Ballata per un Pezzo da Novanta
Manfredo Manfredi
Italy 1965 / 11’
A work of great social commitment during the early artistic period of Manfredi, characterized by the fruitful collaboration with Guido Gomas. A courageous work on the mafia, with a violent result and vibrant content. A scratching in which it is easy to find in the vivid colours, the contrasting tones of Guttuso’s profound painting. The film is dedicated to the character of Serafina Battaglia, one of the many widows of the sawn-off shotgun, who, in breach of the rules of the conspiracy of silence, unmasks those responsible for the murder.
Soggetto e Animazione: Manfredo Manfredi e Guido Gomas
Fotografia: Elio Gagliardo
Musica originale: Franco Potenza
Produzione: Corona Cinematografica
Manfredo Manfredi
He graduated in Scenography at the Academy of Fine Arts, in 1958. He began his activity as a scenographer in 1960, in 1962, he made the drawings for the Carosello theme song and sets for films, documentaries and television shows. His experimentation in the field of animated cinema began in 1963, with short films denouncing social wrongs such as ‘Ballata per un pezzo da novanta’ (1966) on the Sicilian mafia, or ‘Su sàmbene non est abba’ (1968), on banditry in Sardinia. From 1968 to 1975, he directed several short films produced by Corona Cinematografica. In 1975, ‘Uva salamanna’ won the Moscow International Film Festival. In 1977, he was nominated at the Oscars for best animated short film with ‘Dedalo’. In the following years he became a member of the Roman Cineteam and he made institutional films, TV specials, dozens of commercials and TV theme songs. In the 1990s, he made two remarkable splendid adaptations of literary works: the XXVI Canto of Dante’s Inferno (known as Ulysses canto), and ‘Invisible Cities’ by Italo Calvino. At the same time, as a painter, he developed his research in the field of abstract expressionism, an activity that continues to this day. After 20 years entirely dedicated to painting, he has returned to animated cinema with a new film entitled ‘Lo spirito della notte’.