Food has always marked, both in absence and in abundance, Italian cinema. Or rather, Italian movies where there is no time for a break for a meal and for a dinner (pleasant or not depends on the situation) are really rare. From the prewar and post-war movies -Neorealists and not-, eating has slowly abandoned the importance of primary need (although recent examples have dealt with this) to become not only a mirror of social transformations -from poverty to the well-being to the crisis- but often a fundamental element for the stories of Italian cinema, both in dramatic and comic shades. Full-length films were built around the table and the kitchen, or even in large part taking place in those spaces, in the belief that Italians, proud of their regional culinary traditions, like to eat and argue about food.
The exhibition “Italian cinema between table and kitchen” aims at illustrating this phenomenon, starting from “Obsession” by Luchino Visconti to end with “Perfect strangers” by Paolo Genovese, i. e. two films in which cooking and food play a central part, an occasion for seduction, confrontation and clash. In between, there is a gallery of images of films by great authors -from Fellini to Rossellini, from Pasolini to Scola- and of various genres -comedies and dramas of course, but also a western and a musical-, interpreted both by Italian celebrities and second-rate actors and actresses. All of them are in any case capable to play with a wide range of moods: in front of a plate, alone or in company, one can laugh, cry, get upset, soften or abandon to sadness.
The exhibit presents excellent imagines coming from the funds of the Centro Cinema Città di Cesena, in some cases unpublished and proposed for the first time, realized by many of the best still photographers of several generations.
A gallery to devour with the eyes trying to catch the flavors.

The exhibit is curated by Antonio Maraldi, director of the Centro Cinema Città di Cesena.
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