On the occasion of the 10th Beirut Art Film Festival – BAFF, and as part of the section dedicated to Italy, the Italian Cultural Institute is pleased to announce the screening of the documentary film on Piero Portaluppi, L’Amatore. (Italy, 2017, 90 minutes), directed by Maria Mauti, original version with English subtitles. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the director, in English and via Zoom. George Arbid, architect and director of the Arab Center for Architecture, will animate the conversation with her about Piero Portaluppi, the archives and the film.
The Milanese architect Piero Portaluppi was one of the big names of the Fascist archival period. Through the very numerous film reels that he himself, being a film amateur, had shot and edited – later found by chance by his family members long after his death – the documentary is Maria Mauti’s first work and aims to present the figure of Piero Portaluppi without shadows or reticence. However, it is not only a revisitation of an architect of unquestionable prestige but, precisely through the material he filmed and which was left in its original editing in the documentary, also the reconstruction of an era ranging from the First World War to fascism to whose architectural canons he never adhered. His detachment from the contingencies of his time and the unrelenting irony that pervaded his every artistic and private manifestation make him a subject that is very interesting to investigate and learn about.
Maria Mauti, author and director, was born in Milan in 1974, where she graduated in Philosophy with a thesis on Theater and Politics. She then obtained a master’s degree in Creation Documentary at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.
Since 2003, she has been collaborating with ClassicaHD, airing on Sky. She has also been curating productions related to contemporary Italian music, opera theater and dance and thus making a number of documentaries on valuable personalities in the cultural domain, including Daniel Barenboim, Carolyn Carlson, Antonio Pappano, Bill T. Jones (documentary selected at the American Dance Festival), Fabio Vacchi and many others. She also collaborates with various institutions such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, La Biennale di Venezia, I Teatri di Reggio Emilia, Maxxi Museo in Rome, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.
In 2011 she began collaborating with the Teatro Grande in Brescia on a series of short films about opera as part of the Dietro le quinte [Behind the Scenes] project, and in 2013 she made a documentary on the history of the Teatro Grande entitled Memorie [Memories].
The film L’Amatore is her first feature film.