Vittorio de Seta x Rosa Butsi

Although Italian cinema has no shortage of icons, Vittorio de Seta is the odd one out. Drawing on his anthropology studies, de Seta dedicated his life to capturing disappearing folk customs. For years, he roamed the outskirts of Sicily, Sardinia and Calabria to document how farmers, shepherds and fishermen changed their lives after the post-war modernisation. These observations would lead him to the monumental BANDITI A ORGOSOLO (1961), which launched his career as a filmmaker and screenwriter.

However, in the fifties he also created a string of documentary films that distilled his research into beautiful footage. With her distinctive, sensitive chemistry of pop, jar and folk, musician Roos Denayer (Rosa Butsi) brings a couple of de Seta’s early films to life. As lyrical as they are educational, these short documentaries are poetic odes to humankind and its relation to its surroundings and the animal world. In THE AGE OF THE SWORDFISH (1955) and ORGOSOLO’S SHEPHERDS (1958) the focus is on the work rhythm of shepherds and fishermen, while THE GOLDEN PARABLE (1955), A DAY IN BARBAGIA (1958) and THE FORGOTTEN (1959) exhibit the human body in a spiral of work, rest and pleasure.

This compilation with live music came about as part of KASKcinema’s Re:Score. Thanks to Cineteca di Bologna and Istituto Italiano di Cultura.