Roberto Sperotto - A Passion for History

The Vicenza-Schio railway line completes 150 years in 2026. It was built in 1876 to facilitate transport of cargo from numerous wool mills of Schio. During early 1900s, this railway line had different extensions including to Pieve Bel Vicino, Piovene Rocchette, Arsiero and Asiago.

To celebrate this 150th anniversary, recently an exhibition was organised in Schio, which presented the historical collection of documents and photographs of Roberto Sperotto.

 

I had an opportunity to talk to Roberto to about his passion for the history of this region around late 1800s and early 1900s, especially related to the period of the first world war.

This post is about Roberto Sperotto and his passion for history.

Alto Vicentino and the World War One

The area around Vicenza is known as Vicentino. The north-west part of Vicentino has the Alps, specifically the Little Dolomites and is known as Alto Vicentino (High Vicentino) because of its higher altitude.

 

Till early 1900s, the Alps mountains of Alto Vicentino marked the border between the Austro-Hungarian empire and Italy. This border was the site of different battles during World War One.

For example, you can check my posts on the War Cemeteries of Alto Vicentino and on the Centenary of Pasubio War Memorial.

Talking to Roberto Sperotto

Roberto was born and lives in Breganze, some kms to the west of Schio, an area known for its beautiful rolling hills and vineyards. He runs an agency in Breganze for driving licences and their renewals.

Roberto's key interest has been in the crucial role, engineering skill, and heroic contributions of the Italian military engineering corps (Arma del Genio) during World War I, and he has been collecting documents and photographs about it in Alto Vicentino. His collection about the local railway lines is part of WWI collection, as the railways had played a big role in the war. 

 

About his archival collection about history of Alto Vicentino around the first World War, Roberto explained, "There was an old house in the periphery of Rocchette, and I discovered that it was one of the buildings of the Rocchette-Asiago railway line. I started reading about the old railway lines and gradually collected different documents and photographs to have a global view of these railway lines and its different aspects, in relation to the world war."

Initially all these railway lines to Schio and its extensions belonged to a private society, "Società Veneta", and were nationalised in 1906. Alessandro Rossi, well-known industrialist of Schio running different wool-mills in this area, played a key role in their construction.

Initially the railway lines were built in narrow gauge because they were near the border with the Austro-Hungarian empire and they felt that these could be used to attack them. Thus, the main Italian railway with its broad gauge could not be used to bring munitions and heavy machinery to the border.

Roberto took me around the exhibition, sharing anecdotes about how he had managed to collect different pictures and documents, how specific parts of the railway lines were built, how the railway lines were used during the war. For example, he explained that the Austrian troops were on a higher level and thus, the Italian army thought that they could have poisoned the water of the torrents coming down and thus, preferred to carry water up the railway line to Asiago.

Roberto's Archives in His Books 

Roberto has a big archive of documents & photographs about this region and has written 3 books about the history of Alto Vicentino during World War I - 

(1) 1915-1918 War Railway Lines in Vicentino (1915-1918 - Ferrovie di Guerra Nel Vicentino) - written with Francesco Brazzale, published by Edizioni Grafiche Leoni, 2014: The book starts with the difficulties caused by limited railway lines in this part of Italy when the war between Austria and Italy was declared in May 2015. A couple of images about the railway line in Schio from this book are presented below.  

(2) The War Villas - 6th Armed Division & Military Engineering Corps (Ville di Guerra - La 6a Armata e il Genio), published by Edizioni Grafiche Leoni, 2018: This book looks at the villas located along the old Gasparona road connecting Thiene to Marostica and their role in the World War One, and how these were taken over by the military commands during the war. This book focuses especially on the 6th Army which included Italian, French, British and Czechoslovakian troops. 

