Vivo film and ventura film
present
FILMMAKERS OF THE PRESENT
MIRNA
a film by Corso Salani
produced by Vivo film, ventura film and Corso Salani
in partnership with Fuori Orario / RAI Tre
and RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera
Mirna
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The screenings
Wednesday, August 12th
Kursaal Theatre, 4 p.m. - press screening
Thursday, August 13th
FEVI, 11 a.m. - official screening
Friday, August 14th
L’altra sala, 4:15 p.m. - second screening
Saturday, August 15th
Ascona, Cinema Otello, 2 p.m. - third screening
Credits
MIRNA
a film by Corso Salani
produced by Vivo film (Italy), ventura film (Switzerland) and Corso Salani
in partnership with Fuori Orario / RAI Tre and RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera
Mirna is Magalí Lopez
Monica’s
Monica voice is Anita Kravos
sound Marianna Bacci
music Marcadores Nuevos
written and edited by Corso Salani and Vanessa Picciarelli
direction and cinematography Corso Salani
produced by Gregorio Paonessa for Vivo film,
film by Elda Guidinetti
and Andres Pfaeffli for ventura film and by Corso Salani
Italy/Switzerland, 75’, colour, Beta Digital 16/9 anamorphic
© 2009, Vivo filmfilm-Corso SalaniSalani-ventura film
Contacts
Vivo film srl
Via Alamanno Morelli 18
00197 Roma
tel. +39 06 8078002 - fax +39 06 80693483
[email protected] - www.vivofilm.it
In Locarno: Marta Donzelli (+39 333 5896353); Francesca Zanza (+39 3396115913)
ventura film
Al castello
CH 6866 Meride Switzerland
tel. +41 091 646 2021 - fax +41 091 646 0386
[email protected] – www.venturafilm.ch
Press agent
Barbara Perversi
[email protected] - cell. +39 347 9464485
World Sales
Vivo film
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The film
There is a place in the world to which each and every one of us belongs. Mirna is
searching for this place. It is somewhere in the Andes. She has been there before,
but she can’t seem to find it anymore. It may be an insignificant patch of land, but
to her, it is home. Thus, she sets off from her hometown of Buenos Aires. It is too
big, too complicated for her. She travels across town every day, cutting from one
end of it to the other. She shuts herself inside a kiosk from which she sells sweets
and tobacco. She spends her life there, looking at the people passing by.
Just as she has decided to leave, Mirna meets Monica and everything changes.
The two women love each other, the two bodies need each other to exist.
Everything around them, the city and the whole world, seems to vanish.
Through Monica’s eyes and words (the only traces we have of Mirna’s presence)
the relationship between these two women is recounted in the form of a
melancholy yet compelling film diary. Her memory of Mirna and every moment
spent with her are relived a thousand of times, until they are consumed like a
breathtaking obsession, or a disease no one could heal.
All Monica has left of everything she experienced with Mirna is a letter she wrote
just before leaving. In it, Mirna speaks of the cause of their impossible love: that
long lost place from her past, a place which now beckons her.
Miles from Buenos Aires, we follow Mirna on her quest through the harsh Andean
wasteland, a vain and blind search which seems to lead nowhere. One day, Mirna
finally does find her long-sought place. She stumbles onto it by chance, just as she
had found Monica, and nothing was ever the same again
.
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Mirna
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Director’s statement
Mirna’s story is one of loss and pursuit. It is the story of Mirna’s quest through the
Andes for the place where she will find herself and of Monica’s loss in her own
reminiscence. These compelling and passionate memories, which are at once
painful and elusive, are the only thing that can fill the void left by Mirna.
Our characters’ voyage is twofold. It is a physical search, an open hunt across the
snow-capped Andean peaks, peaks which are so majestic and distant as to seem as
unreachable as the object of Mirna’s quest, but it is also Monica’s intimate,
obsessive and tormented attempt to make sense of a love and its end.
