Screening Precarious Lives

Screening Precarious Lives
Recent Developments in Italian Documentary Filmmaking

A lecture by
Áine O’Healy
Loyola Marymount University

Introduced by
Serena Moscardelli
Ph.D. Candidate, NYU Italian Studies

In ENGLISH

Drawing on considerations articulated in recent critical work on the documentary form, this talk provides a brief overview of the different modalities of non-fiction filmmaking that have emerged in Italy over the past dozen years in response to a rapidly changing demographic landscape and increasing economic disparities. Focusing on two case studies, Enrico Masi’s Shelter (2019) and Michele Pennetta’s Il mio corpo (2020), it explores more specifically how the audibility and visibility of refugees, migrants and other precarious subjects are negotiated and performed on screen. While critiquing the intimate intrusions the respective films enact on their subjects, it also acknowledges the complex affective operations inherent in this process.