Marco Bellocchio awarded an honorary research doctorate in Messina: “For me, Sicily is a great passion”

John

By John

The project of a series on Enzo Tortorathe «deep and highly attracted feeling towards Sicily», the many projects he would still like to carry out. Marco Bellocchiointernationally renowned director, screenwriter, producer and cinema teacher, is at the University of Messina to be inawarded an honorary PhD in Cognitive SciencesCV «Social, territorial, media and performing arts theories and technologies».

Present at the ceremony were the vice-rector, Eugenio Cucinottathe general director, Francesco Bonannothe director of the Cospecs department, Carmelo Maria Portothe coordinator of the doctorate in Cognitive Sciences, Alessandra Falzone. Furthermore, the new rector of the Peloritano University was present at the event, Giovanna Spatari.

Shortly before the Lectio magistralis in the main hall of the Rectorate he stopped with journalists to talk about his work and the link with Sicily. «I have always moved on my private history which took into account the history of Italy, giving a representation of myself which is not political in the sense that it does not take the side of a party, it is neither right nor left» , explains maestro Bellocchio.

«It is clear – continues the director – that if I try to tell the tragedy of Aldo Moro it is because I am very interested in it and I do it because I am deeply involved with this story which has attracted considerable interest from the Italian public, both on television and in cinema, even at ‘abroad, in France, Germany, in the United States, in England and this is important to me, but I do things that involve me deeply. If we manage to make a series on Enzo Tortora, I will not do it to reaffirm the injustice that this man suffered, which is very true, but to tell the story of a man, to make a novel of a dramatic story of a very successful man who comes arrested, he is acquitted and then he dies, this is what interests me.”
Another theme is the relationship with Sicily to which many film memories are linked: «My relationship with Sicily is of great attraction – he states – I have come several times to present filmsthen I came for a film that I care a lot about “The wedding director” with Sergio Castellitto; we shot mainly in Cefalù and then with “The Traitor”. When you come to Sicily you are tempted to say why not stop here, for the language, the history, go beyond the mafia, then we are like a tour companylet’s go back to Rome, but my feeling towards Sicily is deep and very attractive.”
Finally, there are many projects that maestro Bellocchio would like to realize even if the focus, for now, is on the series on Tortora: «We are focusing on this project which is a series in six episodes on Enzo Tortora, in these months I try not to distract myself with any other project, then we’ll see, first of all let’s try to do it and do it well. Then if you think about it, there are many projects to be carried out, from Giovanni Pascoli or very international stories like the Nuremberg trial, for example, but our work is very concrete, we need to understand if there are also the economic possibilities to be able to do it, therefore we always measure ourselves with what is possible”