Photographic exhibition "Mario Magajna and Trieste of the cinema"

Description

Photographic exhibition dedicated to cinema in Trieste through the shots of the historic photojournalist for the "Primorski dnevnik." The opening is Tuesday the 14th at 6:00 pm, followed by screenings of "Ernesto" by Umberto Saba and "Senilità" by Italo Svevo. The exhibition, free admission, will be open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm until May 31st. The extensive archive of Mario Magajna (1916–2007), historic photojournalist for the "Primorski dnevnik," the daily newspaper of Slovenians in Italy, also contains a collection of approximately one hundred photographs dedicated to cinema "made" in Trieste. Portraits of Claudia Cardinale, Silvana Mangano, Rosanna Schiaffino, as well as Liana Orfei and Maria Schell, reveal the photographer's talent and the allure of the film stars who passed through Trieste. The exhibition retraces the sets built in and around the city between 1957 and the early 1980s, as well as actual photographic "sequences," such as those taken during the filming of Veljko Bulajić's Vlak bez voznog reda (1959) and Mauro Bolognini's Senilità (1962). Through documentary images and backstage shots of famous and now-forgotten films, a true visual narrative unfolds, accompanied by excerpts from the press of the time ("Primorski dnevnik" and "Il Piccolo"). The opening evening on April 14th begins at 6:00 PM with the opening of the exhibition in the atrium of the Casa del Cinema, followed by an aperitif at the Teatro Miela bar. The evening continues with two free screenings of films directed by Mario Magajna: at 6:30 pm, Salvatore Samperi's Ernesto (1979), based on Umberto Saba's novel of the same name, will be screened, starring Martin Halm and Michele Placido—an intimate and courageous film that brings to life early twentieth-century Trieste through the lens of one of Italy's greatest twentieth-century poets. At 8:30 pm, Mauro Bolognini's Senilità (1962), loosely based on Italo Svevo's masterpiece, will be screened, starring Anthony Franciosa, Claudia Cardinale, Betsy Blair, and Philippe Leroy. This film elegantly and melancholically captures the tormented bourgeois world of Emilio Brentani, an emblematic figure in Trieste literature. These two films, rarely seen at the cinema, offer a glimpse into the relationship between the great literature of Trieste and Italian cinema.

Organized by:

Associazione Casa del Cinema di Trieste, in collaborazione con Alpe Adria Cinema - Trieste Film Festival