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Soldier’s Fantasy

Directed by Elvira Notari

The Holy Night

Directed by Elvira Notari
Live Musical Accompaniment by Robert Humphreville
Recently Restored

These programs of Elvira Notari’s extant works will highlight two feature films from 1922—È piccerella and ‘A santanotte—rooted in the Neapolitan melodramatic artistic form of sceneggiata that fuses popular songs and elements of the variety show; Fantasia ‘e surdato, an incomplete feature film from 1927—depicting the vulgar antics of a man whose brother is wrongfully accused of his murder—that was severely cut down and re-edited by Notari after failing to pass fascist censorship; and two fragment compilations that organically present collaged pieces of Notari’s films believed to be lost in their entirety. It is likely that these surviving films were originally hand-colored or tinted since Dora Film specialized in such techniques; however only ‘A santanotte and select fragments still contain these effects due to preservation practices of the late 1960s in which combustible nitrate films were copied onto black and white safety film, erasing most remnants of the coloring effects. The identification of a tinted US distribution nitrate print of ‘A santanotte rediscovered at the George Eastman Museum allows for a better understanding of how Notari’s films may have appeared at the time of their release. – excerpt from program introduction

PROGRAM

  • Soldier’s Fantasy (Fantasia ‘e surdate)

    Directed by Elvira Notari.
    With Eduardo Notari, Geppino Jovine, Oreste Tesorone.
    Italy, 1927, digital video, black & white, silent, 34 min.
    Italian intertitles with English subtitles.
    Copy source: Cineteca Nazionale
    a panoramic view of an Italian town in black and white
  • The Holy Night (‘A santanotte)

    Directed by Elvira Notari.
    With Eduardo Notari, Rosè Angione, Antonio Palmieri.
    Italy, 1922, 35mm, black & white, silent, 60 min.
    Preservation funded by the George Eastman Museum, Cineteca Nazionale, Roma and Associazione Orlando, Bologna.
    Italian intertitles with English subtitles.
    Print source: George Eastman Museum
    Eduardo Notari looks at the camera, while Rosè Angione, who is n his arms has her head tilted back, eyes closed

Part of film series

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From the collection – Satyajit Ray