The Milan Design Film Festival will make its way to a Melbourne silver screen for the first time from 19 until 30 May.
Supported by the Italian Cultural Institute and curated by ACMI, the series will present a handpicked selection of flicks from the 2021 Milano Design Film Festival – the ninth edition in the festival’s history – alongside works from recent editions.
“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,” said ACMI film curator Roberta Ciabarra.
This film season addresses the subjects of architecture and design, and culture and society more broadly, in the form of documentaries and shorts featuring prominent figureheads, trends and case studies.
Olivetti – Perspective (2020).
Image: ACMI
Curated by Silvia Robertazzi and Porzia Bergamasco, a selection of 20 films will screen in ACMI’s Federation Square cinema. Some highlights of the festival include The Importance of Being an Architect – a documentary film that considers the social, aesthetic and ecological responsibilities of the profession, following the work of designers Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel.
In Renzo Piano: Architect of Light, Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura traces the development of Renzo Piano’s first Spanish project, Centro Botín. The Dome and The Ship both take architectural case studies to examine how architecture can inspire or, if done poorly, disenfranchise.
Two documentaries, Olivetti – Perspective and Olivetti – Paradigm, explore the cultural and architectural legacy of Italian industrial design innovator Adriano Olivetti.
Director of the Italian Cultural Institute Angelo Gioè said that design in the world “speaks Italian,” and this series explores a universal vision of the sector at large.
“Contemporary architecture, in its cultural and social dimensions, responds to the challenges of our time with a careful approach to the definition of public space,” said Gioè.
“In Italy the theme of the initiative was ‘Reset’, a restart after the COVID-19 pandemic, intended as a reimagining of lifestyles and urban landscapes, with less focus on history and biographies and more attention on urban planning and sustainability.”
He concluded, “I hope this is just the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with ACMI hosting the MDFF on a regular basis to create positive synergies between Italy and Australia in this cultural field.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the ACMI website.