(3) The Ferrarin Cousins - Men and Pilots (I Cugini Ferrarin - Uomini e Piloti), written with Roberto Mantiero, published by Grafiche Leoni sas, 2020: This book shares documents and pictures of Italian air-force pilots during the WWI, especially Francesco Ferrarin & Arturo Ferrarin, along with others like Leonello Marani, Girolamo Allegri,  Luigi Bourlot. The book also touches on the role of the well-known Italian writer, poet and Journalist, Gabriele d'Annunzio in the war.

Historical Images of Schio from the Book by Roberto Sperotto

Roberto's books are a rich source of historical images and documents from that period. As an example, two images from Sperotto's book "1915-1918 - Ferrovie di Guerra Nel Vicentino" are presented below, which are about the railway station of Schio.

(1) The first is an illustration about the visit of Prince Umberto in Schio for the inauguration of the Vicenza-Schio railway line in 1876. (click on the image for a bigger view)

 

(2) The second is an image of families leaving Schio as the first world war broke out in the nearby Pasubio mountains in Spring 1916.

 

In Conclusion

Roberto shows that persons moved by their passions can be an invaluable resource for collecting and safeguarding the micro-histories of small places, that are usually ignored by official historians and record-keepers working at international, national and regional levels.  

For the persons of Alto Vicentino, Roberto's photographic and documental archives are a wonderful resource about a crucial period of their local history.  

 *****

Schio - Yesterday & Today

The inspiration for this post came from a guided tour of the city centre held on 10 May 2026, in which Chiara from Cooperativa Trama spoke about some forgotten stories of places, people and events from the centre of Schio during the past few centuries.

During this visit, I learned about the printing press of Paolo Marzari, located near the railway station, who had become famous for his picture postcards, sold all over Italy, in late 19th and early 20th century. This was a period of big changes in Schio, especially due to the development of wool factories of local industrialist, Alessandro Rossi. For example, the railways connecting Schio to Vicenza was built around 1876 and inaugurated by Prince Umberto. The road in front of the railway station leading to the central Piazza Rossi was built some years later.

During the 1980s, the municipality of Schio published a book (Schio: Immagini del Primo '900,  Dall'Archio Fotografico P. Marzari, 1982) about the photographic archives of Marzari. For this post I have taken some of the images from this book and compared them with how those places look today.

Photographs Used for This Post

All the black and white images used in this post are from the above-mentioned book about the photographic archives of Paolo Marzari. (click on the images for a bigger view)

All the colour photographs next to each B/W image are mine. The main reasons why it was not possible to take my images from the same exact place from where the B/W pictures were clicked - some old buildings are no more and many new buildings and trees are in their place.

At the Castello

I have selected 2 images from the Castello hill of Schio - first is the high school built there in early 20th century which now hosts the Liceo delle Science Umane (Human Sciences high school). The passage shown in the B/W image is now closed with an iron grill surrounding the school. (click on the images for a bigger view)

 

The second image is at top of the hill with its clock tower and the Santa Maria della Neve church (St Mary of the Snows church) and the old big Tiglio (Lime) tree, which was removed in early 1900s. There were two big trees and because of them, this area was called Tajara in the local dialect. There were few trees at that time, which were planed mainly after the second world war and now make this hill very beautiful due to the autumn leaves.  

Santa Maria della Salute Chapel

This 15th century chapel was located along the path which came down from the Castello hill and was separated by walls as it passed the Brolo (fields) of Count Da Schio, and went towards the old TB hospital and St. Francis church. Underneath the chapel is the Gaminella water-spring that led to a small pond.

 

Today the walls around the Chapel are gone, a lot more trees are there and only the initial part of Gaminella water-spring is visible close to the chapel, the rest of the spring water lies underneath Via Gaminella in front of the chapel.

Around Duomo church and Piazza Rossi 

Duomo church from 15th century and the square in front of it, Piazza Rossi, are the centre of Schio. It used to a closed square with two exits - the road going to the west, called Corobbo (today Via Carducci) and the road going towards the town and Castello (today Piazza Garibaldi). The next image shows road in front of Piazza Rossi going towards Corobbo, in which Via Capitano Sella was opened.

