Luca Peretti is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Warwick. He has coedited volumes on terrorism and cinema, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and on Italian cinema and Algeria. He is currently working on a book on Italian-Algerian interactions before and after The Battle of Algiers.
Algeria’s national cinema emerged from the cross-cultural exchange and solidarity that was vital to resisting French colonialism and war. It’s a striking example of the internationalist energies of film committed to national liberation struggles.
Venice’s International Film Festival is awarding Roberto Benigni this year’s Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Announcing the award, the festival called Benigni a model of transgressive filmmaking. In fact, for decades, the Life Is Beautiful star has symbolized how onetime radicals turn into purveyors of conformist schmaltz.
Italy’s illustrious Marxist filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci died last week. His films explored the death of the bourgeoisie; his legacy points us to the death of the chauvinist male auteur.
A look at the life and politics of Pier Paolo Pasolini, heterodox communist.