Confortorio
10 May 2024 | 17:00
Cinema Roma
In the presence of the director
Rome, 1736. Two Jewish petty thieves are sentenced to hang for burglary. During their last night, the fathers of the Archconfraternity of San Giovanni Decollato aim to make them renounce their Jewish faith and convert to Catholicism.
Confortorio is a lofty example of the potential of a cinema that is poor (and at the same time rich in expressive results) and independent, that is, not subservient to any “primary dependence”; a cinema made with little money but founded on research, documentation, and invention.
Gianni Volpi, “Quaderni di Tredicilune” no. 5, May 1993
Regia di Paolo Benvenuti
85'
Italy
1992
Director. Born in 1946, he devoted himself to painting from a young age. In 1968 he approached avant-garde cinema and began shooting small documentaries. In 1972 he worked, as a volunteer assistant, on the set of L’età dei Medici, by Roberto Rossellini. Two years later, in 1974, he shot his first feature film, Frammenti di cronaca volgare. In 1975 he was a volunteer assistant to Jean Marie Straub and Danièlle Huillet for Moses und Aaron. In 1982 he founded the Arsenale film club in Pisa, an institution that now associates more than ten thousand spectators. In 1988 he returned to directing with Il bacio di Giuda, presented at the Venice Film Festival, which was followed in 1992 by Confortorio, in 1996 by Tiburzi, in 2000, Gostanza da Libbiano, and in 2003 by Segreti di stato.