The next image shows Via Cavour, running next to the Duomo church, which has changed very little.

 

The image below has Via Garibaldi seen from the Garibaldi square.

 

The next image has a view of Via Battaglione Leogra and Piazza IV Novembre, with its monument to the Pasini brothers. This road was built in 1900 and connected Piazza Rossi with the railway station and was first called Via Umberto, to remember the inauguration of the railway station by prince Umberto.

It used to have a Covered Market (Mercato Coperto), now replaced by a bank. There used to be an ice-vendor behind the market (Giassaia in local dialect) now remembered in the name of Via Giasara behind the bank.

The next image has Via Battiglione Leogra (this name was given after the second world war) showing the Pasubio printing press, which is no longer there. On the right, the images show the entrance to Piazza Statuto, which hosts the municipal offices of Schio.

 

The next image has Piazza Statuto with Palazzo Garbin which hosts the Municipal offices of local government in Schio.

 

The last image from this part of the city is Casa dei Canarini (the house of the colourful birds) on Via Mazzini, further along the Via Carducci, with frescoes of guards wearing colourful costumes. People believe that this house hosted the centre of city guards, but no evidence has been found for it.

 

The Railway Station and the Roads Around it

The railway station was inaugurated 150 years ago in 1876. It had big freight port for the wool industries of Schio, which now hosts a clothes shop. However the railway station itself has changed very little, except for the buildings behind it and the number of cars in front of it. 

The road in front of the railway station, Via Baccarini, going towards Sant'Antonio church has changed completely and the church is hardly visible from this point, hidden behind the buildings.

 

As we walk from the railway station towards Sant'Antonio, the crossing where Via Baccarini meets Via Maraschin has a roundabout with a monument to Alessandro Rossi. The B/W image below shows the inauguration of this monument made by Giulio Monteverde in 1902, the colour picture next to it has the inauguration of the renovated monument with the mayor Walter Orsi and some members of the Rossi family, on 29 June 2018.

  

Behind the Rossi monument and opposite Sant'Antonio church is a square called Donatori di Sangue (Blood donaters). The next image shows this square and the St. Antonio church.

 

A little further down the road is the Civic Theatre built in 1907-08. It was closed down during the first world war and then during the second world war, but has been renovated a few years ago.

 

Around the Leogra Bridge

First it was a wooden bridge built in 1742, the stone bridge was made in 1852 and it was reinforced and enlarged in 1926. It connected the 2 communes - Schio and Magre, which were combined together under Schio, 2 years later in 1928. Just after the bridge, on the Magre side of Leogra was a Tiro a Segno (shooting range), whose building can be seen from the Schio side in the image below.

 

The shooting range building can be seen from the Magre side in the image below. It now has some monuments to the Italian marines who died in the wars, a big parking and a popular open air bar called Molo 517 that is open in the summers.

 

The third image from this area shows Via Riva di Magre, the road that goes up towards the central areas of Magre.

 

Carrozzeria Luigi dalla Via

The Dalla Via workshop was located beyond the cemetery area of Schio. Started in 1905, it was one of the biggest Italian constructors of the external bodies vans, buses and trucks, but especially of buses. It closed in 2007. The image below shows the workshop area.

Via Baratto

The last image of this post is of Via Baratto taken from the roundabout of Via Rompato, and going towards St Francis church. Even this area has not changed much though because of a busy car parking, I was unable to include the gate on the right side in my image.

 

In The End

Let me conclude this post with the cover of the book from which all the B/W images of the Paolo Marzari's photographic archives have been taken.

I had a lot of fun, going around and trying to get the same or similar views as in the original pictures. Most of the time, it was impossible to get the same view but I feel that these pictures do show that the places are same.

If you live in Schio or are visiting here, I hope that these images help you to get an idea of the changing histories of our urban landscapes.

