Catalogo Giornate del Cinema Muto 2012 - La Cineteca del Friuli

The special quality of the original Aardman partnership is that Sproxton and Lord have never allowed themselves to be turned into moguls. Despite the international
success of the company, they remain human and committed artists, involved in every aspect of the production. Sproxton has co-produced Chicken Run, The Curse
of the Were-Rabbit, Flushed Away, Arthur Christmas, and the recent Pirates! Band of Misfits, directed by Peter Lord, and is intimately involved in the studio’s many
television projects.
Like Peter Lord and Richard Williams, David has been a frequent visitor to the Giornate: all three great animators acknowledge the powerful influence of silent
cinema on animation techniques. Aardman are major sponsors of the Bristol Slapstick Festival, for which they have instituted the annual Aardman Award for
outstanding achievement in visual comedy. In 2008 Aardman contributed generously to the costs of restoring the films of Alexander Shiryaev for the Giornate’s
historic tribute to the pioneer animator.
His Jonathan Dennis Lecture will be a development of the Richard Gregory Lecture he delivered at the University of Bristol last year, and which attracted marked
attention for its original and ranging association of animation history with the nature of perception. He writes, “The talk is really about how we perceive moving
images and moves on to whether there is a universal language of facial expression or body language; and why we don’t like characters that are almost human but
not quite. It is focussed on how we perceive motion, emotion, and how we as audiences respond.”
Precedenti relatori/Previous Lecturers: Neil Brand (2002), Richard Williams (2003), Peter Lord (2004), Donald Richie (2005), Michael Eaton (2006), John Canemaker (2007),
Eileen Bowser (2008), Edith Kramer (2009), Sir Jeremy Isaacs (2010), Serge Bromberg & Eric Lange (2011)
8
The 2012 Pordenone Masterclasses
Giunte alla decima edizione, le Masterclasses per l’accompagnamento dei film muti hanno acquisito una reputazione internazionale per il contributo
davvero unico dato a un campo musicale molto specialistico e già ci sono dei progetti per sviluppare l’idea in altri centri. Le lezioni sono aperte agli
ospiti del festival, per cui costituiscono uno dei pezzi forti del programma. In particolare aprono nuovi orizzonti all’interpretazione filmica. Un musicista
di cinema esige e sviluppa una capacità di penetrare il contenuto, la psicologia, la struttura di un film molto più acuta degli altri, ed è questo che i nostri
pianisti cercano di trasmettere nel corso delle lezioni, risultando illuminanti anche per gli studiosi più sofisticati.
Il primo obiettivo delle Masterclasses è quello di raffinare e sviluppare la tecnica dei giovani artisti che vogliono cimentarsi con il cinema muto e per
questo siamo alla costante ricerca di candidati idonei. I musicisti invitati quest’anno sono Philip Blandford e Bruno Rattini.
Philip Blandford ha studiato musica alla Bristol University e ha sempre amato improvvisare in vari generi. Oltre a dedicarsi costantemente al repertorio
classico, Chopin in particolare, e ad essersi cimentato con il musical teatrale, è diventato un provetto jazzista stile anni venti e sta ora cercando di
applicare la sua vasta esperienza al cinema di quel periodo.
Bruno Rattini ha cominciato a suonare da piccolo, sotto la guida del padre, il celebre organista Stefano Rattini. Bruno si è diplomato in Organo e Composizione
Organistica presso il Conservatorio di Trento e pur continuando a perfezionarsi come organista, nel tempo libero si è dedicato al pianoforte e alla fisarmonica:
“Sono affascinato da ogni tipo di musica (all’organo adoro suonare colonne sonore cinematografiche), mi piace improvvisare perché posso creare e trasmettere
emozioni. Mi piacciono i collegamenti tra le arti e trovo attraente l’idea di approfondire il commento delle immagini con la musica.”
Donazione Otto Plaschkes I costi del soggiorno a Pordenone dei candidati prescelti per le Masterclasses sono sostenuti con la donazione Otto Plaschkes.
Quando questo creativo produttore del cinema britannico di origine austriaca morì nel 2005, un gruppo di amici costituì un fondo da versare alle Giornate
in suo ricordo. Visto che la passione più grande di Otto era la musica e che egli era rimasto affascinato dall’attività svolta dal festival in campo musicale,
la donazione Otto Plaschkes è stata destinata alle Masterclasses con l’entusiastica approvazione della vedova, Louise Stein.
Now in their tenth year, the Pordenone Masterclasses in silent film accompaniment have today a world-wide reputation for their unique contribution to
this very specialized field of music, and there are already plans to extend the idea to other centres. They are open to festival guests, who are discovering
that the Masterclasses provide one of the best shows in town. In particular they offer new insights into film interpretation. The best film musicians, as we
discover, require and develop a much deeper insight into the film’s content, psychology, and structure than the rest of us, and our musicians collaborate
to impart something of this, in the course of the masterclass sessions, in a way that is illuminating even to the most sophisticated film scholars.
The first aim of the masterclasses is to refine and develop the technique of young artists embarking on film accompaniment, and we are always in search
of likely candidates. This year’s masterclass guests are Philip Blandford and Bruno Rattini.
Philip Blandford studied music at Bristol University, and has always enjoyed improvisation in various genres. In addition to an abiding dedication to the
classical repertoire, especially Chopin, and experience in musical theatre work, he has since become an accomplished jazz player in the style of the 1920s,
and is now seeking to apply his ranging expertise to the cinema of the period. Bruno Rattini began to play music as a small child, under the guidance
of his father, the celebrated organist Stefano Rattini. Bruno graduated with a degree in organ and organ composition at the Conservatory of Trento, and
while continuing his development as an organist has worked with piano and accordion in his spare time: “I am fascinated by every type of music (I adore
playing film soundtracks on the organ) and I like to improvise because I am able to create and transmit emotions. I love the links between the arts and
am attracted by the idea of deepening the significance of the images with music.”
The Otto Plaschkes Gift The residence of the Masterclass participants in Pordenone is supported by the Otto Plaschkes Gift. When the Austrian-born
Otto Plaschkes, one of Britain’s most imaginative film producers, died in 2005, a group of his friends contributed to a fund to be donated to the Giornate
in his memory. Otto’s passion – after film – was music, and he was particularly fascinated by the musical work of the Giornate, so it seemed appropriate
to dedicate the Otto Plaschkes Gift to helping sustain the Masterclasses, with the enthusiastic collaboration of Otto’s widow, Louise Stein.
NEIL BRAND, DAVID ROBINSON
Le Masterclasses si tengono ogni giorno da lunedì a venerdì presso l’Auditorium della Regione. L’accesso è libero per tutti gli accreditati.
The Masterclasses will be held daily from Monday to Friday, in the Auditorium della Regione (Via Roma, 2), and are open to all festival guests.
9