Story for an empty theatre
STORY FOR AN EMPTY THEATRE, a film by Aleksandr Balagura and Cesare Bedognè
Country: Italy, Greece
Runtime: 57 mins
Genre: Documentary / Experimental / Feature
"This film narrates an intense story of love, disease and death, inspired by the autobiographical novel “Beyond the Blue”, by the Italian photographer and writer Cesare Bedognè. Through this cinematic journey, we are led to the inner depths of the photographic image, the very stuff cinema is made of. Gelatin silver pictures merge thus with cinematic shots, abandoning their seemingly static form: they dissolve or slowly take shape, as if still under the action of a developer in the darkroom, gradually revealing different layers of reality". (from a text by Venanzio del Mare)
Filmmakers
Aleksandr Balagura was born in Russia. He graduated from Kiev State University, Department of History and Social Sciences and became a director’s assistant at the Ukrainian Documentary Film Studio, Kiev. Since 1989, he has directed 20 documentaries which have been screened at many international film festivals, and settled in Genoa, Italy, in 1998.
For the last few years, Italian-born Cesare Bedogné has lived in Greece where he began writing. He has published four collections of poems and short stories to date. His first, autobiographical novel “Oltre l’Azzurro” (“Beyond the Blue”) was published in 2012 by ABao AQu. This novel and the author’s photographs were the basis of a theatrical performance, produced by Bismantova Theatre and by the Institute of Music and Liturgy of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Afterwards, Cesare Bedogné together with the Russian film director Alexandr Balagura, worked on a film version of the show, entitled “Story for an Empty Theatre”, which has been selected for screening by several prestigious international film festivals.
Best Experimental Film, Festival del Nuovo Cinema di Alghero, Italy
Best Experimental Film, New Renaissance Film Festival Amsterdam 2018, the Netherlands
Certificate of Merit (Best Experimental Film ex-aequo) , Great Indian Film and Literature Festival (GIFLIF 2016)
Best Experimental Film, Calcutta International Cult Film Festival (November 2016 edition)
Best Feature Documentary, Maracay International Film Festival 2017 (Venezuela)
Best Experimental Film, SIFF (Switzerland International Film Festival 2017)
Best Italian Documentary, Roma Cinema DOC (September 2017 edition)
Certificate of Excellence - Best Editing Award, 6th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival, 2017
Kodiak Award, Alaska International Film Festival 2018
Innuendo Film Festival, Special Mention of the Jury (Milano, 2018)
Best Experimental Film, Eastern NC Film Festival (USA)
The film has also been selected for: London Greek Film Festival 2017 (UK), Festival Internazionale del Cinema Documentario Marcellino de Baggis, Mostra del Cinema di Taranto (Italy), International New York Film Festival 2018, Madrid Art Film Festival 2017, Festival Internacional de Cine 2017 (Buenos Aires), West Side Mountains DOC Film Festival (Greece), London International Motion Pictures Awards (UK, 2019), The Hague Global Cinema Festival (2019), Intimalente Film Festival (Italy), New Wave Motion Film Festival (Hong Kong), Blow Up Arthouse Film Festival (Chicago, USA), Chhatrapati Shivaji International Film Festival (Pune, India), Canada's World International Film Festival 2017 (Nomination Best Italian Film), MedFF (Siracusa, Italy), IIPMF (Ancona, Italy), , 1st FICCSUR, Southern Cone International Film Festival (Valparaiso, Chile), Gulf of Naples Independent Film Festival 2017 (Italy), Stockholm Independent Film Festival (Sweden), MAYKOP International Film festival (RU), Hope Film Awards (USA), Wirral International Film Festival (UK), "Disappear Here" Film Festival (Ireland)), Imaginarium Independent Film Festival (USA), Miami Independent Film Festival, German United Film Festival, iii FICMARC - Caribbean Sea International Film Festival 2018, Russian Film Festival (Moscow 2018),), South Film and Arts Academy Festival (Rancagua, Chile), Voce Spettacolo Film Festival (Matera, Italy), Rieti&Sabina Film Festival and others.
