LOOKING FOR VALENTINA
by GIANCARLO SOLDI
Written by Giancarlo Soldi, Marco Lodoli / Starring Riccardo Vianello / Produced by Bizef
Italy 2019 / 76’
V.O. (ITA) sott. ENG
The biography of Guido Crepax, a well-known Italian comics artist who reached success in the 1960s and died in 2003, could have begun from the artistic life of his father, who was principal cellist at the Scala Theatre, or from his success as a graphic designer, which earned him the Palme d’Or for advertising. Cercando Valentina, on the contrary,
presents him through his best known character, Valentina, who was initially given only a secondary role to then become, in the years that followed, a true icon
of mystery, seduction, imagination
and eroticism. She reminded of Louise Brooks, only sketched through captivating details, by breaking down the drawing and focusing on a detail which then becomes revealing of a state of mind. By observing his creature (Valentina), it becomes
possible to unveil dreams and obsessions of Crepax, her ‘creator’.
DIRECTOR
Giancarlo Soldi, born in 1954. he completed his first short movie, Paranaia, while he was serving in the army in Rome in 1979. The following year he shot No Future which was a huge success at Filmmaker in Milan and was circulated also in France. In 1985, Polsi sottili was presented at the Berlin Film Festival. The following year he shot a documentary centered on the figure of the famous dramatist Tadeusz Kantor. From 1989 to 1991 he shot a series of six short films for the Italian TV channel Rai2. In 1992, Nero was presented at the Venice Film Festival. During those years he was attracted by video-installations which drove him to cementing his passion for comics. In 2006 with Nuvole parlanti he made a documentary on the history of Italian comics. In 2015 he won the Nastro d’Argento Special Mention for Nessuno siamo perfetti dedicated to Tiziano Sclavi, the Dylan Dog’s ‘father’. In 2020, Cercando Valentina won the Nastro d’Oro for Best Documentary.
© Bizef, 2019