 

***** 

 

An Unusual Venice - Giorgio Schirato

Yesterday, on 4 September 2026, a new photography exhibition was inaugurated at the Toaldi Capra palazzo in Schio. The exhibition has works of a young Venetian Giorgio Schirato. 

His images of Venice are about stillness, where the silky smooth water and gentle pastel colours become frozen in a dreamscape. You see a city that still has the magic of Venice, but is different. Some of his other pictures, catch the light in such a way that makes you see something which otherwise you would not have noted. It is a beautiful exhibition.

After the inauguration, I had a brief talk with the photographer Giorgio Schirato (GS), which is presented below. If you are in or around Schio, do not miss this exhibition. If you can't come to the exhibition, take a look at his webpage and his Instagram page to have an idea about his works.

You can click on all the images for a bigger view - these Venice images are by Giorgio Schirato and are protected by copyright.

Talking With Venetian Photographer Giorgio Schirato 

 

SD: Tell me about yourself

GS: I was born in Treviso and when I was three years old, with my mother I went to live in Venice, and I grew up there. We were not in proper Venice, since we lived in Lido island for the first 20-25 years of my life. Only when I joined the famous Venice art school, Academia delle Belle Arti, then I shifted to proper Venice. There, I was sharing a house with some friends.

I had chosen the area of sculpture, as my focus in the art school. While I was studying it, I knew that actually I really wanted to do photography, I was already passionate about it. In the end, photography became my preferred way of creative expression.

Probably because I prefer expressing myself through things that are quick and making sculptures had become a kind of suffering for me, because they needed months of work. So slowly I started experimenting with photography. I like all the different ways of artistic expression, including painting, but I chose photography because I liked it the most.

However, instead of photo-documentation, which means documenting what you see around yourself, I always try to express something extra through my photography. For example, I can use the light - such as using a torch at night to obtain a specific effect that I want. Or by using long exposition times, so that the day-landscapes start looking different - they become a kind of aseptic, clean, smooth.

I am moved by a desire to see and interpret Venice as something which I feel inside myself. I want to absorb the beauty of our Venetian landscapes through stillness and in these kind of photographs, I want to avoid the human presence, so that I can focus on the essence of the place.

I want to express something which is different from the usual images of Venice. Therefore, I am not looking at the well-known city landmarks, instead I want to show you the glimpses of something, which you wouldn't see when you are here.

SD: On your website there are some folders showing different series of photographs, for example there are some showing silhouettes. You want to talk about different kinds of your work?

GS: My poetic photography, if I may call it that, can be grossly divided into 2 main types:

- first is the contemplative and experimental kind of images, where I use colour-photography, I study the site and then plan them to get a specific effect;

- the second are my images in black and white, they have a more graphic impact, through them I try to capture the moment, so these images are more immediate, less planned.

 

I capture both these kinds of images with the help of a tripod, but I try to vary other factors, such as the light, to get a specific effect. My images are not a representation of the reality, they are my interpretation of it. 

SD: How long you have been doing photography?

GS: This exhibition is showing the artistic part of my photography, which I have been doing now for about 25 years. It started as a passion when I was in high school.

At the same time, I am also a professional photographer since 2012, where I do specific kinds of photographic services. You can see examples of some of these works on my website.

SD: In these last 25 years, how do you see your evolution as a photographer-artist? 

GS: I have changed over the years, also because of the professional work that I have done. My professional work brought me in contact with a large number of persons, especially artists with their own ideas and long experiences, and interaction with them gives me new ideas and suggestions into my work. Some of those persons have influenced me as an artist.

 

However, my search to find my way of being a photographer, has been more through silence and interiority, and not so much through describing or discussing with others.

There are days, when I am inclined towards black and white photography, other days when I am more contemplative, and I look for specific effects, and finally there are some days when I just do not feel like clicking any pictures. When I wake up in the morning, I know that day, what kind of work I am going to do. There are days when I can see things that are not visible on other days, it may be something to do with my focus, concentration and inspiration, because it requires me to look beyond what my eyes can see.

