spanned the twentieth century. Known throughout the world for his unforgettable film scores, Nino Rota was also a highly respected composer of concert music. Through a free, associative narrative, the documentary traces the personal, artistic and spiritual relationships that shaped his life. Photographs, archive material and personal accounts tell the story of Rota’s precocious talent, his studies with Ildebrando Pizzetti, Alfredo Casella and Rosario Scalero, and his encounter with cinema, for which he composed around 150 scores. From his pivotal relationship with Federico Fellini, which began with Lo sceicco bianco and continued with films such as La strada, Le notti di Cabiria, La dolce vita, 8½, Amarcord and Prova d’orchestra, to his collaborations with Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli, and the international success he achieved with Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, the film captures the complexity of an artist wholly devoted to music.
The documentary is narrated by Sting and features contributions from, among others, Vince Mendoza, Alexandre Desplat, Caterina D’Amico, Mino Gabriele, Joe Lovano, Park Chan-wook, Michele Marvulli and Rita Pavone.
Written and edited by Walter Fasano, the film has cinematography by Clarissa Cappellani, Camilla Cattabriga CCS and Leonardo Mirabilia CCS. The music is, of course, Nino Rota’s original work, while sound is by Davide Favargiotti, Gianluigi Gallo and Antonio Stella.
The 115-minute documentary is produced by Be Water Film, Sugar Play, Adler Entertainment and I Diavoli, with Marco Morabito and Walter Fasano, in collaboration with Rai Documentari. Italian distribution is handled by Be Water Film and Adler Entertainment, while international sales are handled by Global Constellation.
Speaking about NINO, Camilla Cattabriga told us:
«Working with Walter Fasano on the documentary Nino was an experience of rare intensity, in which cinematography had to become a form of listening, memory and visual translation of a world of sound. From the preparation stage onwards, my dialogue with Walter was central to understanding what was essential to convey about Nino Rota and his work: not an illustrated chronology, but a free, associative portrait in which music, images and words could intertwine organically. The direction we took was that of a cinema that breathes through archive footage, photographs and documents, but also through film as a living, present material. To respond to this vision, we adopted a hybrid language, shooting some of the material on 16 mm and some digitally. This choice arose from a very specific need on Walter’s part: to create a visual fabric in which past and present could enter into dialogue not only through content, but also through form. The 16 mm brought with it grain, materiality and a response to light that creates a natural continuity with the period material; digital, on the other hand, offered flexibility, immediacy and the possibility of capturing more intimate and spontaneous moments without interrupting the emotional flow of the narrative. The look we sought was based on light that reveals without dramatising: light that accompanies the music and the spoken word, leaving room for Rota’s inner complexity and his relationship with cinema. The combination of film and digital was conceived precisely to support this idea: two languages that do not oppose one another, but complement each other, creating a single visual universe in which document and fiction, memory and the present, can coexist without perceptible breaks. The result is a visual language that does not seek to impose itself, but to support: cinematography that listens to the music and the spoken word, accompanying the viewer on a journey through time and emotion while preserving the strength and delicacy of Nino Rota’s world.».
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Rental: D-Vision Movie People
Camera Operators: Camilla Cattabriga, Lorenzo De Marco
1st Assistant Camera: Lorenzo De Marco, Aluna Orano
2nd Assistant Camera / Loader: Marta Natoli
Gaffers: Callum Begley, Simone Gambelli
Key Grip: Alessio Castiglia
Camera: ARRIFLEX SR3
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Lenses: Zeiss S16 Zoom, Zeiss S16 Ultra Prime Set
Colourist: Alessandro Pelliccia
Laboratory: Augustus Color
SE MAI LE COSE
by Giulia Cosentino
9 September, 9.00 am – Sala Perla – Press and Industry
10 September, 1.45 pm – Sala Perla – Public aged 14 and over and all pass holders, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers
11 September, 7.15 pm – Sala Corinto – Public aged 14 and over and all pass holders
Written and directed by Giulia Cosentino, Se mai le cose (If Things Could Ever Talk) is in competition at the Venice International Critics’ Week as part of SIC@SIC, the section dedicated to Italian short films.
On a winter morning in Catania, Rachele returns to the flat where she lived with Paolo to collect her belongings. As she fills the boxes, the objects seem to find a voice, bringing back memories of the relationship that has just ended. Their emotional value evokes the ancient tradition of the bridal trousseau and opens up a generational reflection on the meaning we now attach to things, the home and romantic relationships.
The cast includes Astrid Casali, Emanuele Linfatti and Francesca Melluso. Cinematography is by Camilla Cattabriga CCS, editing by Massimo Da Re, production design by Marta Morandini and costumes by Loredana Buscemi. The music is by HRTBRKR, aka Simone Valentini, while sound is by Fabio Vassallo, Marzia Cordò and Giancarlo Rutigliano.
The 20-minute short film is produced by Paolo Benzi for Okta Film, and Jessica Cressy and Frédéric Dubreuil for Envie de Tempête Productions. International sales are handled by Lights On.
Speaking about SE MAI LE COSE, Camilla Cattabriga told us:
‘Working with Giulia on the short film Se mai le cose was a profound and stimulating experience. The creative synergy that developed on set, based on mutual listening and the constant sharing of ideas and impressions, was fundamental in shaping the film’s visual world and, consequently, its atmosphere. From the preparation stage onwards — which played a crucial role in getting to know Giulia and understanding what it was essential for her to recognise and find reflected in the film — we began exploring visual and narrative references together. Among the many references we looked at, some were particularly significant, such as Rohmer’s Full Moon in Paris or Scenes from a Marriage by Bergman, which helped define the project’s emotional and formal direction. The look we wanted to pursue was a luminous atmosphere inspired by certain films of the 1970s: a light that reveals and shows, without creating secrets within the image. It was a kind of light that I perceived as ‘non-contemporary’, which made it particularly fascinating and enjoyable to explore. Supporting this aesthetic choice was the decision to shoot on 16 mm, which proved perfectly consistent with our approach to light, allowing the frame to be filled not only with light but also with texture and life. From the outset, this visual language was conceived to intertwine with archive material and photographs: the footage needed to enter into dialogue with these pre-existing images, creating continuity between past and present, memory and fiction, without ever interrupting the emotional flow of the narrative. The choice of framing also grew out of an in-depth dialogue with Giulia. We looked for essential compositions that could nevertheless contain the actress’s performance, leaving her free to inhabit the space and use gesture in an autonomous, organic way, so that body and movement could exist within the same visual universe as the photographs and archive material incorporated into the film».
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Rental: D-Vision Movie People
Camera Operator: Camilla Cattabriga
1st Assistant Camera: Jacopo Giordano Cottarelli
2nd Assistant Camera / Loader: Matteo Calvano
Gaffer: Callum Begley
Camera: ARRIFLEX SR3
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Lenses: ZEISS Ultra Prime, ZEISS 11–110 mm Zoom
Colourist: Alessio Zanardi
Laboratory: Augustus Color
