Federico Fellini - Through the Eyes of the Others

Colour, BETA
Germany, 2003, 91 min
Section: Special Events

Synopsis

“Fellini could be compared with such masters as Michelangelo Buonarroti”. “He was a genius”. “He brought his dreams to life on the film screen”. “He was a magician”. “He had his own world and was totally engulfed by it”. “Making a film with him wasn’t work, but a journey through life”. These are only random quotations from people WHO HAVEFederico Fellini, a classic of world cinema and an immortal in the history of the silver screen, was indelibly etched into their memories. Eckhard Schmidt, who decided to make a film about the artist who electrified everyone he met or with whom he worked, not only documents the testimonies of well known faces and greats such as actress Anouk Aimée, producer Dino de Laurentis or screenwriter Tullio Pinelli, who was at Fellini’s side for the greater part of his career. He also invited a continuity girl, the actress who played a young girl in La dolce vita, Angela, and the owner of the restaurant maestro Fellini regularly visited to speak in front of the camera. These and many others offer a testimony of a man who lived through film and for film, someone who was always surrounded by beautiful women. The movie focuses on the key works of Fellini’s oeuvre, on the unique style of his work, and many of the recollections have a purely personal slant and tell us much about the person who is speaking. The well-informed commentary is given by critic and Fellini’s biographer Tullio Kezich.

About the director

Eckhard Schmidt (b. 1938, Český Šternberk, CR) attended school in Ulm, Germany, and at Munich university he chose English, German and Romance language and literature, philosophy and psychology. In 1960 – 84 he worked as a film, television and musical publicist. From 1961 he worked in television as a scriptwriter, director (documentaries, TV series, entertainment shows). He has a number of novels and current affairs publications to his credit. He teaches at the Munich Film School. As producer, screenwriter and director he shared in over two dozen films. His film Internet Love (1998), which he wrote and directed and which featured actors from the prestigious Playhouse West school (Los Angeles) was screened at the Karlovy Vary IFF in 1998. His documentary on Federico Fellini is loosely related to his latest feature and documentary films (Lost Angeles, 2000 or 24/ 7 Sunset Boulevard, 2001), which focus on the “town of dreams” – Hollywood.