Dante in the Philippines: 700 Years

After the success in 2019 of “Being Leonardo da Vinci, an Impossible Interview” by writer, producer and actor Mr. Finazzer Flory,

the Philippine Italian Association (PIA), the Dante Alighieri Society in Manila (SDA), and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ICCPI), under the auspices of the Embassy of Italy in the Philippines, join forces with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), the National Library of the Philippines (NLP), and many other partners to present the latest

production of Massimiliano Finazzer Flory’s production of Dante Alighieri and the Divine Comedy, entitled: DANTE PER NOSTRA FORTUNA / DANTE, OUR LUCK.

The premiere screening of this film will take place in Ravenna, Italy, on March 25, 2021. (The date and venue are symbolic as March 25 is considered the beginning of Dante’s journey to the after world and Ravenna is where Dante passed away 700 years ago). Simultaneously it will be screened online in Manila (and other major capitals) with a special heartfelt message from the author.

Initially created as a multimedia theatre play, Dante per nostra fortuna reversed the perspective and brought the performing arts to the screen as a consequence of the ongoing pandemic. Through the metaphor of theater and the eyes of a nine years old child who falls asleep while reading the Divine Comedy, Dante’s verses – recited by the warm voice of Massimiliano Finazzer Flory himself – are guided by the dancers’ movements. The result is an exciting experimental film in which the dancers, choreographed by Michela Lucenti, take Dante and Virgil, through the fire and the blue heavens of the main scenes of the Divine Comedy, with cinematography inspired by Gustave Doré’s famous lithographic works.

The screening will mark the start of the celebrations in the Philippines of the 700 th anniversary of Dante Alighieri. More activities will be presented along the year. The film will be accessible for free, without registration. It will be in Dante’s Italian (with English

subtitles) to better appreciate the music of the stanzas. The film can be viewed by the entire country and there will be no limit to the number of viewers.

Access will remain for 24 hours on March 25, 2021.

Many are the universities that are participating in this project: University of the Philippines

Diliman - Film Institute; De la Salle university in Bacolod - Institute of the Moving Image; Ateneo de

Naga; Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan; MINT College; AIMS, etc.

The vide-dance festival, The Fifth Wall, and the students organization UP EURO, are also important

partners of the initiative.