It can also depend upon the light of that day. One day, the light may be such that I can't see anything special. On another day, the light may be such that even a simple thing looks different and has a more fascinating impact. One has to train oneself to really see, to discover the surroundings.

 

There are some days when I wake up with a desire to capture people and action. On other days, I just want to walk around in my city, to get inspiration for an idea, then I try to express it in the way that I feel it inside me. It is all about sensations and feelings.

SD: Do you also plan and set-up things to create a particular kind of picture?

GS: I prefer working with what is already existing and not create an artificial effect. I also don't create particular effects in post-production. All the effects that are there in my image, they come from working with my camera.

Even if we are living in the digital era, I try to think as if I am working with an analogical camera-film. Thus, I don't click a lot of pictures, I prefer clicking pictures as a gift, only a few and well thought-out clicks. And, I prefer limiting the use of technology in my work.

 

This is also a kind of rebellion against digital world and there are some persons who prefer using analogical film.

SD: What is the value of photography in a world where millions of tourists click millions of pictures every day, with their mobile phones?

GS: With the social media, the significance of images has been lost. Our ideas of beauty and ugliness have been turned upside down. Thus, even for this, one needs to go back to the older ways doing things, to think and reflect more and to have less anxiety about missing something by clicking a large number of pics. Today we are just bombarded with images.

I feel that it is better to click as few pictures as possible, which means you have thought about each one of them. If you are clicking thousands of images, then it is easy to find one good picture among them. I think that it is more important to click a few, with some good ones, because that requires self-reflection, reasoning and becoming more aware of our surroundings. If you are in contact with the reality around you, you use your capacity for observation.

SD: In terms of AI and your work as a professional photographer, what do you think?

GS: I see it as a potential problem, especially for the images used for advertising. Instead of taking models, professionals, you can create a set and people out of nothing and thus, for the advertising-sector I think that it is going to be a problem.

At the same time, the vast diffusion of digital images has created a greater sensibility among the people towards photography. Since the canons of beauty and ugliness have been turned upside down, some aspects of photography continue to need professionals. For example for making portraits. Sometimes persons come to me for portraits even if they can very well click their own pictures, because they are looking for a specific impact on the social media, so they want a professional.

SD: Have you also done photography for films or videos?

GS: I have done the still photography and backstage for some documentary films, to document everything that happens during the filming and in the backstage.

SD: Thanks Giorgio for taking the time to talk to me.

In The End

Giorgio Schirato's photo-exhibition titled "The Lessons of Water - 450 Years From Titian Till Today"  (Le Lezioni dell'Acqua - 450 Anni Da Tiziano Ad Oggi) is on at Palazzo Toaldi Capra in Schio till 13th September 2026 and can be visited on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, entry is free.

 

I loved his images of Venice, like this image above, where time seems to be standing still and it looks like a dreamscape. I also love his cityscapes where he captures fleeting moments that seem to open the world like a hyper-reality, letting us see things that we would not have seen.

All the images (except Georgio's) in this blogpost are from Giorgio Schirato's website and are protected by copyright. 

***** 

Schio Film Festival 2026 - Exhibitions & Performances

The second edition of international film festival of Schio - ISFF, was held from 30 July to 2 August 2026. Among the side-events of the festival were three interesting exhibitions and a couple of performances. This post is about them.

These included an incredible performance by the theatre group Teatro 80 (in the image below - click on the pictures for a bigger view)

If you wish, you can also read my article on the ISFF 2026 side-events about "Art and Cinema".

Story-Telling of Leonardo Ottoni Through His Art

Leonardo Ottoni was born with autism and he is an artist. He lives in Castel San Pietro Terme, not far from Bologna. 

