LIAS Film Series: "Operai, Contadini"
Wednesday, January 14th, 7 pm | SCALA Arthouse Cinema | free admission
14. Jan
This screening is part of the LIAS Film Series in cooperation with SCALA Programmkino. Each month, a curated selection of international films addressing cultural and social issues is presented, accompanied by introductions and discussions.
Date: Wednesday, 14 January, 7 p.m.
Location: SCALA Arthouse Cinema | Apothekenstr. 17 | 21335 Lüneburg
Introduction with Barbara Ulrich Straub and Egidijus Mardosas (LIAS Fellow).
In tranquil natural surroundings, Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub stage the unconventionally told fiction of a community attempting to rebuild itself at the dawn of the post-World War II era.
Elio Vittorini's novel/novella "The Women of Messina" was published in 1964. The directors turned it into a kind of choral work and gave their actors stage directions to recite it in the hills of Tuscany. The result is the story of a community of fascists and communists in the ruins of post-war Italy. They try to leave the pain of war behind them and find answers to the hardships of life. The narrative focuses on the relationships and everyday activities that bring this community together and which they record in a diary.
Operai, Contadini was created in cooperation with the Teatro Municipale Francesco di Bartolo in Buti and ties in with the theatre tradition of the region. Workers play their roles as amateur actors and, in their parts, question their connection to the characters in Vittorini's story. The result is a text and body fabric in Straub-Huillet's transmedial fiction of community life, which does not present concrete proposals but can inspire imaginations of alternative working and living conditions.
Free admission
Italy/France 2001 • Directors: Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub • 123 min • French original with English subtitles
