Chronorama Movies

Palazzo Grassi presents a film programme curated by film critic and independent curator Dominique Païni and dedicated to the current photography exhibition "CHRONORAMA. Photographic Treasures of the 20th Century".

Structured in seven appointments, spanning from the 1910s to the end of the 1970s, the screenings trace the themes of the 20th century and includes short and feature films featuring some of the protagonists of the images exhibited at Palazzo Grassi. The programme is conceived as an echo to the photographs on view and underlines the way photography and cinema influenced each other artistically during the 20th century.

Wednesday 20 September
1910s
The first event presents short films made in the 1910s from the Institut Lumière and Gaumont Pathé Archives, including some of the earliest fictional films and early attempts at colourisation:

• Unknown author, Danse serpentine, I, 1897, 00'50
• Unknown author, Danse serpentine, II, 1897, 00'50
• Alexandre Pomio, Panorama du Grand Canal pris d'un bateau, 1896, 00'50
• Charles Moisson, Tramway sur le Grand Canal, 1896, 00'50
• Segundo de Chomón, Fantaisies endiablées, 1907, 3'05
• Segundo de Chomón, Métempsycose, 1907, 3'57
• Léonce Perret, Le Chrysanthème rouge, 1911, 13'21
• Léonce Perret, Le Mystère des roches de Kador, 1912, 46'36

Wednesday 27 September
1920s
The second event presents 3 films by artists and photographers present in the exhibition "CHRONORAMA" with their works or portraits: Paul Strand and Charles Sheeler, Fernand Léger and Charlie Chaplin:

• Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand, Manhatta, 1921, 9'
• Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy, Le Ballet Mécanique, 1924, 16'31
• Charles Chaplin, The Kid, 1921, 60'

Wednesday 11 October
1930s
Extracts from films by Constantin Brâncuși, a short film by Carlos Vilardebó about Cirque di Calder and Josef von Sternberg's Dishonored, the film that brought Marlene Dietrich into modern mythology, are screened:

• Constantin Brâncuși, Les films de Brâncuși, 1923-1939, 6'30 (extracts)
• Carlos Vilardebó, Le Cirque de Calder, 1961, 26'38
• Josef von Sternberg, Dishonored, 1931, 91'

Wednesday 18 October
1940s
The 1940s were the decade during which modern photography was born. The subjects and comic artists of the cinema also change, from Charlie Chaplin to Jacques Tati. Hollywood favours younger and younger actresses:

• Jacques Tati, L’école des facteurs, 1947, 15'
• Howard Hawks, To Have and Have Not, 1945, 100'

Wednesday 25 October
1950s
Nel decennio che segue la Seconda guerra mondiale l’universo della moda assume un ruolo fondamentale nella formazione del gusto del consumatore, attraverso riviste illustrate e il cinema. Viene proiettato un film di Stanley Donen con Audrey Hepburn, emblematico della pace ritrovata e ispirato alla vita di Richard Avedon: 

In the decade following the Second World War, the fashion universe took on a fundamental role in shaping consumer taste, through illustrated magazines and cinema. A film by Stanley Donen starring Audrey Hepburn is shown, emblematic of the newfound peace and inspired by the life of Richard Avedon:

• Stanley Donen, Funny Face, 1957, 103'

Wednesday 8 November
1960s
In the 1960s, modern cinema is considered a true art form and is represented by Antonioni, Fellini, Godard... It is the decade of Pop Art and the Beatles. To illustrate this period:

• Marcel Duchamp, Anémic cinéma, 1925, 8'32"
• Jean‑Luc Godard, Fino all’ultimo respiro (À bout de souffle), 1960, 90'

Wednesday 15 November
1970s
The last appointment is dedicated to the 1970s, the decade that closes the "CHRONORAMA" exhibition at Palazzo Grassi. The cycle of screenings ends with a documentary by Roberto Rossellini and a film by Michelangelo Antonioni starring Jack Nicholson, the third and last in the Italian director's English-language trilogy:

• Roberto Rossellini, Beaubourg (Le Centre Georges Pompidou), 1977, 55'
• Michelangelo Antonioni, The Passenger, 1975, 126’