Story for an empty theatre
A film by ALEKSANDR BALAGURA and CESARE BEDOGNE'
Country: Italy, Greece
Runtime: 57 mins
Genre: Documentary / Experimental
TRAILER
"This film narrates an intense story of love, disease and death, inspired by the autobiographical novel “Beyond the Blue”, by the Italian film-maker, photographer and writer Cesare Bedognè. Through this cinematic journey 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)
FILM-MAKERS
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.
AWARDS
GREAT INDIAN FILM AND LITERATURE FESTIVAL, BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM (ex aequo) 2016
CALCUTTA INTERNATIONAL CULT FILM FESTIVAL, BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM 2016
FESTIVAL DEL NUOVO CINEMA DI ALGHERO, BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM 2017
MARACAY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY 2017
SWITZERLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, BEST EXPERIMENTAL DILM 2017
ROMA CINEMA DOC, BEST ITALIAN DOCUMENTARY 2017
CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE - BEST EDITING AWARD, 6th MUMBAI SHORTS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017
EASTERN NC FILM FESTIVAL (USA), BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM 2017
NEW RENAISSANCE FILM FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM, BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM 2018
KODIAK AWARD, ALASKA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2018
INNUENDO FILM FESTIVAL, MILANO, SPECIAL MENTION OF THE JURY 2018
NEW YORK NEOREALISM FILM AWARDS (ROMA), BEST FILM 2021
PURE MAGIC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM 2021, BEST EXPERIMENTAL FEATURE
INDIES MOVIES SPARK FILM FESTIVAL, UTRECHT 2021, BEST DOCUMENTARY, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST EDITING
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS: 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, Hollywood On The Tiber Film Awards (Roma, 2021), Roma Prisma Film Awards (2021), Sweet Democracy Film Festival (Roma, 2021?, 8 &halFilm Awards (Roma 2022), Swedish International Film Festival (2022) and others.
PRESS BOOK available upon request
Country: Italy, Greece
Runtime: 57 mins
Genre: Documentary / Experimental
TRAILER
"This film narrates an intense story of love, disease and death, inspired by the autobiographical novel “Beyond the Blue”, by the Italian film-maker, photographer and writer Cesare Bedognè. Through this cinematic journey 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)
FILM-MAKERS
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.
AWARDS
GREAT INDIAN FILM AND LITERATURE FESTIVAL, BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM (ex aequo) 2016
CALCUTTA INTERNATIONAL CULT FILM FESTIVAL, BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM 2016
FESTIVAL DEL NUOVO CINEMA DI ALGHERO, BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM 2017
MARACAY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY 2017
SWITZERLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, BEST EXPERIMENTAL DILM 2017
ROMA CINEMA DOC, BEST ITALIAN DOCUMENTARY 2017
CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE - BEST EDITING AWARD, 6th MUMBAI SHORTS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017
EASTERN NC FILM FESTIVAL (USA), BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM 2017
NEW RENAISSANCE FILM FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM, BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM 2018
KODIAK AWARD, ALASKA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2018
INNUENDO FILM FESTIVAL, MILANO, SPECIAL MENTION OF THE JURY 2018
NEW YORK NEOREALISM FILM AWARDS (ROMA), BEST FILM 2021
PURE MAGIC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM 2021, BEST EXPERIMENTAL FEATURE
INDIES MOVIES SPARK FILM FESTIVAL, UTRECHT 2021, BEST DOCUMENTARY, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST EDITING
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS: 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, Hollywood On The Tiber Film Awards (Roma, 2021), Roma Prisma Film Awards (2021), Sweet Democracy Film Festival (Roma, 2021?, 8 &halFilm Awards (Roma 2022), Swedish International Film Festival (2022) and others.
PRESS BOOK available upon request
