Eni event dedicated to "Pietro Bianchi" Mantua Literature Festival 2009

Attilio Bertolucci, who in 1955 was chosen by Enrico Mattei as the editor of “Il Gatto Selvatico‘, was able to gather around him a circle of high level writers and intellectuals including, Gadda, Dessì, Ginzburg, Parise, Sciascia and many other writers of non-fiction and original fiction that eni published for the first time at the last edition of the Festival.

The film column of the magazine was entrusted to Pietro Bianchi, who was already working as a film critic "Il Giorno‘ and a collaborator of Zavattini and Guareschi, generally considered to be among the greatest innovators in modern film criticism. The first, according to Calvino, to establish a bridge between the cinema and literature. In cooperation with the Italian National Film Archive (Cineteca Nazionale), which has made some of its images available, eni has chosen to publish some of Bianchi’s original reviews, selected from among those that best demonstrate his talent as a critic and his ability to recognise the great changes taking place in the art of film in the fifties and sixties. Once again eni has dipped into the treasure trove that is “Il Gatto Selvatico‘ for the benefit of the great public of Mantua.

The presentation of the book dedicated to Pietro Bianchi will take place on 12 September 2009 (at 11 am) at the Bibiena theatre in Mantua. A number of illustrious guests will be present for the presentation and one of Italy’s most renowned directors, , Mario Monicelli will discuss with journalists and experts the Italian cinema of the economic boom years, while the actor Neri Marcorè will read a selection of reviews.

It will be an important opportunity to reflect on the relationship between eni and the arts and on the innovative contribution made by Pietro Bianchi to the birth of modern film criticism.

Born in Fontanelle di Parma on 24 June 1909 and dying at his castle at Baiso (Reggio Emilia) on 2 September 1976, Pietro Bianchi is universally recognised as one of Italy's leading film critics. He began writing for the arts pages of the Gazzetta di Parma, for which Cesare Zavattini was the arts editor, and was part of a group of young intellectuals that included Ugo Betti, Gino Saviotti, Alessandro Minardi, Giovannino Guareschi and Bernardo Bertolucci. A contributor to many titles and an editor of magazines (including Settimo Giorno with Tullio Kezich and Il Gatto Selvatico with Attilio Bertolucci), he was the author of books and monographs and was, from its foundation, the film critic of Il Giorno before also going on to become the arts editor of the Milan-based daily.
Since 1978 the national union of film journalists has presented a prize in his name to a leading personality from the world of Italian cinema.

From the introduction by Tullio Kezich