MYANMAR

Myanmar
(Italia, 2025, 72’) Tommaso Cotronei

In Myanmar, youths born after the 1988 student protests and repression savoured freedom during Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. They could never have imagined they would have to take up arms and fight.

Taking our inspiration from Olimpia agli amici, the 1969 film directed by Adriano Aprà, we have decided to pay homage to him over a year after his passing. We are commemorating the film critic and historian, but above all the friend and comrade with whom we shared so many adventures, in a context that he cherished: the Pesaro Film Festival. He devoted most of his activity to this event and played a decisive role in shaping its identity, serving as its director for many years.
The four programme slots revolve around a symposium entitled “Gli amici di Adriano” – a dialogue among friends, as if he were still present, engaging in conversation with film-makers and scholars about how to pursue the idea of an independent, innovative, unconventional concept of cinema, free from stereotypes and narrative constraints. The theoretical debate will be accompanied by screenings that include films by directors close to the philosophy of the project Fuorinorma, which Adriano conceived and curated for years, as well as works by figures he admired such as Mario Masini, an experimental filmmaker and extraordinary cameraman for Carmelo Bene, another artist he held in high regard.
Furthermore, a new award will be launched in his name. The inaugural award has been assigned to Bernard Eisenschitz, a film historian, director, and film restoration expert – a field in which Aprà was also an expert, having served as conservator of the Cineteca Nazionale in Rome for years. On this occasion, monographic issues of Cabiria and Imago with articles on Aprà’s research projects will be presented, alongside Barry Salt’s book Film Style & Technology, for which Aprà was keen to pursue the Italian translation.
Lastly, this festival event will be an opportunity to celebrate another of his passions, the analysis of films through hypermedia and the Morandini platform. This fulfils his desire for some Fuorinorma films to be made available online.
This is just the first step, together, on the path that Aprà had outlined.

Mattia Cinquegrani, Bruno Di Marino, Paolo Lanari, Stefania Parigi, Patrizia Pistagnesi, Marco Polimeni, Giacomo Ravesi, Cristina Torelli