Milan Design Film Festival lands at ACMI for the first time this May
ACMI, Australia’s national museum of screen culture, and the Italian Institute of Culture, Melbourne, are proud to present the Milan Design Film Festival for the first time at ACMI Cinemas in Melbourne from 19-30 May.
Featuring an eclectic selection of films from the 9th (2021) edition of the Milano Design Film Festival, alongside works drawn from recent festival editions, the film season will celebrate all things architecture and design, plus culture and society more broadly, with a range of documentaries and shorts exploring trends, masters, innovators, historical and contemporary currents.
The Milan Design Film Festival will kick off with the opening night screening of The Importance of being an Architect, which follows internationally renowned Milan-based Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel - partners and co-founders of renowned architecture and interior design practice, ACPV - as they consider the extent to which architecture can (and should) improve people’s lives.
Delving further into the world of architecture, Carlos Saura’s feature-length documentary Renzo Piano: Architect of Light traces the development of Renzo Piano’s - one of the most celebrated architects in the world - first project in Spain. The MDFF will also spotlight the Australian premiere of two documentaries on Italian innovator Olivetti covering architecture and product design in Olivetti – Perspective and Olivetti – Paradigm.
Exploring a definitive survey of Italian club culture, Australian premiere Disco Ruin charts the rise and fall of iconic clubs, producers, DJs, style and genres over four propulsive decades. Director Francesca Molteni assembles a range of voices from museum directors to curators, architects and cultural commentators including actor Toni Servillo (The Great Beauty, II Divo) in New Museums(s) which explores the aesthetic, social and cultural value of corporate archives and - beyond private institutions - public museums.
The historical traditions and contemporary identities of three of Milan’s pre-eminent furniture and interior design firms are explored in a compilation of short-form films profiling Giorgetti Designs, De Castelli and Lualdi in Object to Project: Giorgetti Design since 1898, The Sound of Metal (2021) and Doors: Lualdi Stories (2019).
The Dome (La cupola, 2016) Trojan Women (2020) and Thousand Cypresses (2021) considers singular examples of architecture, from the domestic to the monumental in scale, including a holiday home located among the wild scenery of Sardinia's Costa Paradiso, built in the early 1970s by architect Dante Bini for film director Michelangelo Antonioni and actress Monica Vitti (then a couple).
The potential for architecture to not only shape buildings but the lives of those within them is explored in films ranging from dystopian to utopian in outlook in a thematic compilation program teaming The Ship (La nave) (2020) with Heterotopia: La Maddalena (2020).
Other titles in the program of 20 films includes Milano 20/21 - Maurizio Dalla Palma’s essay-style short film employing images, ambient sound and music to map how his perception of Milan, in Italy’s industrial north, changed during the Covid-19 pandemic; and a visual feast for the senses as a Madrid-based screenwriter travels back to his hometown in Spain’s Valencia region to collaborate on a book celebrating his family’s Michelin star-awarded restaurant, L’Escaleta, in the feature-length documentary A God in Every Lentil, from MDFF’s ‘Food’ side-bar program.
ACMI Film Curator Roberta Ciabarra said: “ACMI is thrilled to be partnering with the Italian Institute of Culture, Melbourne, to co-present the inaugural edition of the Milan Design Film Festival in our cinemas at Federation Square. The Milano Design Film Festival has been an annual fixture on Italy's design calendar since 2013 and we're excited to bring a representative selection of films from the most recent - 2021 - and earlier editions of the festival to Melbourne. Our thanks to IIC Melbourne Director, Angelo Gioè, for his inspired initiative and collaboration, and to the MDFF's Milan-based co-founders and curators, Silvia Robertazzi and Porzia Bergamasco. Buona visione, Melbourne!”
Italian Cultural Institute Director Angelo Gioe said: “The 20 films selected to screen at the Milan Design Film Festival in Melbourne, offer a broad vision of what is happening in architecture and design today. The Italian Cultural Institute is delighted to collaborate with ACMI to present this festival in Australia for the first time, to create another cultural synergy between Italy and Australia.”
Milan Design Film Festival will screen at ACMI Cinemas from 19 – 30 May 2022. For further details visit acmi.net.au
Explore the full line-up at acmi.net.au
Tickets for the ACMI season are now on sale
19 – 30 May
ACMI Cinemas, Fed Square
Members $12, Full $18, Concession $14
3-session pass $33–45 6-session pass $66–84
Book at acmi.net.au
NOTES TO EDITORS:
ABOUT ACMI
ACMI is Australia’s national museum of screen culture. The museum reopened in February 2021 after a two-year, $40 million redevelopment – an architectural, programmatic and technological transformation. Navigate the universe of film, TV, videogames and art with us. ACMI celebrates the wonder and power of the world’s most democratic artform – fostering the next generation of makers, players and watchers. ACMI’s vibrant calendar of exhibitions, screenings, commissions, festivals, and industry and education programs explore the stories, technologies and artists that create our shared screen culture. More at acmi.net.au
ABOUT ITALIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE MELBOURNE
The Istituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC) - Italian Cultural Institute Melbourne is the official body of the Italian Government for the promotion of Italian language and culture, covering the states of Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.
The rich program of Italian cultural events, such as concerts, art and photography exhibitions, design, science, literature talks and seminars and more, includes special guest musicians, performers, writers, journalists and academics direct from Italy.