The exemplary stories of four great protagonists of the twentieth century – the director Lina Wertmüller, the opera singer Maria Callas, the entrepreneur Wanda Ferragamo and the actress Franca Valeri – are the focus of the new season of “Illuminate”, a documentary series in four by Anele Episodes produced in collaboration with Rai Cultura, which will be broadcast on Rai 3 on Monday 2 January at 11:20 p.m. Starting from the true and personal vocations of the four actresses-narrators – Michela Andreozzi, Silvia D’Amico, Anna Valle and Emanuela Fanelli- and crossing film narrative, archival documents and direct testimonies, the biographies and the main choices of the four protagonists are traced.
In the first installment, Michela Andreozzi, using a narrative trick, plays a director who explores the life and career of Lina Wertmüller, the most famous Italian filmmaker in the world, able to revolutionize Italian cinema by talking about social, political… and sexual themes speaks in grotesque and comical ways. Subsequently, Silvia D’Amico, who is preparing to stage a theatrical monologue inspired by Maria Callas, traces the experience of the great artist and the constant struggle between her two souls: the woman and the diva, her artistic and physical transformation, the constant work she had to do on herself to make the “public body” of the artist coexist with the “private body” of the person. Anna Valle, on the other hand, plays the exemplary character of Wanda Ferragamo in the documentary that brings to the screen her talent as an exceptional entrepreneur, her humility and her moral rigor, while Emanuela Fanelli, a passionate comedian, tells about the life of Franca Valeri and while she Prepared to direct one of her sketches, she traces the career of the woman who revolutionized the world of entertainment and broke the taboo of female comedy.
Among the many illustrious witnesses who have made valuable contributions to history are many friends, family and colleagues from the world of arts, culture and entertainment. For Lina Wertmüller, Claudia Gerini, Anna Melato, her daughter Maria Zulima, the actor and grandson Massimo Wertmüller, the journalist Laura Delli Colli, the director and collaborator Valerio Ruiz, the sociologist and friend Domenico De Masi, the set designer and assistant to her husband Virginia Vianello; for Maria Callas, the biographer and collector of objects that belonged to the singer Michele Nocera, the soprano Selene Zanetti, the director of the archives of the Zeffirelli Foundation Caterina D’Amico, the orchestra conductor Massimiliano Stefanelli, Enrico Stinchelli and Michele Suozzo, authors and radio Speaker; for Wanda Ferragamo, Carlo Conti, their daughter Giovanna Ferragamo, their grandchildren Ginevra Visconti and Diego di San Giuliano, the director of the museum and the Ferragamo Foundation Stefania Ricci, the journalist and fashion critic Mariella Milani and the historical butler Silvano; for Franca Valeri her daughter Stefania Bonfadelli, the actresses Cinzia Leone and Gabriella Franchini, the director of the Parenti Theater in Milan Andree Ruth Shammah, the director and TV presenter Pino Strabioli, the director and artistic director Giorgio Ferrara and his friend Michele Della Valle. The story also unfolds through visits to the places that served as a backdrop for the events of the four protagonists: from Palazzo Spini Feroni in Florence, the headquarters of Wanda Ferragamo’s company, through her estate in Fiesole in the Florentine hinterland, from Lake Bracciano, place , where Franca Valeri lived, in the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia to tell the story of Lina Wertmüller, to Verona, Sirmione and the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza to tell the story of Maria Callas.
“Illuminate” is an Anele production in collaboration with Rai Cultura. A docu-series in four episodes produced by Gloria Giorgianni, directed by Marco Spagnoli (Lina Wertmüller), Matteo Raffaelli (Maria Callas), Margherita Ferri (Wanda Ferragamo) and Maria Iovine (Franca Valeri). Associated Producers: Tore Sansonetti and Carlotta Schininà.
