Private Project

Photographing New York

This short film is based on a poem I wrote remembering the two weeks I spent in New York in 2004, on occasion of my first photo exhibition overseas. I almost forgot this piece of writing, which I had strangely written directly in English in the course of a feverish night, until it resurfaced to my mind almost fifteen years later, while I was travelling in Portugal. Then I started taking filmic shots inspired by the poem, dreaming about America beyond the long hypnotic waves and the old corroded wharves, at the other end of the lone Atlantic. In the editing, I added some of the pictures taken 15 years before together with a single and especially painful picture taken in a Dutch hospital in 1997, interlacing thus through film-making different periods of my life and different artistic languages in what is more a portrait of psychic interior than a documentary.

  • Cesare Bedogne
    Director
    Story for an Empty Theatre, Maria's Silence, The Last Step of an Acrobat
  • Cesare Bedogne
    Writer
  • Cesare Bedogne
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Photographing New York
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 54 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 27, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Portugal
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 16th L'Europe autour de l'Europe Film Festival
    Paris
    France
    November 20, 2021
    French Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 6th Art Visuals & Poetry Film Festival
    Vienna
    Austria
    November 11, 2021
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Monologues & Poetry International Film Festival

    United States
    Official Selection
  • International Art Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    Official Selection
  • Fotogenia Film Festival
    Mexico City
    Mexico
    Official Selection
  • 75° FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE DEL CINEMA DI SALERNO
    Salerno
    Italy
    November 25, 2021
    Italian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • RIBALTA FILM FESTIVAL
    Vignola
    Italy
    Out of Competition
  • 8th ON THE ROAD FILM FESTIVAL
    Roma
    Italy
    Official Selection
  • 5th NEW RENAISSANCE FILM FESTIVAL
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    Official Selection
  • TIMELESS AWARDS
    Wroclaw
    Poland
    BEST POETRY FILM
  • POETRY FILM FESTIVAL
    Los Angeles
    United States
    April 30, 2022
    BEST DOCUMENTARY
  • Literature in Cinema
    Buenos Aires
    Argentina
    South American premiere
    BEST SHORT FILM
  • International World Photography Awards

    Slovakia
    Official Selection
  • Bloomsday Film Festival, James Joyce Centre
    Dublin
    Ireland
    Irish Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Bordeaux Shorts Biennale
    Bordeaux
    France
    MENTION HONORABLE
  • Jane Austen International film Festival
    Bath
    United Kingdom
    HONOURABLE MENTION OF THE JURY
  • IFF Akrobat
    Sint Petersburg
    Russian Federation
    Official Selection
  • VASTLAB Experimental
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Serbest International Film Festival
    Kishinev
    Moldova, Republic of
    Official Selection
  • Make Art Not Fear Film Festival
    Porto
    Portugal
    BEST POETRY SHORT
  • Switzerland International Film Festival
    Aubonne
    Switzerland
    Official Selection
  • Vastlab Experimental VLX4 Touring Program
    Chicago
    United States
    April 15, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Cannes - The Continental Film Festival
    Cannes
    France
    Best Experimental Film (Silver)
  • SCA Los Angeles
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Finalist
  • Aoteoroa Poetry Film Festival
    Wellington
    New Zealand
    November 21, 2024
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Cesare Bedogne

Cesare Bedogné is an Italian photographer, film-maker and writer. His first, autobiographical novel and his black and white photographs were at he basis of the film "Story for an empty theatre", which he co-directed with the Russian film-maker Aleksandr Balagura. He later directed the experimental/documentary short films "Maria's Silence", "The Last Step of an Acrobat", "Photographing New York" and "Lost Images". All these films won numerous awards internationally and have been screened in prestigious film festivals such as Art Visuals&Poetry in Vienna, the International Film Festival of Salerno, L'Europe autour de l'Europe Film Festival in Paris, the Montecatini International Short Film Festival in Italy, the Cinemistica Film Festival in Spain, AMIIWorkFest in Vilnius and many others. He recently completed (May 2024) a documentary/ experimental feature entitled "Eight of Wands". Further information is available on the artist's website:

www.cesarebedogne.com

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