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For the first time in Hong Kong, in collaboration with THY LAB, we are proud to present a Retrospective on the movies of renowned Italian film director Silvano Agosti, founder of the famous ‘Blue Cinema’ (Cinema Azzurro) in Rome.
A selection of films will be screened, and original chairs from the theatre recently closed after four decades will be transported to THY LAB theatre to continue its legacy.
This event is part of the Italia Mia Festival.
Bio
Silvano Agosti graduated from national film school in Rome in 1962. He was awarded the Ciak d’Oro as the best student by the Italian Republic President. With the scholarship obtained thanks to this award, Agosti chose to go to Moscow to the State Film Institution of the Soviet Union to specialize in editing, while studying the work of Sergej Ėjzenštejn. In 1967 Agosti made his directorial debut with the film Il Giardino delle Delizie, with music composed by Ennio Morricone. In the following decades, Agosti has worked as a cinematographic artisan, curating scripts, directing, taking care of lighting, scenography, cinematography, and the editing of all his films.
In the 1970s he produced Il Pianeta Azzurro, Franco Piavoli’s film debut, by gifting his 35mm film camera to the young unknown director. The final movie was acclaimed in Venice in 1982. Agosti tried to distribute the film in Rome but found a lack of interest from cinema operators. He, therefore, screened it in a porn cinema theatre for months, until he finally opened his cinema theatre, Blue Cinema “Cinema Azzurro”, in honor of the film title, and operated it until 2020, when it finally closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Programme
15 November | 7:45pm
Il Giardino delle delizie (Garden Of Delights)
A ceremony. A wedding night. A hotel room. A leaking toilet. A man and a woman…and another woman. Memories surface, fears that arise. The first hours of marriage, the beginning of hell.
22 November | 7:45pm
Il pianeta azzurro (The Blue Planet)
The documentary features the passage of time in different dimensions illustrated by biological evolution, the changing seasons and the everyday moments of human life.
22 November | 9:45pm
Uova di garofano (Sweet War, Farewell)
When Silvano revisits his childhood home for the first time in years, he is soon overwhelmed by memories of the last days of World War II. This story is based on director Silvano Agosti’s autobiographical novel.