This collection of rare short films features 7 films from Antonioni's early period, 1943 - 1964, demonstrating many of his signature touches, including his use of long, sweeping camera movements:
People of the Po (Gente del Po) Antonioni's first film is a rhythmic record of a barge trip down the river Po. Portions of the original footage were destroyed; this final version was edited in 1947 from the extant material. 1943-47. 9 min. S/T *
Sanitation Department (N.U. - Nettezza Urbana) Antonioni's second film is a dawn-to-dusk chronicle of a day in the life of Rome 's street sweepers. 1948. 9 mins. S/T *
Lies of Love (L'amorosa menzogna) A satirical documentary about the making of a fumetto, or photoromance, in a shabby Roman studio. 1949. 10 mins. S/T *
Superstition (Superstizione - non ci credo!) An amusing documentary account of superstitious practices in a village in the Marches region. 1949. 9 mins. S/T *
Seven Reeds, One Suit (Sette canne, un vestito) A documentary on the manufacture of rayon, shot in a village near Trieste. 1949. 10 mins. S/T **
The Villa of Monsters (La villa dei mostri) A study of grotesque statuary in an ancient villa at Bomarzo, near Viterbo. 1950. 10 mins. S/T Note: print is subtitled in French and German, but not English.
Vertigine (Vertigo) A fragment from La funivia del Faloria, a short documentary film about the funicular railway running between Cortina d'Ampezzo and Mount Faloria. 1950. 4 mins. S/T ***
*Copy printed from materials of Scuola Nazionale di Cinema-Cineteca Nazionale.
**Copy printed from materials restored by Associazione Philip Morris-Progetto Cinema with the collaboration of Marco Ferreri.
***Copy supplied by Cineteca del Friuli.