This twofold voyage informs the very nature of the film itself. On the one hand, its
vision opens onto the Andean landscapes traversed by Mirna, capturing their vast
beauty and harsh desolation which echo her state of being. On the other, the
camera adopts Monica’s perspective in order to examine the forces which have
propelled her on this emotional journey: Mirna herself and the obsessive memory of
their moments spent together in Buenos Aires, moments in which the city is nothing
more than a blurry backdrop to their story. Mirna’s body is the true protagonist of
the film’s lengthy urban sequences. Its landscape is explored inch by inch and
scrutinized by Monica’s gaze in a compulsive attempt to grab hold of its memory so
as not to lose it nor lose herself.
Indeed, by annulling herself in her emotions, Monica loses her material form, thus
all that is left of her is her voice, a voice which pursues images and then overtakes
them, as if Monica’s past experiences were in a race against Mirna’s present-day
travels. The only chance for common ground beyond the limitations set by time and
space is memory.
Corso Salani, August 2009
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Biographical notes
Corso Salani, born in Florence in 1961, graduated in 1984 from the local Istituto di
Scienze Cinematografiche. Since 1985 he has lived in Rome. In 1989 he realized his
first long feature film, Voci d’Europa, awarded the Special Prize at the Festival
Riminicinema. In 1995 he taught a course on low-cost cinema at the Universidad del
Cine in Buenos Aires. In 1999 he taught Italian at the Italian Academy in Warsaw.
Tireless traveller, he both directs and acts. Among his interpretations we may
mention:Il muro di gomma by Marco Risi, Il Conto Montecristo by Ugo Gregoretti, Mar
Nero by Federico Bondi and recently ll mostro di Firenze, by Antonello Grimaldi, to
be released next Autumn.
Among his feature films, Gli occhi stanchi (1995), Occidente (2000), Corrispondenze
private (2002), Palabras (2003); among his several documentaries: Cono Sur (1998),
Tre donne in Europa (2004), C’è un posto in Italia, and the celebrated sixdocumentaries-series Borders of Europe (2006-2007), produced by Vivo film, to
which Locarno Film Festival dedicated a retrospective last year.
In June 2008 he made his debut as novelist, with the novel Pochi metri d’occidente [A
few western meters], published by Donzelli Publishing House, inspired by the third
episode of the Borders of Europe series, Imatra, awarded the Jury Special Prize in
Locarno 2007 within the “Filmmakers of the Present” competition.
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Filmography
2008
Le vite possibili, digital, colour, 50’; images edited in Chile, Spain, Gibraltar,
Portugal, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Rumania, Hungary, Israel, for “Palabras”, 2003,
“Tre donne in Europa”, 2004, “Confini d’Europa”, 2006-2007; produced by Vivo film
2007 - 2006
Confini d’Europa (Borders of Europe) (#1
(#1 Ceuta e Gibilterra, #2 Rio de Onor, #3
Imatra, #4 Talsi, #5 Chişinau #6 Yotvata), digital, colour, six 52’ episodes; a series
produced by Vivo film in partnership with Rai 3 Fuori orario. 61st Locarno Film
Festival, 19th Trieste Film Festival, Miami International Film Festival 2009; the third
episode was awarded the Jury Special Prize – Filmmakers of the Present
Competition at Locarno Film Festival 2007;
Tracce (Traces), digital and super8mm, colour with b/w inserts, 13’; produced by
Vivo film and Corso Salani. Bellaria Film Festival Anteprima Doc 2007
Il peggio di noi (Our Worst Side), digital, colour, 88’; produced by Balaton Film.
Bellaria Film Festival 2006; 59th Festival Internazionale del Cinema di Locarno
2005
C’è un posto in Italia (There is a Place in Italy), beta, colour, 50’; produced by Pablo.
