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It thundered so much that it rained, that is, everything as widely predicted, even if with controversy attached. The Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, has appointed Sergio Castellitto as president of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. The famous actor and director, who turned seventy this year, will lead one of the most important Italian cinematographic institutions, founded way back in 1935.
It should also be noted that Pupi Avati, Giancarlo Giannini, Cristiana Massaro, Andrea Minuz, Santino Vincenzo Mannino and Mauro Carlo Ciampotti were designated as members of the Board of Directors: the first three were chosen directly by the minister, the others appointed on the proposal of the others ministers.
«The appointment of such a high profile Board of Directors led by a personality of absolute human and professional quality such as Sergio Castellitto and composed of very prestigious names, makes us understand how the controversies of recent months were specious. We wanted to raise the quality and we did so”, is the comment of Minister Sangiuliano, who sent the communication to the Culture Commissions of the Chamber and Senate which will have to express their opinion within 20 days.
The controversies
Who knows if the controversies referred to by Minister Sangiuliano, which had developed in recent months, will now completely subside. It was mid-July when a banner appeared outside the headquarters of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia reading “Culture cannot be divided into parcels. The CSC does not bind”, posted on the facade of the institute, in protest against the League’s amendment, included in the Jubilee decree. The controversy arose due to various points present in the text, starting from the choice of a direct scientific committee political appointment. Among the many who spoke, Nicola Zingaretti spoke out underlining how this proposal was: «another shame on the part of a majority obsessed with seats and which despises the autonomy of public institutions». The words of a joint statement by 100 authors were also very strong – Cinetelevisiva Authorship Association and WGI – Writers Guild Italia: «the amendment presented to the Jubilee Legislative Decree to change the nature and structure of the Experimental Cinematography Center must be withdrawn. We are talking about one of the oldest and most prestigious film schools in the world, an Italian and international point of reference, which generates art and talent. Its autonomy must be a value to be preserved and for this reason we believe the attempt to change a governance that is also achieving extraordinary results in terms of employment is inadmissible”.
Sergio Castellitto
While waiting to discover the developments of Minister Sangiuliano’s proposal, this is undoubtedly another great achievement in the career of Sergio Castellitto, one of the most loved and awarded actors in our contemporary cinema. Among his most beautiful performances we cannot fail to mention “L ‘hour of religion” and “The wedding director” by Marco Bellocchio, but also “The great watermelon” by Francesca Archibugi, “The star man” by Giuseppe Tornatore, “The star that isn’t there” by Gianni Amelio and “Christmas in the Cupiello house” by Edoardo De Angelis.
Castellitto has also signed numerous feature films as director, including “Non ti move” and “Venuto al mondo”, while recently we have seen him on the big screen in “The most beautiful century of my life”, alongside Valerio Lundini, and in “Enea”, directed by his son Pietro and presented in competition at the latest Venice Film Festival.