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13 December1964
The girl with a movie camera
Author
Oreste Baldi
Format
8mm
Duration
1'28''
Credits
Music & sound design by Francesca Viapiani

Today, 13 December 1964, is Saint Lucy, the shortest day there is. In fact, it is said to be the shortest day of the year. It is also a day when the fair of the same name is open, held under the Portico of the Chiesa dei Servi in Bologna, an ancient tradition in the city that has made entire generations of children dream of Christmas trees, lights, sweets and crib figurines in the post-war period. And filmmaker Oreste Baldi does not miss this opportunity to film Father Christmas, the legendary candyfloss seller, the fair's lottery, happy-looking boys and girls, pious ladies with candles and people in the festive mood. But Baldi is not the only one filming, and he films a girl, accompanied by other women, holding an 8mm camera, filming the same scenes unfolding before Baldi's eyes. Perhaps he is intrigued by the fact that it is a girl filming in the street, it might even seem curious to him. You know, female filmmakers are so uncommon. Perhaps it is St Lucia, the symbol of light whose name derives from the Latin word 'lux'. And cinema has a lot to do with light... Let them all film, then, dropping the 'established' roles even in amateur cinema. We would like to rediscover the 8mm images of the girl with the 8mm camera, to discover if, as we often wonder, there is a specificity of the female gaze or even more simply to find other emotions and points of view of these days. And to meet Baldi's gaze as she holds her camera, a true miracle of Saint Lucia!

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