Turin Film Festival; Roma Doc Festival
2004
Tre donne in Europa (Three Women in Europe), beta, colour, 52’; produced by
Fandango and Vitagraph. Turin Film Festival; Alpe Adria Trieste; Filmmaker Milano
2003
Palabras, 35 mm, colour, 88’; produced by Pablo and Balaton Film. Turin Film
Festival; Alpe Adria Trieste; Freistadt (Austria) International Film Festival;
Alexandria Film Festival
2002
Corrispondenze private (Private correspondences), beta, 90’; produced by Balaton
Film. Turin Film Festival; Alpe Adria Trieste
2000
Occidente (West), 35 mm, colour, 90’; produced by Pablo. Turin Film Festival; Alpe
Adria Trieste; Edimburgh Film Festival; Annecy Cinéma Italien, Best Actress;
Freistadt (Austria) International Film Festival
1998
Cono Sur, beta, 100’; produced by Tele+. Turin Film Festival; Festival del
Documentario Italiano di San Benedetto del Tronto, Best Italian Documentary
1995
Gli occhi stanchi (Tired Eyes), beta, colour, 90’; produced by Balaton Film. Alpe
Adria Trieste; Anteprima del Cinema Indipendente di Bellaria
1991
Gli ultimi giorni (Last Days), 16 mm, 90’; produced by Balaton Film. Rimini Cinema;
Berlino Film Festival, Sezione Forum; Anteprima del Cinema indipendente di Bellaria
1989
Voci d’Europa (Voices of Europe), 16 mm, 90’; produced by Balaton Film. Rimini
Cinema, Jury Special Prize; Ales International Film Festival; Mostra del Cinema
italiano di Lugano; Rotterdam Film Festival; Festival del Cinema italiano di Roma;
Annecy Cinéma Italien.
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Technical and artistical cast
VANESSA PICCIARELLI
Born in Bari in 1977, she graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
in Rome, where she lives and works. She has written the screenplay of several short
films. Two of them have been included in the serialized film Sei pezzi facili, coproduced by RAI and Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and 4-4-2 il gioco più
bello del mondo, produced by Paolo Virzì for Motorino Amaranto in collaboration
with Medusa Film. She has written two episodes of the series I Liceali 2, produced by
Tao Due in collaboration with Motorino Amaranto for Mediaset.
During the past years she has been working with Corso Salani, with whom she has
written and edited the series Borders of Europe, produced by Vivo film in
collaboration with Rai Tre, directed by Corso Salani.
MAGALÍ LOPEZ
Magalí Lopez was born in Balcarce, in the province of Buenos Aires, on December,
28, 1982. In 2005 she moved to the capital, in order to attend the Escuela
Metropolitana de Arte Dramatico, which will last until November, 2009.
Parallel to her studies, Magalí Lopez takes part to several theatre show. Among
them Autobiografias, la vida pasa por otro lado, that is still being put on in many
theatres in Buenos Aires. Mirna is her first film.
ANITA KRAVOS
Polyglot Italian actress, she studied in Moscow and Venice. She works in theatre,
cinema, and television. She has starred in films by Giovanni Veronesi, Luca Lucini,
Renato De Maria, Francesco Munzi. She has been acknowledged several awards as
Best actress for her protagonist role in Come l’ombra by Marina Spada (2007) in
both Italian (Bimbi Belli, Gallio) and foreign festivals (Mons, Ajaccio, Paris “Nouvel
Air” among others). This year she has played the main role in Francesco Jost’s film,
Segreti e sorelle [Secrets and Sisters], produced by ventura film.
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Mirna
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Vivo film, founded at the beginning of 2004 by Gregorio Paonessa and Marta Donzelli, is a
production and distribution company of art house films and documentary films.
During these years Vivo film has collaborated with the main Italian broadcasters (Rai
channels, Mediaset, Fox) and with some among the main European broadcasters.
Among Vivo film’s partners: Istituto Luce, Rai Cinema, Rai Trade, Rai Teche, French INA, The
Documentary Channel Canada, Fiat Auto, Comune di Roma, Regione Emilia Romagna,
Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Film Commission Piemonte, Rizzoli, Donzelli Editore.
In 2007 Vivo film has been awarded the David di Donatello as Best Documentary Film for
Daniele Vicari’s Il mio paese, and the Pardo d’Oro – Jury Special Prize – Filmmakers of the
Present Competition at the 60th Locarno Film Festival for Corso Salani’s Imatra.