His art was first noted by his teachers in the high school, when they saw him doodling on his notebook and felt that he was a very good artist. Thus, they suggested that he should try making art. (In the image on the left, Leo is showing the walk of a mechanical toy)

This happened around ten years ago. Since then he has been experimenting with oil paintings and his first art exhibition was held in 2017. Over the years, his art work has been shown in many art exhibitions and is used on notebooks, diaries and bookmarks, sold through local stores and cooperatives.

The first thing which Leonardo said to me when I tried to interview him was, "Keep your distance, don't come too close to me." He was not very expressive and articulate when I asked him questions about his artistic journey and his father, Emanuele helped him in this. 

However, sometime later, when Leonardo started explaining his artworks to the public, with the support of his mother Katia, he was transformed as a performer - making sounds, moving around, gesturing and dancing, explaining the ideas that inspire his artworks. (The artworks below were inspired by the music of The Blues Brothers, and talking about them Leo sang the words of a song).

 

He mostly draws animals and birds and uses bright colours. The kitchen in their home is his preferred environment for making art. Many of his works are inspired by music, as he sits in the kitchen listening to the music and ideas about the forms he wants to make come to him. In his presentation of his artworks, he often hums that music and start moving around while explaining the feelings and ideas that music had provoked in him.

Another way his inspiration comes is through visits, such as his visit to the Biosfera in Rome, and through stories and books. Katia explained that initially he full the full stories through his art, but more recently, he can even start from the middle or the end of the story, without needing to express it from the beginning to the end.

I loved Leonardo's artworks and my favourite is the one shown below (made after the visit to the Biosfera in Rome), in which the two cats or lions in the bottom-right are supposed to be Robinhood and Marian. (click on the picture for a bigger view)

The Costumes of Stefano Nicolao

Atlier Nicolao of costume designer Stefano Nicolao is based in Venice. It is famous for his costumes, especially for historical films. Maestro Stefano has done costume-design for many famous films including Marco Polo, Pirates of the Caraibi, Elizabeth, Casanova and Farinelli.

Stefano was unable to be there for the inauguration of his exhibition at ISFF and his friend and collaborator, well-known photographer Attilio Bruni was there to present the costumes from some of his films and serials.

While presenting the costumes, Attilio recounted many stories about the challenges a costume designer faces for films. For example, while shooting for the serial Marco Polo in high mountains, they needed furs and when they asked where to get them, they were brought hundreds of live rams and sheep, which had to be butchered to get their fur.

Attilio also said that Stefano is very particular about perfection and realism in his costumes. For example, if the scene has a hundred Buddhist monks, he wants that each of them is dressed authentically, even if some of them will be at the back and not fully visible.

Apart from costumes for films and serials, Atelier Nicolao in Venice can rent costumes, take your picture in a historical costume, organise guided tours or even organise costume-events for you, naturally all for a fee.

Stefano Nicolao is originally from Venice and started his carrier as an actor, but then found that he preferred backstage and especially costumes. His carrier took off after he assisted Enrico Sabbatini for the costumes of the TV serial Marco Polo in 1980, where he designed costumes and sets for the unit shooting in Tibet. In that same year he founded Atelier Nicolao, which is considered as one of the most important global sources for historical costumes. 

The Dresses of Banco Lotto N. 10 - Costumes by Prisoner Women

This exhibition presented the costumes made by the women inmates of Giudecca prison in Venice. Banco Lotto N. 10 is a social cooperative. 

This project was started in 2001 by the Cooperative Il Cerchio to teach an earning skill to the women inmates of the prison, and was funded by European Union and others. That project had concluded with a fashion show by the women prisoners and jail officers.

The success of the initial project, prompted the continuation of this activity in the prison and a boutique was opened in 2003 where people could buy their costumes.

Some famous local dressmakers and weavers of Venice such as Rubelli and Tessitura Bevilacqua collaborate with them to ensure high quality work. They also make the costumes for the famous Fenice theatre of Venice. They also get a space at the art biennale of Venice to showcase their products.

