Civita di Bagnoregio is a step back into the past, with stone houses and narrow passages leading to hidden gardens. Except for the numerous tourists, you feel that you time has passed this town by. Luca Raffaelli, one of Italy’s top experts on comics and animation, conceived the idea of La Cittá Incata, bringing together, there, over fifty of Italy’s most distinguished animators, designers, cartoonists, storyboard and visual artists to demonstrate and talk about their work. The meeting was promoted by Regione Lazio with Roma Capitale, realized by Progetto ABC (Arte Bellezza Cultura) together with Nufactory.
La Citta Intcanata 2015
Leaving Padova, I rode the train south through fields of bright yellow sunflowers looking forward to the adventure awaiting me at La Citta Incantata (The Enchanted City).
Luca Raffaelli, one of Italy’s top experts on comics and animation, conceived the idea of bringing together over fifty of Italy’s most distinguished animators, designers, cartoonists, storyboard and visual artists to demonstrate and talk about their work. The meeting was promoted by Regione Lazio with Roma Capitale, realized by Progetto ABC (Arte Bellezza Cultura) together with Nufactory.
Gathering together fifty distinguished artists is difficult enough, and getting them all to come to the historic Civita di Bagnoregio was a truly daunting endeavor. Civita di Bagnoregio was founded by Etruscans more than 2,500 years ago, perched on top of a plateau of fragile volcanic rock overlooking the Tiber River Valley. By the 19th century Civita di Bagnoregio was turning into an island as the pace of erosion increased. Today the town is completely cut off from the larger city of Bagnoregio and can only be reached by a steep uphill walk via a quarter mile long foot bridge.
Civita di Bagnoregio seen from the bottom of the ¼ mile footpath
Civita di Bagnoregio is a step back into the past, with stone houses and narrow passages leading to hidden gardens. Except for the numerous tourists, you feel that you time has passed this town by. When Hayao Miyazki first saw Civita di Bagnoregio wreathed in clouds he was inspired to make Castle in the Sky (1986). Today Japanese tour groups flock across the bridge to relive Miyazki’s vision of his castle in the sky.
A hidden garden on the edge of Civita di Bagnoregio
Photographs in the town’s few businesses show the ancient narrow path that blindfolded donkeys once traversed to link Civita with Bagnoregio. Today all supplies are ferried in on small motorized carts. As buildings crumble over the edge of the plateau, the once populated city has shrunk to about 20 residents who live there year around. In the summer the population soars to between 200 and 300 as residents from Rome occupy the summer houses.
A view of the town
The three day event afforded an opportunity for tourists and guests to meet the artists in informal settings. Each session was held in a private home, the Geological Museum, or various other available spaces in the small town. The participants presented their latest projects and shared secrets of their art in 30 or 60 minute sessions that were open to everyone free of charge.
It was a special honor to meet Manfredo Manfredi, one of the great geniuses of Italian animation, Manfredo, a talented painter and set designer, began animating in 1963 when he started working with fellow Italian Guido Gomas. Their work primarily dealt with socio-political issues as exemplified by the 1966 film Ballata per u Pezzo da Novata (Ballad for a Big Wig) about the Mafia and Son Ambene non est Abba (Blood is Thicker than Water) in 1969 which took Sardinian bandits as the theme.
In 1970 he and Gomas went their separate ways. In 1976 Manfredo went on to create Dedalo (Labyrith) which won an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film. That same year Dedalo also won the OIAF Award at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
Manfredo has continued to animate but more and more his interest has returned to painting and he has had several major exhibitions of his work. At La Citta Incantata he gave an hour long presentation where he talked about “My life between painting and animation”. An exhibition of his paintings was also on display throughout the event.
I was delighted to meet Leonardo Carrano and was very impressed by the presentation of his scratch animation films that he gave. He also began his career as a painter, but in 1992 he started to experiment with animation combining different techniques ranging from traditional methods to digital film making and scratching on film.
