Guerra e pace

A magisterial meditation on the production and mediation of martial images, GUERRA E PACE unfolds over four chapters, each observing a different European institution. Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti are dealing here with nothing less than the human race’s fragile collective memory, examining how it is forged, maintained and interpreted—a subject matter which seems more crucial than ever as distressing conflicts dominate the headlines. The first section brings us in contact with the preservation and restoration skills of experts at Rome’s Istituto Luce, as they revive stills and footage of the 1911 Italo-Turkish war in Libya. Elsewhere in the Italian capital, the Unità di Crisi of the Foreign Ministry monitors and assesses trouble spots, while at France’s Defence Ministry near Paris, young soldiers are trained in the art of crafting 21st century war imagery. The final chapter visits the archives of the International Red Cross in Lausanne, where the air of academic calm contrasts starkly with the bloody tumult of the records’ content. Across two hours of compelling and sometimes (necessarily) harrowing material, the film provokes contemplation and illumination. (Neil Young)

In the presence of Massimo D’Anolfi & Martina Parenti.

Massimo D’Anolfi, Martina Parenti (selection): I PROMESSI SPOSI (2007), GRANDI SPERANZE (2009), IL CASTELLO (2011), MATERIA OSCURA (2013), L’INFINITA FABBRICA DEL DUOMO (2015), SPIRA MIRABILIS (2016), BLU (2018, K), GUERRA E PACE (2020), UNA GIORNATA NELL’ARCHIVIO DI PIERO BOTTONI (2022, K), BESTIARI, ERBARI, LAPIDARI (2024)