Italian music video creators: a comparison of generations

For info and bookings: l.valerio@abaroma.it bb.dimarino@abaroma.it

The music video scene in Italy today is extremely varied and made up of directors from different generations, from the twenties to the fifties, all characterised by different styles and approaches, from the more classic and (semi-)narrative, to the experimental, which uses both traditional animation techniques and digital effects and post-production, to the conceptual and the performative. The workshop aims to take stock of the situation, emphasising how the relationship between images and sounds in Italy represents an increasingly vibrant and fertile field.

We are far from the archaeological era of the 1980s, when the lack of money made the difference compared to Anglo-Saxon music video production. Today, our videos, although largely low-budget, are in no way inferior to international ones, since ideas count more than resources and the music scene, which has been totally revamped, also offers new figures and stimuli.

The workshop aims to explore some aspects related to music videos in depth, through the experience of five Italian authors (or collectives) specialising in music videos. The meetings will address issues of an aesthetic, technical and production nature, bringing the students of the academy into dialogue with professionals in the sector. During the workshop, not only music videos will be screened, but also clips of other works by the same creators.

The workshop is organised by the Cinematic and Audiovisual Theory and Analysis course and by the School of Cinema, Photography, and Audiovisual Arts, and is open to all students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.

Participation in 3 meetings entitles the student to 1 training credit; participation in all meetings entitles the student to 2 training credits. Attendance at the meetings can be combined with that of Aperitivi al Cinema.

Schedule of events:

• Saturday 22 April (Ganga: Francesco Cabras and Alberto Molinari) room 209 from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
• Saturday 29 April (Bendo: Lorenzo Silvestri and Andrea Santaterra) Aula Magna from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
• Saturday 13 May (Alessandra Pescetta) Aula Magna from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
• Saturday 20 May (Jacopo Farina + Tutti fenomeni) Aula Magna from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
• Friday 26 May (Zavvo Nicolosi) Aula Magna from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm

The meetings will be recorded and can be viewed later on the communication channels of the Academy of Fine Arts.

Bio of the creators:

Bendo, the name behind which lie the two videomakers Lorenzo Silvestri and Andrea Santaterra, who have made over 160 music videos over a period of seven years. Among the artists they have worked with are: Gazzelle (Belva, Destri and Polynesia), Mara Sattei (Scusa), Emma (Latina), Achille Lauro (Me ne frego), and Fulminacci (Tattica). Bendo are linked to the Maciste Dischi label, one of the most interesting on the Italian indie scene. Versatile in style, they are able to move from the sumptuousness of Scusa to the amateur film immediacy full of rhythm and cuts of Latina, from the black and white based on cuts of light and shadow in 1:33 format of classic cinema in Pezzo di cuore (Emma and Alessandra Amoroso) to the chromatic-scenographic explosion of Destri (Gazzelle) where the surreal set takes centre stage. And while the multi-ethnic trap of Defuera (DRD ft Ghali, Madame and Marracash) requires a ritualistic staging suited to the genre, Bendo surprises with experimental flashes (Carrillon by Nahaze ft Achille Lauro) and underground drifts (Goodbye Goodbye by Canova), not to mention forays into dance (Per te by Canova or Sopra by Gazzelle).

“Belva”, 2021, music: Gazzelle, director: Bendo

Ganga Film was founded in 1999 by Francesco Cabras and Alberto Molinari (directors, authors, producers and cinematographers) together with the editor, digital composer and colourist Francesco Struffi (who left in 2006 but returned to collaborate on several occasions). Over the years, the company has also had Francesco G. Raganato among its partners. They have made about thirty music videos for artists such as Sergio Cammariere, Nada, Max Gazzé, Giorgia, Leo Pari, CapaRezza and many others. The documentaries made by Ganga include: Una grande fortuna (2002) and Il Compromesso. La tragedia di Michelangelo e la tomba di Giulio II (1999), judged to be the best documentary produced by RAI in that year. But it is above all to The Big Question (2006) that they owe their fame: this feature-length documentary, filmed on the set of The Passion by Mel Gibson (who also produced it) and subsequently censored and blocked due to religious differences with the American director, but then “released” according to the director himself on the basis of its artistic merits, was distributed in US cinemas to great international critical acclaim. One of the constants of the Ganga trademark, in addition to its incredible eclecticism, has been to make almost exclusively self-produced or co-produced works, directed and written by the company itself. With an attitude always aimed at perfectionism in detail, without compromising with the logic of the market. This is despite working on commission on several occasions (such as for television work or for music videos and advertising). Extreme rigour and dedication to achieving a quality final result are characteristics that have been combined with an artistic and artisanal vocation. After the group broke up, Cabras and Molinari continued to produce work independently.

Zavvo Nicolosi, from Catania, born in 1983, founder of the Ground’s Oranges collective, is one of the most interesting music video directors on the Italian scene today. He now has over forty works to his credit from 2011 to the present, including for Baustelle, Zen Circus and Mario Venuti, among others. But his name is linked above all to his fellow countryman, the singer-songwriter Colapesce, for whom he has made numerous music videos, including Maledetti italiani, Sospesi, Totale, in addition to the two Sanremo music videos for the songs composed and performed together with Dimartino, namely Musica leggerissima (which has exceeded 100 million views on YouTube) and Splash. Nicolosi’s style is characterised by a strong surrealism (which leads to hyperrealism) and his music videos are marked by a series of linked images, full of associations, references, quotations and paradoxes. In short, his promos fall into the category of conceptual clips, acquiring a flavour that is not so much Italian as international, or rather Sicilian, not least because Nicolosi and his associates have been able to demonstrate that, even within the music system, it is possible to create a real factory far from the Milanese recording world, remaining in Sicily, a land of strong creativity and spectacular locations, which often become the focus of a very colourful and, at times, alienating, but deeply Mediterranean imagery. Nicolosi recently made his feature film debut with La primavera della mia vita, an unusual on-the-road film through the mythical and legendary places of Trinacria, starring Colapesce and Dimartino.

“Splash”, 2023, music: Colapesce and Dimartino, director: Zavvo Nicolosi

Alessandra Pescetta (Verona, 1966). She graduated in painting in 1989 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice (lecturer Fabrizio Plessi). After several experiences in the field of video art, in 1992 she began directing her first music videos for some independent Italian bands. She has made about fifty for artists such as Timoria, 99 posse, Articolo 31, Ligabue and Elisa. She has a great passion for dance and choreography, which she studied from 1972 to 1987, while in Milan she worked in advertising from 1999 to 2003. Alongside some short films such as L’ombra della sposa (2017) and Solstizio d’inverno (2018), Pescetta made the feature film La città senza notte in 2015 and is currently working on a new feature film entitled 100 preludi. Pescetta has never completely abandoned the field of music video and experimentation: for example, in 2017 she made the music video Till The Sunrise Comes, for the supergroup composed of Lef (Obake), Pipitone (Marta sui tubi), Edwin (Porcupine Tree) and Mastelotto (King Crimson).

Communications Office of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome
Coordination: Prof. Guglielmo Gigliotti g.gigliotti@abaroma.it
Collaboration: Chiara Picco, Martina Macchia, Marianna Pontillo comunicazione@abaroma.it