Although he speaks very little English his son, Andrea, translated for us. He told me that his films have been broadcast on Italian television as well as appearing at many festivals. Leonardo also said that his 2014 film Jazz for a Masscre is a tribute to experimental artist Nato Frasca, who invented the “doodle method”, a form of free expression used to explore the unconscious. He used scratch animation techniques to create the images directly on film.
I wanted to see more of Carrano’s work and after some searching I found Aeterna, his 12 minute 58 second interpretation of the 14 individual movements of Mozart’s Requiem. The film was put together over a number of years using a wide variety of techniques including scratching on the film with different objects such as knives and pins and painting on the film. He also utalized pencil drawings on paper, oil paint, silk screen printing, filmed images and experimental video animation.
Although most of the participants were Italian and the sessions were conducted in their native tongue, there were a few exceptions. Filmmaker Ram Devineni, based in New Delhi and New York City, is tackling India’s rape problem with the help of a comic book heroine.
Ram Devineni and Nancy with his book
Devineni told his audience that the rape of a young woman in Delhi in December 2012 had a profound effect on him. The tragic incident led him to create the comic book Priya’s Shakti, India’s first interactive comic book, along with artist Dan Goldman. Priya’s Shakti is aimed at pre-teens because, as Ram said, “ by the time a young person gets to be 17 or 18 it is too late to change their behavior so the comic book is aimed at 7 to 10 year olds”. He stressed that the problem of sexual violence in India is not a legal issue, rather it is a cultural problem.
The young female super heroine of the comic book, Priya, tackles rape and sexual abuse by telling her readers to “speak without shame and stand with me to bring about the change we want to see”. Ram wanted to create a new Indian “Super heroine,” Priya a rape survivor, because the essence of Hinduism is about conquering your fears. In the comic Priya confronts the tiger that has been stalking her and turns her fears, represented by the tiger, into her power.
To engage young readers, augmented reality is a major part of the comic book. By scanning the comic with the popular augmented reality Blipper the reader can view the animated real life stories of girls and women. Other interactive elements pop out of the pages as well. With the Blipper app readers can also take a photo of themselves and put themselves into the comic book. ( ) Your composite image shows you with Priya siting on her tiger. You can then post the photo on a social media site or e-mail it to a friend. Four large pages from the comic were posted on a wall in the town square where visitors could try out the interactive options.
Ram Devineni is now focusing on getting the comic book into schools and translating it into different languages. He also hopes to bring Priya to the screen as the star of an animated feature. You can learn more about the project at: priyashakti.com
Former Aardman Studio model maker Francesca Ferrario demonstrated techniques of modeling with plasticine. Other workshop explored pixilation, cartoon drawing, and creating a scratch film. A number of them gave visitors an opportunity to try their hand at some of the techniques they had learned about in the presentations
Evening events were held in Bagnoregio, the town at the foot of the bridge. A large outdoor screen was erected in the Plazza Biondiri and on Friday evening films by La Citta Incantata guests were screened. The guests were then called to the stage for a short chat with Luca about their work. Saturday evening there was a concert in the lovely Piazza Auditorium. This was followed by a screening of Castle in the Sky, a most appropriate choice given where we were.
When you think of Italy you think of delicious food and good wine and the festival certainly treated us to wonderful meals. Every afternoon and evening we all gathered to enjoy pastas, beautiful salads of fresh fruit and vegetables, and pitchers of wine. Sitting in the beautiful old city with a glass of wine after a delicious meal was the perfect time for us to have relaxed conversations.
Luca believes that artists can help save the world. He certainly undertook a monumental project in order to introduce people to his concept and even if the entire world was not saved this time, for three days peace and tranquility reigned in a small corner of the planet. Filling the alleys, streets and homes of this unique “island in the sky” with over 50 top artists from the world of animation and cartoons seems like a dream, but Luca proved that it could be done and it was a resounding success. I hope that Luca will plan to make this an annual gathering for Italian artists and that I will have the luck to be invited back again.
You can learn more about La Citta Incantata at: www.lacittaincantata.it