PRESS BOOK available upon request
Country: Italy, Greece
Runtime: 57 mins
Genre: Documentary / Experimental / Feature
"This film narrates an intense story of love, disease and death, inspired by the autobiographical novel “Beyond the Blue”, by the Italian photographer and writer Cesare Bedognè. Through this cinematic journey, we are led to the inner depths of the photographic image, the very stuff cinema is made of. Gelatin silver pictures merge thus with cinematic shots, abandoning their seemingly static form: they dissolve or slowly take shape, as if still under the action of a developer in the darkroom, gradually revealing different layers of reality". (from a text by Venanzio del Mare)
Filmmakers
Aleksandr Balagura was born in Russia. He graduated from Kiev State University, Department of History and Social Sciences and became a director’s assistant at the Ukrainian Documentary Film Studio, Kiev. Since 1989, he has directed 20 documentaries which have been screened at many international film festivals, and settled in Genoa, Italy, in 1998.
For the last few years, Italian-born Cesare Bedogné has lived in Greece where he began writing. He has published four collections of poems and short stories to date. His first, autobiographical novel “Oltre l’Azzurro” (“Beyond the Blue”) was published in 2012 by ABao AQu. This novel and the author’s photographs were the basis of a theatrical performance, produced by Bismantova Theatre and by the Institute of Music and Liturgy of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Afterwards, Cesare Bedogné together with the Russian film director Alexandr Balagura, worked on a film version of the show, entitled “Story for an Empty Theatre”, which has been selected for screening by several prestigious international film festivals.
Best Experimental Film, Festival del Nuovo Cinema di Alghero, Italy
Best Experimental Film, New Renaissance Film Festival Amsterdam 2018, the Netherlands
Certificate of Merit (Best Experimental Film ex-aequo) , Great Indian Film and Literature Festival (GIFLIF 2016)
Best Experimental Film, Calcutta International Cult Film Festival (November 2016 edition)
Best Feature Documentary, Maracay International Film Festival 2017 (Venezuela)
Best Experimental Film, SIFF (Switzerland International Film Festival 2017)
Best Italian Documentary, Roma Cinema DOC (September 2017 edition)
Certificate of Excellence - Best Editing Award, 6th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival, 2017
Kodiak Award, Alaska International Film Festival 2018
Innuendo Film Festival, Special Mention of the Jury (Milano, 2018)
Best Experimental Film, Eastern NC Film Festival (USA)
The film has also been selected for: London Greek Film Festival 2017 (UK), Festival Internazionale del Cinema Documentario Marcellino de Baggis, Mostra del Cinema di Taranto (Italy), International New York Film Festival 2018, Madrid Art Film Festival 2017, Festival Internacional de Cine 2017 (Buenos Aires), West Side Mountains DOC Film Festival (Greece), London International Motion Pictures Awards (UK, 2019), The Hague Global Cinema Festival (2019), Intimalente Film Festival (Italy), New Wave Motion Film Festival (Hong Kong), Blow Up Arthouse Film Festival (Chicago, USA), Chhatrapati Shivaji International Film Festival (Pune, India), Canada's World International Film Festival 2017 (Nomination Best Italian Film), MedFF (Siracusa, Italy), IIPMF (Ancona, Italy), , 1st FICCSUR, Southern Cone International Film Festival (Valparaiso, Chile), Gulf of Naples Independent Film Festival 2017 (Italy), Stockholm Independent Film Festival (Sweden), MAYKOP International Film festival (RU), Hope Film Awards (USA), Wirral International Film Festival (UK), "Disappear Here" Film Festival (Ireland)), Imaginarium Independent Film Festival (USA), Miami Independent Film Festival, German United Film Festival, iii FICMARC - Caribbean Sea International Film Festival 2018, Russian Film Festival (Moscow 2018),), South Film and Arts Academy Festival (Rancagua, Chile), Voce Spettacolo Film Festival (Matera, Italy), Rieti&Sabina Film Festival and others.
PRESS BOOK available upon request
