Chongqing- The 2022 Italian Art & Museum Documentary Festival is coming. Starting June 16, a program of HD screenings about the world's most famous artists and museums will be screened in CGV Cinemas and take the audience on a journey to explore these cultural treasures of humanity.

The six documentaries, all directed by Italian directors and produced by Italian company Nexo Digital, are presented to a Chinese audience by Beijing ATW Culture Media Co., Ltd, in cooperation with the Italian Embassy to PRC and the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing.

The poster of the festival (Photo provided to iChongqing)

The event is part of the numerous activities organized by the Consulate General of Italy in Chongqing in the 2022 Italy-China Year for Culture and Tourism framework. It is a program of various shows and events in China and Italy, including contemporary art, theater, architecture, music, cinema, and technology. Meanwhile, the program focuses on preserving cultural and natural heritage and promoting local development.

Schedule Information

Raphael, the Young Prodigy

Year：2021

Production: Nexo Digital

DIRECTED BY: Massimo Ferrari

RUNNING TIME： 83 mins

English and Italian with Chinese subtitles

Raphael, the Young Prodigy (Photo provided to iChongqing)

The documentary outlines Raphael's life for audiences, using the animation created by the award-winning illustrator Giordano Poloni for the film, with a dreamy hand-painted style. From Urbino, the small town where Raphael was born, to Florence and Rome, the important cities of the Renaissance, the lack of images in Raphael's biography is filled. Myths, legends, and reality are constantly intertwined in the film.

Secret Impressionists

Year：2020

Production: Nexo Digital

DIRECTED BY: Daniele Pini

RUNNING TIME： 80 mins

 English and Italian with Chinese subtitles

Secret Impressionists (Photo provided to iChongqing)

The film explores the art revolution, the Impressionist Movement, through fifty hidden treasures exhibited for the first time in Rome at Palazzo Bonaparte on the occasion of the exhibition, Secret Impressionistsis, created and produced by Arthemisia. Secret Impressionists is an immersive journey into the intimate world of the Impressionists whose paintings offer a "privileged" visit to audiences. The exhibition will stimulate spectators' curiosity and give them a perspective on the works that are complementary to the live experience, allowing cinema audiences to immerse themselves in the work of the painters and capture new details and nuances.

Botticelli Florence and the Medici

Year：2020

Production: Nexo Digital

DIRECTED BY: Marco Pianigiani

RUNNING TIME： 90 mins

English and Italian with Chinese subtitles

Botticelli Florence and the Medici (Photo provided to iChongqing)

Led by guest narrator Stephen Mangan, the documentary returns to Medici Florence, which audiences can observe and understand through Botticelli's eyes. Meanwhile, the enthusiasm for Botticelli has continued to the present day, covering various fields such as painting, photography, and design. The figures and lines in the old paintings have become today's cultural and fashion symbols through interpretation and re-creation, entering a new collective imagination.

Tutankhamun, the Last Exhibition

Year：2021

Production: Nexo Digital

DIRECTED BY: Ernesto Pagano

RUNNING TIME： 80 mins

English and Italian with Chinese subtitles

Tutankhamun, the Last Exhibition (Photo provided to iChongqing)

To mark the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun, the Last Exhibition the exhibition offers spectators for the first time an extraordinary opportunity to meet the Pharaoh. Also, the exhibition relives those unique moments on the big screen with 150 exhibits valued at $1 billion. "Please watch them before they return to Egypt forever," said Mostafa Waziry, the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities secretary-general. Much will be revealed through high-resolution photographs by Sandro Vannini, one of the most prolific photographers of Tutankhamun's treasures, consisting of over 5,400 objects.

Van Gogh of Wheat Fields and Clouded Skies

Year：2018

Production: Nexo Digital

DIRECTED BY: Giovanni Piscaglia

RUNNING TIME: 90 mins

English and Italian with Chinese subtitles

Van Gogh of Wheat Fields and Clouded Skies (Photo provided to iChongqing)

The exhibition, Van Gogh, Between Wheat and Sky, which is at the Palladio Church in Vicenza, is all from the private collection of Helen Kuhler-Müller. Although he had never met, Muller could be called Van Gogh's mentor, acquiring nearly 300 of Van Gogh's works in his lifetime. The documentary also chooses to start from Mueller's point of view, with correspondence throughout the film.

Water Lilies of Monet: The Magic of Water and Light

Year：2018

Production: Nexo Digital

DIRECTED BY: GiovanniTroilo

RUNNING TIME: 94 mins

English and Italian with Chinese subtitles

Water Lilies of Monet: The Magic of Water and Light (Photo provided to iChongqing)

The documentary, Water Lilies of Monet: The Magic of Water and Light, starts from the beginning of the artistic career of the Impressionist master Claude Monet, starting from Le Havre, a port city in northern France, and travels upstream along the Seine to visit the place where he lived. Elisa Lasowski (acted roles in productions Game of Thrones and Versailles) will be the guest narrator throughout the whole process, bringing audiences to Paris to visit the Marmondin Museum, the Orangerie Fine Arts Museum, the Musée d'Orsay, colorful town of Giverny. Historian and bestselling author Ross King provided further inspiration to this film.

Hermitage, the Power of Art

Production: Nexo Digital

DIRECTED BY: Michele Mally

RUNNING TIME: 88 mins

English and Italian with Chinese subtitles 

Hermitage, the Power of Art (Photo provided to iChongqing)

This museum embodies the Russian civilization's artistic essence and witnesses the footprint of Russia's exchange with the world. Following in the footsteps of Toni Servillo, audiences will appreciate the masterpieces of Italian artists Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Also, audiences can enjoy 250 paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, and other artists from the private collection of Catherine II. Meanwhile, compositions of Russian writers, such as Nikolai Gogol, Anna Akhmatova, Russian-American writer Vladimir Nabokov, and Russian composers like Peter Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Dmitry Shostakovich, and so on can be admired through the film.