Teatro 80 Presents the Poems of Alda Merini

Alda Merini (1931-2009) was an Italian poet and writer. She is an iconic figure in the Italian literary scene. Among her life's experiences was a bipolar disturbance which led her to a psychiatric hospital for a period and this experience inspired some of her most famous works about madness.

Teatro 80 is a local theatre group in Schio, which was formed in 1980 and continues to be active. For ISFF, persons from Teatro 80, made an open-air theatre and dance performance on the streets in the city centre of Schio, based on some of the poems of Alda Merini.

Dressed in black and having a white muslin cloth as a prop, the actors-dancers created emotionally charged choreographies in the different parts of the city, supported by 3 musicians. On the guitar was my friend Roberto Rizzato. Alda Merini's daughter, Emanuela Carniti was also present during this performance.

It was an absolutely amazing performance, expressing the anguish and strong emotions of the poet. It was even more incredible because it was an afternoon of one of the hottest day of this season in Schio.

Some years ago, I had participated in a workshop on Theatre and Photography organised by Teatro 80. If you wish, you can read that as well. 

In The End

With ISFF - International Scledum Film Festival, Schio has one more important cultural activity in its already rich calendar of events. Considering that it is just a tiny little town, it is absolutely amazing that we can enjoy so many cultural events and a especial joy for me, as I can meet so many interesting persons for my blog.

If I have to choose one favourite side-event of ISFF, it would be the performance by Teatro 80 on the poems of Alda Merini. I liked it also because it was not an aseptic performance. As you can see from the image below, with children running between the performers, it was a performance in which the city was an active participant.

*****

Read the first part of the article on ISFF 2026

***** 

Schio Film Festival 2026 - Art & Cinema

The second edition of Schio's film festival called ISFF - International Scledum Film Festival 2026 concluded yesterday (2 August). ISFF has a competitive section for the short and experimental films and there is a non-competitive section for other films. All the events of ISFF, including film projections are free and open to public.

In this post I want to touch on some of the side-events of ISFF which looked at the role of art in cinema.

"The Colours Behind the Windows" Art Exhibition

This exhibition was created by students of the Art Institute Arturo Martini of Schio. Inspired by the film "Rear Window" (1954) by Alfred Hitchcock, the students recreated some of this film's scenes in oil paintings and terracotta sculptures.

Some of the scenes were recreated in both, paintings and terracotta sculptures, so it was possible to compare the two and understand how the medium affected the art expression. For example, look at the images below and compare how that same scene is rendered in oil painting and in terracotta. (Click on the images for a bigger view)

 

I felt that the painting was better able to express emotions, and it could be a little abstract, giving the spectator the freedom to give it a meaning. It could also represent the physical reality better, for example, the transparency of the window panes. The terracotta was more defined, more physical and made it easier to identify objects, but IMO it was not able to express the emotions of the film.

However, I also feel that the level of terracotta work by the students was a little gross and perhaps, a better terracotta work, as done by some master artisans, could have been more impactful.

The terracotta sculptures were coordinated by prof. Alice Leoni and the paintings by prof. Francesca dal Santo. The art works were made by the students of different classes of the institute. 

History of Italian Cinema Through Posters of Some Iconic Films

This was an exhibition of posters. I was lucky that the organiser of this exhibition, Elena Tenga, was accompanying me and thus I was able to briefly talk to her.

Elena said that she is a film critic and a film historian. She has been collecting posters of Italian films and in her collection she has posters for the period 1930-1980. Some of the posters, which have handwritten dedications of the actors and directors. For example, one of the posters in the exhibition had a handwritten dedication by well-known Italian actor, Ornella Muti.

About the evolution of the film posters, Elena said that initially these posters were hand-painted and there were some well-known poster making artists such as Anselmo Ballester. Then came the posters using the photographs.

Many film directors took great interest in the design of their films and their posters. Some like Federico Fellini, used to design the full story-board for their films and thus decided the visual look of his films.

