BESTIALE! ANIMAL FILM STARS
The National cinema museum in Turin is presenting BESTIALE! animal film stars, the first important exhibition celebrating animals on the big screen, by curators Davide Ferrario and Donata Pesenti Campagnoni, with Tamara Sillo and Nicoletta Pacini’s collaboration.
Animals have always been a part of cinematographic imagery.
From historical dog stars such as Rin Tin Tin and Lassie to the new wave of 4 legged protagonists characterising contemporary production, from Bresson’s Balthazar to Spielberg’s shark, animals have never ceased to provide material for stories of all kinds.
The exhibition circuit develops within the Mole Antonelliana and is structured in ten themed sections telling spectators about a multi-faceted universe, in which photographs, posters, storyboards, set-costumes, memorabilia and animatronics dialogue with footage from films assembled into special edits.
The over 440 items on display retrace animals’ constant and transversal presence within the history of film, following two main themes.
The first explains what an animal star is, and particularly, what the relationship is between a popular icon and a flesh-and-blood animal (often not a single one, but more than one, playing it out on the screen).
The second one examines the role of an animal-actor, wondering whether "animal performance" exists, especially nowadays, when animatronics and special digital effects lead in the direction of animal characters that seem increasingly like human beings, changing their very nature.
“The National Cinema Museum is very proud of hosting this lovely exhibition dedicated to the link between cinema and animals - states Paolo Damilano, the President of the National Cinema Museum in Turin – It is the result of great team work within the museum and has been rendered even more valuable due to partnerships with important and prestigious international institutions, adding itself to the many other initiatives which the museum has implemented during these initial six months in 2017 and which have brought a good 20,000 extra visitors compared to the same period in 2016; a growing trend which we hope will continue throughout 2017”.
For the entire duration of the exhibition, activities will be featured for summer camps, for schools and for the public, including meetings with teachers, visits and laboratories at the Museum and screenings at the Cinema Massimo, in the framework of the showcase dedicated to this exhibition.
In order to make visits to the exhibition easier, Facilitated Access Information will be available for the public. A dedicated totem at the beginning of the circuit will offer the possibility of consulting the exhibition captions in high legibility in several languages, facilitated texts in Italian and in English, DSA concept maps, texts in Braille for the sight-impaired.
Braille stickers are present along the showcase circuit on the banisters as well as QR codes/NFC for activating audio-video contents, with a LIS (Italian Sign Language) interpreter and subtitles in Italian.
Three visual-and-touch models of Cheetah, Rhubarb and Uggie may be found in the Caffè Torino area, as well as the new multi-sensorial book What is an animal star? with pictures, visual-and-touch drawings, texts, LIS audio-video and concept maps.
The exhibition is rounded off by the rich Bestiale! Animal Film Stars catalogue by curators Davide Ferrario and Donata Pesenti Campagnoni, with Tamara Sillo and Nicoletta Pacini’s collaboration, published by Silvana Editoriale. The catalogue includes texts by Donata Pesenti Campagnoni, Davide Ferrario, Marco Paolini, Nicoletta Pacini, Tamara Sillo, Petrine Day Mitchum, Randy Haberkamp, Emanuela Martini, Peppino Ortoleva, Riccardo Fassone, Silvio Alovisio, Enzo Lavagnini, Grazia Paganelli, Giovanna Maina and Federico Zecca, all accompanied by a rich collection of pictures.
From 11 October to 1 November 2017 the Cinema Massimo will feature Bestiale. Animal Film Stars, an ample showcase linked to the themes and suggestive aspects of this exhibition, in an assorted panorama ranging from Hollywood classics to auteur European cinema, demonstrating how influential the contribution given by animals to cinema has been.
The next edition of the Torino Film Festival will also dedicate a small section to cats in film.
For the whole duration of the exhibition, several initiatives are programmed, featuring the involvement of our 4 legged pals.
The partnership with Atuttacoda
Oval at the Lingotto, 16-17 September
Atuttacoda will make an area dedicated to the exhibition available at the Lingotto Oval, where the PETS ON THE SET. Pose for a portrait with your star animal photography set will be laid out, in which visitors may be photographed with their own pet.
“ANIMAL STARS. Draw and Colour your favourite cinema animal” cards to colour will also be available for children.
Special Event - Great Hollywood Dogs
Cinema Massimo, 17 October at 8.30 p.m.
Curator Randy Haberkamp will also be attending, as Managing Director of the Preservation and Foundation Program, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.
A special evening, where dogs are invited to participate with their masters!
“Pet Delicacies” offered by Monge will be made available for those taking part.
Rai Movie and LaZampa.it are the exhibition Media Partners.
Rai Movie will follow and support exhibition events with social activities, reports in its movie-mag section and a film programme (to be broadcast in the autumn) featuring animals as its stars.
LaZampa.it website will host stories and anecdotes about animal stars on the big screen and its readers will be encouraged to send videos showing the artistic abilities of their four-legged pets: their “cinematographic skills” will not matter, as much as their wish to enjoy themselves with their human friends.