Women in the Deserted City

Abstract

During the last two decades in Italy, a new generation of women filmmakers has established its own space in the traditionally male-dominated film industry. This burgeoning group represents and positions female subjectivity in new and complex ways, specifically in urban contexts, which act not merely as background for filmed events but also as “objects of exploration, investigation and interpretation, settings for voyages of discovery.”² Filmmakers such as Marina Spada, Francesca Comencini, Antonietta De Lillo, Roberta Torre, Nina Di Majo, Wilma Labate, Paola Randi, and Alice Rohrwacher have taken Italian cities like Milan, Rome, Naples, and Reggio Calabria, which are already part of the global cinematic imagination, and transformed them into subjects that serve to generate the narration of their films.

Ho sempre voluto fare il cinema, affermare la vita dentro la finzione. Giro i film per darmi un senso nel mondo, per capire il presente. Li giro a Milano perchè da qui non me ne voglio andare per continuare a raccontare “la cittá che sale.”¹

—Marina Spada