In summer 2008 Vivo film was in Locarno presenting Nelo Risi’s film, Possible Meetings. Two
Poets two voices and Corso Salani’s series, Borders of Europe, whom the festival dedicated
a retrospective to. Later in 2008, Pippo Mezzapesa’s film, Pinuccio Lovero has been
screened in Venice as closing event of the International Critics’ Week. Mezzapesa’s film has
also been screened in competition in November 2008 at prestigious Amsterdam’s IDFA. Still
in 2008, Vivo film was at Turin Film Festival with Chiara Malta’s Armando & Politics, which
was the opening event at the international section dedicated to cinema and politics, Lo Stato
delle Cose, and Unauthorized Use, by Luca Gasparini and Alberto Masi, in competition at
Italiana doc.
Vivo film is currently devoting itself to the post-production of Michelangelo Frammartino’s
The Four Times, which is due to be completed by the end of the year. Frammartino’s film, in
coproduction with German Essential Filmproduktion, Swiss Ventura Film and Invisibile Film,
will be distributed by Istituto Luce and The Coproduction Office. It was the only Italian
project to be awarded the prestigious Torino Film Lab Production Award.
Award Moreover The Four
Times has been financed by MIBAC, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Eurimages,
ARTE/ZDF and TSI.
Productions
Lo specchio (The Mirror), by David Christensen, in coproduction with Agitprop Films,
supported by Piemonte Doc Film Fund (85’, digital, 2009). 62nd Locarno Film Festival;
ragazzo.. Un ritratto di Bruno Trentin (With the Fury of a Boy), by Franco
Con la furia di un ragazzo
Giraldi, in coproduction with Fondazione Di Vittorio and Archivio del Movimento Operaio e
Democratico (84’, digital, 2008);
Armando e la politica (Armando & Politics), by Chiara Malta, in coproduction with Sacrebleu
Productions (France) for Arte ZDF (80’, super16mm/digital, 2008). 26th Turin Film Festival –
Lo Stato delle Cose;
Uso improprio (Unauthorized Use), by Luca Gasparini and Alberto Masi (71’, digital, 2008).
26th Turin Film Festival – Italiana doc;
Lovero.. Sogno di una morte di mezza estate (Pinuccio Lovero. A Midsummmer
Pinuccio Lovero
Death’s Dream), by Pippo Mezzapesa, in coproduction with Makò Show and Fanfara Film,
with the support of Apulia Film Commission (52’, digital, 2008). 65th Venice Film Festival;
Le vite possibili (Possible Lives), by Corso Salani, (50’, digital, 2008). 20° Trieste Film
Festival, Arcipelago Festival Internazionale di Cortometraggi e Nuove Immagini 2009;
rapporti.. Due poeti due voci (Possible Meetings. Two Poets, Two Voices), by Nelo
Possibili rapporti
Risi, supported by MIBAC and Regione del Veneto (52’, digital, 2008). 61st Locarno Film
Festival;
guerra.. La follia nelle trincee (War’s Fools. Madness in the Trenches), by Enrico
Scemi di guerra
Verra, for History Channel Italy and RTI, in coproduction with Provincia Autonoma di Trento
(50’, digital, 2008);
L’ultima sentinella (The Last Sentry), by Susanna Nicchiarelli, in coproduction with Nicchia
Film (52’, digital, 2008);
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Confini d’Europa (Borders of Europe), a series by Corso Salani produced by Vivo film for
Fuori Orario/Rai Tre (digital, 6x52’, 2006-07); Borders of Europe #3 Imatra won the Jury
Special Prize – Filmmakers of the Present Competition at Locarno Film Festival 2007;
Vincenzo Cerami legge Le mille e una notte (Vincenzo Cerami reads One Thousand and One
Night ), tv direction by Giovanni Ribet, produced for Rai Due Palcoscenico in collaboration
with Donzelli Editore (70’, digital, 2007);
Il cuore del soldatino (The Heart of the Tin Soldier), by Guido Chiesa (15’, digital, 2007).
