That water is a topical issue is something that – for those who may be reading these lines several years from now – we hope will soon be an urgency overcome, given its inherent reality as the foundational element of our planet’s existence. If until a while ago the words “water” and “emergency” came together only on occasions when nature demonstrated its constant and undying superiority over human beings, unfortunately for today they have become everyday occurrences, so much so that they end up on the agenda of international climate and resource commitments of most countries and administrative bodies in the world. Without, however, producing any immediate and tangible results, complicit on the one hand in the difficulty of being able to standardize – a long-standing theme – ecological policies to contexts that are very different in every respect, and on the other hand in the capitalist education of individual self-interest, which means that shared and social goods, which are necessary, are often protected in words by all, but less so in deeds, even in the daily lives of each person. The idea, therefore, to produce a show dedicated to this theme stems from a need: to bring the audience to remember – reaffirming its beauty and variety – how water cannot be considered in the same way as any consumer good, but that it requires a renewed approach of respect, understanding, protection, appreciation, which also serves to reposition man in his contemporary (and here we hope perishing, albeit centuries-long) ardent and I would say unconscious willingness to enjoy everything, oblivious or jaw-dropping in the face of the consequences of doing so, exploiting-even commercially-every form of our planet’s resources until its inevitable depletion. Drawing, and I use this verb not by chance, on the immense reservoir of images from the history of the Luce-Cinecittà Historical Archives (on the centenary of the Istituto Luce, 1924-2024), was therefore a natural gesture: they are the ones in our country who have documented and preserved an entire century of history in images of who we have been and are. Their materials steeped in yesterday, speak to today and to the future: to look at water in the countless forms documented (often institutionally, but not only) by hundreds and hundreds of practitioners and filmmakers, to traverse the last hundred years with “water cinema,” is to reflect on how much beauty, strength, almost immanent naturalness (richer, in the oxymoron of these terms), there is in the primal element. Returning it to the public, with direction and choices given by the sensibility of Roland Sejko (whose artistic poetics has always been inextricably linked with the reuse of archival film materials) and with editing by the expert Luca Onorati, was an equally natural choice. We have long known and appreciated Teho Teardo’s work, unique in form and manner, always recognizable in his style, on and with music for film. We immediately asked him to try his hand at composing, arranging and performing the music live, finding his enthusiasm and deep value adherence to the path. After all, water seems to permeate or frame many of his works: made into liquid, harmonic and rhythmic sound, it appears distinctly heard and evoked in the hall at various moments of his soundtracks or concerts, as an element that flows, drags, moves. Teho Teardo – something known to few – has for many, many years been recording in contexts of almost absolute silence “the voices of water,” at night on the shores of lakes or rivers, storing and reflecting, by personal research, on the almost vanished sonority of these liquid masses, often no longer listenable in their “unpolluted” strength even at the sonic level. His quartet, with strings and double bass, mixed with electronics, restores breadth of spectrum and articulate life to the “water element.” In the production of the film and the cine-concert, working with Roland Sejko and Teho Teardo, we discussed for a long time what dimension could further enrich such an articulated journey on an element as difficult to represent (precisely because it is changeable and vast) as water. The word (in poetry or narrative, even extensive) has often attempted to describe it, and in its narrowness has admitted on the one hand the need to continue to tell the story, to embrace it with variety and significance, and on the other hand has delivered to readers articulate pages of images and references. We then felt the need to complete the work, enriching it with verses, by their nature synthetic and evocative, that could make the work of imagination and reflection to be delivered to the audience even more dense and richer. Gian Mario Villalta, one of the greatest contemporary poets, worked with generosity and participation, putting his ability to chisel out syllables, sounds, meanings, starting from the vision of the film images, at the service of the project with exceptional readiness and ability to read the path. A journey in poetry, steeped in images and music, combining different arts, that we hope will not only captivate the viewer, but will speak over time with a clear message: we are made of water, and must be.

