Oriented on making people closer

An event was held at the Turkmen State Institute of Culture with the screening of the film Federico Fellini, dedicated to the centenary of the famous Italian film director and screenwriter.

Initiated by the Italian Embassy with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, the creative meeting of the Italian Ambassador Diego Ungaro with university students was marked by the familiarity of students with the classics of Italian cinema.

Federico Fellini is considered one of the most mysterious persons of the XX century, along with his films, leaving an aftertaste of mystery and unsolved. Students of film schools around the world are studying classics of world cinema such as Sweet Life, Eight and a Half, Amarkord and other works by Fellini.

“The Road” of 1954 was presented to the attention of future scriptwriters, directors and actors of the theater department of the Turkmen university. The script for this film was written by Fellini in 1949, but in the post-war period it was difficult to find the means for filming, so the cinematic embodiment took place much later.

A master of cartoons and caricatures, the director always made sketches for his future films from life and his own dreams. That is why the style of his films is identified with Italian neorealism. Italian cinema, influenced by poetic realism in post-war, turned the prose of cinema into lyric poetry.

Fellini refused special effects, his main tool is a stream of consciousness, where the boundaries of reality and illusion are erased. The past and future, internal and external, dreams and reality are magically woven into each other. The recipe for magic from Federico Fellini is simple, he liked to watch what was happening around him and interpret life: “If you let it go by itself, it will seem to us senseless and monstrous,” said the master of world cinema.

“Today, 447 students are studying at the theater department of our university in 12 fields,” says Begench Meretdurdyev, dean of the theater arts department. - Actors, directors, playwrights, technicians and other specialists related to the art of television and cinema. Students from the third year begin to shoot their videos, these mini-films are an important component of training. And the current meeting with Italian cinema is a great gift for students, there is an exchange of creative experience, analysis of the film, analysis of the director’s techniques for filming, that is, a collection of useful information.

For a more extensive acquaintance with the eminent Italian, an exhibition of drawings and sketches by Federico Fellini is presented in the lobby of the Institute of Culture. The holder of five "Oscar" statuettes and "Golden Palm Branch" of the Cannes Film Festival was born and raised in the small Italian town of Rimini. One of the main attractions of this town today is the Fellini Museum. It also houses the “Book of Dreams” of the filmmaker, which he wrote throughout his life.

Italy and Turkmenistan successfully carry out cooperation in many fields of activity, one of its directions is culture. In the fall of 2019, the premiere of the opera “Pagliacci”, which became a joint work of artists of the two countries, was successfully held at the Magtymguly Music and Drama Theater. Last November, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov paid an official visit to the Italian Republic.

Selbi CHARYYEVA