Film Fest Gent honours Federico Fellini with a major exhibition

Fellini is not just a famous artist, he is a legend. Even people who have never set foot in a cinema know his name. The world he created is so recognisable and unique that he is one of the few film directors in history whose name has become an adjective: Fellinian or Felliniesque. We all know the associations he brings to mind: a series of bizarre creatures – dwarfs, albinos, grotesquely obese ladies, blonde bombshells, caricaturesque bourgeois, well-rounded penguin nuns, hunchbacks, glamour girls obscenely rolling their tongues, depressed clowns and hypocritical priests.

Fellini’s work is a feast for all the senses. The exhibition, which is set up like a visual laboratory, showcases all aspects of Fellini’s rich imagination and illustrates how he created a mythical view of himself and of the Italian way of life, not only through his films, but also in life. Film excerpts, drawings and photos show a man who constantly gave different interpretations of his youth, his dreams, and of images and stories from his subconscious.

The exhibition includes images from the sets of Fellini’s films, drawings made by the director, Fellini’s ads and the many dreams that inspired him – penned down in texts and sketches in “dream books” (also on display), as recommended by psychoanalyst Ernest Bernhard.

Moreover, the exhibition showcases previously unseen photos by various photographers, including Gideon Bachmann, Deborah Beer and Paul Ronald. An international selection of posters shows how, throughout the years, Fellini tried to influence the reception of his films and his public persona. Also on display are many magazines from the period 1960 to 1985 (Domenica and L’Espresso), which played an important part in the way the director, his films and actors were perceived.

The exhibition is accompanied by a supporting film programme and special activities to be announced at a later date.

Practical information

When?
17/10/2014 – 25/01/2015

Where?
Caermersklooster Provincial Cultural Centre Vrouwebroersstraat 6, 9000 Ghent
Tel.: +32 (0)9 269 29 10.
Open every day from 10 am to 5 pm (last entry at 4.30 pm); closed on Mondays, 25 December and 1 January.

Tickets:
Tickets cost €8, €6 (discounted rate) or €4 (for groups of 20 people or more and children aged 6 to 12).

Reservation number: +32 070/22 52 25 or through mail: expo@filmfestival.be

Discounts for under-26s, job seekers, Knack Club members, 60+, holders of a teachers’ card, people with disabilities and their escorts.

Free access for children aged 6 and under, and upon presentation of the CityCard Gent.
Guided tours and group visits can be booked through vzw Gandante (www.gandante.be, +32 (0)9 375 31 61)