Dressing the Film-Characters - A Masterclass by Catherine Buyse

Catherine Buyse is a film costume designer based in Venice. With a Belgian father and an Italian mother, Catherine grew up in Belgium. She studied dress design and initially started in the area of fashion designing.

Her first experiences in film-costume designing were with friends who asked for her help for the costumes of videos and short films. She liked this experience so much, also because it was not related to commercialisation of her costumes and gave greater artistic satisfaction, that she decided to pursue it.

She started as someone in the costume designing team and made her way to costume supervision and then finally to becoming the costume designer. She works with the different films which are shot in Venice.

Over the years, she explained, that the work has changed. In the nineties, when there was no internet, when a team arrived from outside to shoot a film in Venice, they did not know local artisans and shops for buying clothes, stitching and preparing costumes for the local actors involved in the shoots, so she had all the contacts. Today with internet, it is easier to come from outside and shoot.

She presented a few films from her portfolio and showed how designing costumes for different kinds of films is different. For example, for a historical film, for different ages of the characters, for different scenes like bombings or water immersion, can create specific artistic challenges for costume design, which can be very different from those faced in a fantasy film. From issues like continuity to wear and tear of costumes during shootings, she gave different examples from her image-archives.

The image below is from her website showing the historical photographs of women from the second world war period, that she chose to design costumes for the heroine of the Italian TV serial "La Storia". This serial was directed by Francesca Archibugi, based on a book by Elsa Morante. It was based during the second world war. She explained that everything, including the underwear, worn by the actors was based on historical research, using materials from that era.

She also explained how the scenes of the world war in Africa and the soldiers dying of intense cold in Siberia, were all shot in Italy on days when the outside temperatures were hovering around 40 degrees. This also helped to understand how actors may need to wear heavy costumes even when it is hot.

For the uniforms of the different armies, it was important to ensure that there were no mistakes and thus, they had an additional consultant for this. About recreating intense cold during an intensely hot summer, she explained the use of artificial snow, salt and paraffin wax over the lips, clothes and shoes. Persons having gangrenes in their toes and noses were recreated through make-up.   

There were some technical glitches during her presentation, so it was delayed and since I had another engagement, I had to miss part of her presentation, but I had found it very fascinating, even if a bit unstructured. It gave a vivid overview of costume designing as a challenging but fulfilling team-work.

Dive e Motori - Parade of Vintage Cars

The rally of beautifully maintained vintage cars was organised by the Historic Club of Schio. Most of the cars for this show and rally came from Schio and surrounding areas.

The vintage car rally, required the cars to go to the Rossi park in Sant'Orso and come back to Schio. While some of the vintage cars were also put on show in Schio's city centre.

Some of the vintage cars are absolutely wonderful, they make me think of Casablanca and James Bond.

Celebrities in Schio

There are a number of celebrities going around the town because of the festival. I noticed the French actor Mark Grosy along with the directors Camille Tello and Leslie Crocquefere and the intimacy coordinator, Rachel Zekri in an exhibition. They are here for their short film "Tria Fata".

Mark Grosy became better known in Italy recently for his role in the serial Sandokan (2025, a remake of the old serial).

In another exhibition, I saw the young Italian actor Sofia d'Elia and didn't recognise her till I later saw her poster! 

In the End

Over the past few years, I prefer books to films. Thus, when Catherine Buys was talking about the costumes of the serial "La Storia", I liked what she told about it and thought that I will read Elsa Morante's book on which this serial is based. So I am not the best person to talk about film festivals.

However, as you can see from my post, even if I don't watch films, there is so much to talk about the art of film-making.

It also makes me feel proud about our tiny little town in the foothills of Alps, that it is so much culturally alive with so many events which give me opportunities to talk to so many different kinds of persons!

Let me close this post with a beautiful blue vintage car. 

*****   

Read the second part of my post on ISFF focusing on exhibitions and performances

*****