The short film “Sete”, created by the School of Cinema and Audiovisual of the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples, as part of the first second level master’s degree in “Scenography for cinema and costume design for cinema”, financed by the Campania Region as part of the POC 2014/2020, created in collaboration with RAI and Netflix and recognized by the Ministry of University and Research.
The short was previewed in the foyer of the RAI in Naples. Present at the event together with the students and teachers of the Academy were the director of the Rai Production Center of Naples Antonio Parlati, the President of the Campania Region Vincenzo De Luca and Rosita Marchese President of the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples.
«Our effort – says President De Luca – aims to make Naples and Campania a national and international audiovisual hub starting from the former NATO Base of Bagnoli and the area in Salerno identified to create a large swimming pool for filming underwater; The work we are talking about today fits into this framework and was born in the wake of the collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples together with Rai and Netflix and which focuses on the education of young people and the values of humanism”.
The students worked on an adaptation that respected the language, atmosphere and environments of Naples at the beginning of the 20th century, using the thriller as an interpretative key. The students were thus confronted with the complexity of the specific genre, acquiring useful skills and competences in dramaturgical construction.
«This short – explains Antonio Parlati – is an example of how something concrete can be done for young people, it is an extraordinary operation carried out entirely by young people, RAI accompanied this project, it means having seen first-hand the process of how school becomes the world of work. The work of this center has always been to open its doors and stay in the area, work with the area, participate actively and today this represents a concrete example of this.”
The writing of the screenplay took place in parallel with the scenographic construction and the creation of the costumes. The direction, led by Barbara Napolitano, featured all the students who were central in the organization and creation of all phases of the short from the script to the direction of the actors, from the direction of photography to editing. The music was created by Vincenzo Russo, a student of the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory.
«This short film – states the President of the Academy – is an example of how to network to reach the goal, the Campania Region, Rai, Netfix, the Academy and also the San Pietro Conservatory were involved in this project in Majella, the music of the short film is by Vincenzo Russo, a student of the Conservatory, demonstrating that only by doing a common job with passion can we move forward. I thank the Rai center and the Campania Region which supported the Master because practicing the Cinema school means investing in the training of particular, non-theoretical professional figures and in this sense we are also renewing a three-year agreement with Rai”.
The Master’s in which 43 young people took part – 29 for the Scenography major and 14 for the Costume major – selected through a public competition, was the first of its kind in Italy, among the Fine Arts Academies, a A very high level training opportunity whose participation costs were entirely covered by funding from the Campania Region and, in part, by the Netflix company.
The educational path carried out over a period of 9 months, for a total of approximately 700 hours of lessons, divided into theoretical, practical activities and internships, saw the students engaged in research and investigation of individual directions, guided by teachers internal and external to the Academy of Naples identified among professionals in the Italian cinematographic field. 50 hours of Masterclasses were held with 15 exceptional guests including the multiple Oscar winner Dante Ferretti, Massimo Cantini Parrini, winner of 5 David di Donatello, Francesco Frigeri, Giancarlo Basili, Luigi Segianni, Paolo Zeccara, Giancarlo Muselli, Carmine Guarino, Luigi Marchione, for the scenography and costumes Ursula Patzak, Silvia Fantini, Daniela Ciancio, Laura Nobile, Antonio Fidato, Renato Pezzella.
The initiative represented concrete evidence of the work conducted by the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples in the field of specialized professional training, highlighting at the same time the importance of implementing collaborative actions with public and private entities.