Bellaria Film Festival Anteprima Doc 2007, Arcipelago Festival Internazionale di
Cortometraggi e Nuove Immagini;
Tracce (Traces), by Corso Salani (13’, digital, 2007). Bellaria Film Festival Anteprima 2007;
Il mio paese (My Country), by Daniele Vicari, supported by Associazione Centenario CGIL, in
collaboration with RAI Cinema (113’, 35mm, 2006). 63rd Venice Film Festival; David di
Donatello 2007 (best documentary film), Italian Dvd Awards 2007 (best Italian documentary);
Scorretto (Incorrect), by Marco Presta and Fabio Toncelli, with Marco Presta and Chiara
Noschese, tv direction by Giovanni Ribet, executive production for Rai Due Palcoscenico
(90’, digital, 2007);
utopia.. La televisione secondo Rossellini (The Last Utopia. Television according to
L’ultima utopia
Rossellini), by Jean-Louis Comolli, in coproduction with Ina, Istituto Luce and Rai Trade (90’,
digital, 2006). Cinéma du Réel 2006;
Stessa spiaggia stesso mare (Souvenir d’Italie), by Guido Chiesa, for History Channel Italy,
supported by Regione Emilia-Romagna (52’, digital, 2006);
prova.. Emilio Rentocchini poeta a Sassuolo (A Life on Trial. Emilio Rentocchini poet
Giorni in prova
in Sassuolo), by Daria Menozzi, supported by Regione Emilia-Romagna (76’, digital, 2006).
Festival dei Popoli - Italian competition;
Papervision #1 Chiara Carrer, by Elisabetta Lodoli (25’, digital, 2006). Festival di Palazzo
Venezia, Art Doc Fest Roma 2006;
Radio Clandestina, by and with Ascanio Celestini, tv direction by Daria Menozzi, executive
production for Rai Due Palcoscenico (80’, digital, 2004);
Site specific_Roma 04, by Olivo Barbieri (2004, 12’, 35mm). Festival Internazionale di
Fotografia di Roma 2004; Locarno Film Festival 2004; Festival du Cinéma Mediterranéen
Montpellier 2004; International Film Festival Rotterdam 2005; International Brooklyn Film
Festival 2005; Toronto International Film Festival 2005; Hong Kong International Film Festival
2006; Jenjou International Film Festival 2006.
International distribution
Elle s’appelle Sabine, by Sandrine Bonnaire, a Mosaïque Films production, Cannes Film
Festival 2007 (France, 85’, 35mm, 2007);
Il peggio di noi (Our Worst Side), by Corso Salani, produced by Corso Salani, 59th Locarno
Film Festival; Bellaria Film Festival 2006 (90’, digital, 2006);
C’è un posto in Italia (There is a Place in Italy), by Corso Salani, produced by Gianluca
Arcopinto (58’, digital, 2005);
Le cinéma passe à table, by Anne Andreu, a Cinétévé production, with the participation of
TSR - RTBF - BETV and Centre National de la Cinématographie (France, 52’, digital, 2005)
I am Alive – Søren Ulrik Thomsen, poet, by Jørgen Leth, - a Bech Film ApS production in
coproduction with Det Danske Filminstitut, DR TV (Denmark, 40’, 35mm, 1999).
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ventura film produces feature and documentary films, in collaboration with European
partners. From its beginning, in 1991, it focused on productions that explore and cross
borders, both in their form and contents.