Riccardo Costantini (Cinemazero, curator Pordenone Docs Fest), 2024.

In the centennial year of the Istituto Luce, with images from its extraordinary archives, a film and cinceconcert celebrating water, its beauty, and its crucial importance for today’s world, in all its forms and essences: nourishment, life, mother, force (even destructive), source of labor, keeper of “wrecks and memories.” With a clear message: water is an increasingly rare and “forgotten” resource, a foundational element of our existences. Water is the indivisible connection between all living things; it is an act of perpetual relationship. Like the sound. It is water that carries everything away in this film that comes from a distant past, but still unresolved because it is doomed to repeat itself. The music stands with those who would like to change the course of things.

Teho Teardo, 2024.

The water bearer, an ancient and modern figure in all cultures, is the first image surfaced for a story with water as the protagonist. The underwater world of the Luce Archive’s “centennial sea” works this way, bringing the wreckage of images to the surface, imagining them. And then the imagination becomes visible by diving into thousands of events from a century of footage. Rivers, streams, fountains, rains, floods, boats, ships, shipwrecks. And waves of faces, of people seeking water, sailing, looking up, suffering the fury of water, and then resuming life in other images lapped by water and history. The reflection of the beholder emerges.

Roland Sejko, 2024.

Teho Teardo is a composer, musician, sound designer. A curious sound explorer who is always attentive to stimuli coming from other artistic forms, he is dedicated to concert and recording activity, releasing several albums investigating the relationship between electronic music and traditional instruments.
Ennio Morricone, who presented Teardo with the award of the same name in 2009, said: Teho Teardo seeks originality at all costs through the obstinacy of patterns, repetitiveness, economy of materials and personal minimalism in a continuous passacaglia. I think Teardo tries very hard to find solutions that serve him and the film for which he writes the music. Experience tells me that sooner or later the seeker finds.

Laura Bisceglia began studying piano and choral singing as a child. She earned a diploma in opera singing at the “G.Tartini” Conservatory in Trieste and a degree in cello at the “J.Tomadini” Conservatory in Udine.
After her debut in opera she began experimenting and composing her own repertoire for cello and voice, collaborating with painters, dancers, circus artists, visual artists, composers and performing at numerous festivals in Italy and abroad.
She teaches cello at the “V. Ruffo” Association in Sacile and studies the Dhrupad chant of India.

Flavia Massimo a contemporary cellist, sound artist and curator of cultural events, trained at the Conservatorio “A. Casella” in L’Aquila, first in classical cello and later in Electronic Music. With the English label Audiobulb, she released “Glitch,” her first solo record work for cello and electronics. He is artistic director of “Paesaggi Sonori,” a music and landscape festival. He is Editor and sound engineer for the classical music record label “Odradek Records.”

Igor Legari double bass player, composer. Born in Lecce, he has lived in Rome since 2011 where he is active in the jazz music and improvisation scene.

Gian Mario Villalta poet and writer, is artistic director of Pordenonelegge. Winner of numerous awards, including the Viareggio Poetry Prize for Vanità della mente (2011). His lyrics are translated into many foreign languages. Recent publications include: the poetry book Dove sono gli anni (Garzanti, 2022); the essay La poesia, ancora? (Mimesis, 2022); and the short story collectionParlare al buio (Società Editrice Milanese, 2022).

Roland Sejko born in Albania, works for Luce-Cinecittà, where he is currently director of editorial editing of the Luce Historical Archives. The author of several documentaries distinguished mostly by the reuse of archival cinema, he won the David di Donatello Award with his documentary Anija/La nave (2013). His latest film The Image Machine by Alfredo C. was presented in the official selection at the 78th Venice Film Festival, Orizzonti Extra Competition, and won the Silver Ribbon for Best Docufilm. He is artistic curator and author of films for numerous Istituto Luce and Cinecittà exhibitions. He is one of the curators of MIAC, the Italian Museum of Cinema and Audiovisual in Cinecittà.