102 years after his birth, the great director lives again in Patrizia Mannajuolo‘s shots from the set of “La città delle donne”

Usually, when portraying celebrities, one is conditioned in some way by a preconceived idea. Patrizia Mannajuolo, on the other hand, in her off-stage photographs manages to shoot with a free mind and an attentive gaze, capturing moments of rare spontaneity and revealing the characters as if she were seeing them for the first time. His eyes focus on details already investigated by so many, but with a peculiar, unprecedented gaze, showing us the real and genuine Fellini, far from the officialdom of public appearances or authorised backstage. In these shots we relive the emotions, contrasts, joys and discomforts of a decisive encounter, of a visionary season of passions and anxieties. In theatre 5 in Cinecittà, which was the maestro’s ‘home’, Patrizia explores set and set with the discretion and malice of a photojournalist, in a memorable sequence of unexpected and revealing snapshots.

Patrizia Mannajuolo, neapolitan, dedicated herself to photography from a very young age, attended Vittorugo Contino’s studio in Rome and collaborated with directors, actors and producers; among her most significant experiences were working with Roberto Rossellini and his son Renzo for the television series La lotta dell’uomo per la sua sopravvivenza (1970); with Federico Fellini on the set of La città delle donne (1979), with Liliana Cavani for La pelle (1981) based on the novel of the same name by Curzio Malaparte, and then with Alberto Sordi and Monica Vitti for the filming of Io so che tu sai che io so (1982), a subject by Rodolfo Sonego produced by Augusto Caminito, which was followed by a special directed by Patrizia Mannajuolo on the problematic relationships of couples. In 2018, the photographs from behind the scenes of Federico Fellini’s La città delle donne were exhibited at the Neapolitan art gallery Al Blu di Prussia, in the exhibition spaces of the former Hospital of San Rocco in Matera and, in 2019, at Villa Fiorentino in Sorrento. The photographic work was published in the volume Federico Fellini. The eye of Patrizia Mannajuolo, artem, Naples 2020.