select filmography
2000 No quarto da Vanda by Pedro Costa, 35mm, 169’. Co-produced with Contracosta,
Pandora, RTP, ZDF, RTSI. Awards: Locarno International Film Festival: prix du jury des jeunes,
special mention official jury, mention jury of cinéclubs - Cinéma du Réel Paris: prix de la
Bibliothèque - Yamagata International Documentary Festival: FIPRESCI prize - Cannes Film
Festival 2002: France Culture Award, Foreign Cineaste of the Year - Valencia Film Festival:
best cinematography
2002 Angel on the Right by Djamshed Usmonov, 35mm, 89’. Co-produced with Fabrica
Cinema, ArtCam, Asht Village, RTSI, Rai Cinema. Official selection Cannes 2002, Un certain
regard. Awards: London Film Festival: FIPRESCI prize - Tokyo Film Festival: special jury prize
- Angers European First Film Festival: special jury prize - Singapore International Film
Festival: best Asian director - Bratislava International Film Festival: best actor & Ecumenical
jury prize - Tromsø International Film Festival: Aurora award and Don Quixote award - Nika
award for best CIS and Baltics film - Wiesbaden goEast: special mention
2004 Los muertos by Lisandro Alonso, 35mm, 78’. Co-produced with 4L, Fortuna Films, Slot
Machine / ARTE, RTSI. Official selection Cannes 2004, Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. Awards:
Torino Film Festival, best film - Cinédécouvertes (Belgique): Golden Age award - Viennale
2004: Standard Reader’s prize & FIPRESCI prize - Karlovy Vary International Film Festival:
Czech Television award for the Forum of Independents’ best film - International Yerevan Film
Festival: jury special prize - International Film Festival Santiago de Chile: best film - Festival
Paysages de Cinéastes de Chatenay Malabry: special jury prize & best photography - Lima
Latin American Film Festival: critics award
2005 Die gr
grosse
osse Stille (Into Great Silence) by Philip Groening, 35mm, 164’. Co-produced with
Philip Gröning Filmproduktion, BR, ARTE/ZDF, SSR/RTSI. Awards: Sundance Film Festival:
special jury prize - Bayerischer Filmpreis 2005: best documentary film - German Critics award
- Nomination Deutscher Filmpreis - prix Arte best European documentary 2006 - Deutscher
Kamerapreis - Premio Ennio Flaiano: best camera & best film - German Films: film of the year Sao Paulo International Film Festival: jury prize
2006 Juventude em marcha by Pedro Costa, 35mm, 155’. Co-produced with Contracosta,
Unlimited, ARTE, RTP, RTSI. Official selection Cannes 2006, Competition. Awards: Los
Angeles Film Critics Association award: Independent/Experimental Film&Video award
Volevo solo vivere by Mimmo Calopresti, 35mm, 75’. Co-produced with Shoah Foundation, Rai
Cinema, Gagè ,Wildside media, RTSI Official selection Cannes 2006, out of competition
2007 Fuori dalle corde by Fulvio Bernasconi, 35mm, 86’. Co-produced with ITC Movie, Bianca
Film, Rai Cinema, RTSI. Awards: Locarno International Film Festival, Silver Leopard (ex
aequo) for best actor, Michele Venitucci - Brooklyn International Film Festival: best
cinematography - Santa Marinella Film Festival: best film - Annonay International Film Festival:
best music - Nomination: Swiss Film Prize for Best Feature Film
Salata Baladi by Nadia Kamel, Digital Betacam, 104’. Co-produced with Snooze Productions,
Les Films d’Ici, Citizen Production, RTSI. Locarno International Film Festival 2007, Ici &
ailleurs. Awards: San Francisco Arab Film Festival: best documentary - Mumbai International
Film Festival: best long documentary & FIPRESCI award - Egypt Certificate of Merit
Dutti der Riese by Martin Witz, 35mm, 94’. Co-produced with RTSI, Teleclub. Locarno
Interntional Film Festival 2007, Ici & ailleurs. Awards: Filmprize City of Zurich - Nomination
Prix Walo
Vogliamo anche le rose by Alina Marazzi, 35mm, 81’. Co-produced with Mir Cinematografica,
Rai Cinema, RTSI. Locarno International Film Festival 2007, Piazza Grande
Awards: Nomination David di Donatello: best documentary
2009 Segreti e sorelle (Secrets and Sisters) by Francesco Jost, HD, 82’, Co-produced with RSI
Televisione Svizzera. Solothurn Film Festival, Bergamo Film Meeting
Custodi di guerra by Zijad Ibrahimovic, Digital Betacam, 52’. Co-produced with RSIRadiotelevisione svizzera. Locarno International Film Festival, Ici & ailleurs
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