CIS EXHIBITION 2017

FOOD AND FILM STORIES

From November 16th, 2017 to January 26th, 2018 at Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles

In the process of pursuing reality which has marked a large part of Italian cinema, the table and food have always presented a privileged viewpoint from which to observe customs, traditions and record the changes underway in society.
Conviviality was the word in the typical postwar trattorie where it was as if the diners, sitting side by side, formed a large family. Over time this has changed, the identity has broken down. Present-day cinema screens now portray selective restaurants, with their very much separate tables, the mirror of a society that favors detachment or dining at home with friends. The change is significant, from the interaction of patriarchal families, united around large tables, to the break-up of the family unit, from never-ending lunches preceded by time-consuming preparation, to simple food eaten quickly in the street.
These developments are highlighted by this evocative collection of photos, created entirely from images from the Cineteca Nazionale photo archive. The gallery revolves around three places that have always been connected to food: the street, the kitchen, and the table.
These black-and-white images, featuring the faces of the great names in Italian cinema, revive our childhood memories of the kitchen, the fireside, simple situations lived with great intensity, and those culinary skills shared by our grandmothers.
The photos bring back sensations and values, we rediscover the sweet warmth, the sense of intimacy of the wooden benches where we would once sit to meditate, make bread, iron and devote ourselves to those little everyday actions. Back then, desks were a privilege of the few.
These are details that only the art of photography can freeze in time, as it captures the slow progression of the seasons, but also the persistence of objects, kitchen utensils and the lives that they enclose.
Altogether, this panorama takes us to the heart of the Italians’ great passion for food, showing the social role it has always played, in every era.

The exhibition Food and Film Stories is produced by Istituto Luce Cinecittà with images from the archives of Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.