Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters

Rethinking the City from the Lagoon - 5th Edition.

Event
Aug 23 2024 | 6:00 PM h - 12:00 AM h

Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters returns from August 23rd to September 8th 2024, offering a cultural event in the waters behind the island of Giudecca in the Venice Lagoon. The festival features a floating stage, viewable from private boats or a shared floating platform, where attendees can enjoy a diverse array of screenings and performances by both international and local artists.

Now in its fifth edition, Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters explores experiments related to moving images, bridging cinema and visual arts. Previous editions have showcased pre-cinema techniques - such as shadow theater and magic lanterns - silent films with live soundtracks, film projections, and digital technologies.
This edition pays tribute to Franco Basaglia (1924-1980) and Franca Ongaro (1928-2005) on the centenary of the Venetian psychiatrist’s birth. Inspired by their work, the program focuses on visionary actions and their ability to challenge reality, paving the way for new models of coexistence. The festival delves into the subjective perception of reality and inner worlds, highlighting experiences that bring back to the center individuals, living beings and their environments.

The authors participating in the fifth edition of Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters are: Alaa Abuzaineh, Bas Jan Ader, Samrat Banerjee, Samuel Beckett, Kim Beom, Seba Calfuqueo, Claudio Caldini, Carlos Casas, Umberto Cecchinato, Ali Cherri, CIAO – Centro de Estudos Ítalo-brasileiro Franca e Franco Basaglia, Stephanie Comilang, Death of Master, Paolo Dellapiana with Studio 454, Giovanni Claudio Di Giorgio, Marco Aurelio Di Giorgio, Marilena Delli Umuhoza, Raymond Depardon and Sophie Ristelhueber, donne ristrette nella casa di Reclusione Femminile della Giudecca, Limpe Fuchs in collaboration with Gisela Oberbeck, Agniia Galdanova, Francesco Giusti, Alberto Grifi, Barbara Hammer, Taloi Havini and Michael Toisuta, Kathy Hinde, Gulnoza Irgasheva, Arthur Jafa, Hamedine Kane and Ayesha Hameed, Sasha Kulak, Aleksandr Lee, Chang-Jin Lee, Anna Marziano, Antoni Miralda, mixrice, Eleanor Mortimer, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Gerard Ortín Castellví, Sergei Parajanov, Artavazd Pelechian, Stefano Pilia and Paolo Spaccamonti, Sofia Pozdniakova e Giovanni Mancuso, Lyra Pramuk, Regno Maggiore, Stephanie Rizaj & Marvin Kanas, Micol Roubini, Matilde & Mauro Sambo, Mariateresa Sartori, Alan Schneider, Caterina Serra, Michihiro Shimabuku, Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith, Ralph Steiner, Matteo Stocco in collaboration with Macedoniasintetica and Matteo Primiterra, Superstudio, aqui Thami, Gabriele Tai, José Val del Omar, Fabrizio Vatieri, Dziga Vertov, Jonathan Vinel, ZAPRUDERfilmmakersgroup, Emanuele Wiltsch Barberio.

The participation of partners who have supported previous editions is reaffirmed: TBA21–Academy - Ocean Space showcases four productions by artists Stephanie Comillang, Taloi Havini with Michael Toisuta, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz and aqui Thami, continuing their research on marine and coastal ecosystems. Pentagram Stiftung presents its selection of cinematic masterpieces with Sergei Parajanov's The Color of Pomegranate (1969), a poetic and allegorical film exploring the life of Armenian poet Sayat-Nova. Palazzo Grassi - Punta della Dogana - Pinault Collection presents Akingdoncomethas (2018) by Arthur Jafa, which addresses themes such as love, forgiveness and the barriers faced by African-Americans in the United States. This film uses archival materials from Youtube and gospel music as expressive tools. Fondazione In Between Art Film presents Gerard Ortín Castellví's Bliss Point (2023), offering an overview of food processing and distribution that subverts the sensuality of visual communication in the food industry. The institution also presents Ali Cherri's The Watchman (2024), which examines the psychological state of a soldier in a tense and

isolated environment, exploring the fine line between perception and reality. On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary celebration of the Manifesto of Surrealism, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection presents a short film entitled Film (1964) directed by Alan Schneider, written by Samuel Beckett. Highlighting Surrealism’s legacy on subsequent generations, Film is soundtracked live by Giovanni Claudio Di Giorgio (violin), Marco Aurelio Di Giorgio (flute) and Gabriele Tai (cello). Michèle Lamy and Agniia Galdanova presents their upcoming film project كن التغییر / Be The Change in the form of live performance, as well as presenting Queendom (2023) directed by Agniia Galdanova and executive produced by Michèle Lamy. Filmed over three years, the piece blends documentary and visionary narratives to tell the story of Jenna Marvin, a remarkable queer artist whose journey from Russia to France is an inspiring tale of resistance and creativity. Participating for the third time, the National Pavilion of Uzbekistan offers a selection of films that showcase Uzbekistan's rich cinematic heritage. The 2024 edition sees the participation of the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, a new partner of Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters, which on September 2nd presents a screening from CORRESPONDENCES, the project by Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith, developed over 10 years and in continuous performative evolution. This chapter, presented at Floating Cinema, reflects on the relationship between humans and the environment. Between August 28th – 31st, Isola Edipo and Giornate degli Autori, in collaboration with the Fondation Cartier, will host a performative masterclass with Patti Smith and Stephan Crasneanscki and two screenings related to CORRESPONDENCES at Lido di Venezia.

The fifth edition of Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters opens with an ambient improvisation by Lyra Pramuk presented by Microclima in collaboration with Cosmogram. Libreria MarcoPolo presents [a] scendere, an impossible dialogue with Fabrizia Ramondino by writer Caterina Serra. Her latest novel, Bruceremo, tells a story of love and struggles in Venice. The Alberto Grifi Cultural Association presents Orgonauti, Evviva! (1970) by Alberto Grifi, which blends psychedelic visions with the orgone theory, a pseudoscientific concept introduced by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957). A sound work by Mariaterese Sartori, Nuovo Vento (2020), precedes the screening of San Clemente (1981) by Raymond Depardon and Sophie Ristelhueber, presented by Archivio Basaglia. Invited by Franco Basaglia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Depardon documented life in the asylum on San Clemente Island, visible from the waters of the Floating Cinema, providing a vivid account of the conditions of the interned individuals. In its second collaboration with Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters, The Citadel Cinema Club (Beit Sahour) presents The Wall (2024), a short film by Palestinian director Alaa Abuzaineh introduced by Rami Fararjeh. Over five evenings Monokino showcases a selection of films by Bas Jan Ader, a Belgian artist who highlights the fragility of the human condition through the fusion of life and artistic practice.

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Opening talks at sunset include a reading from La montagna magica (2023) by Micol Roubini and La Pazzia del Ballo (2024) by historian Umberto Cecchinato. Roubini’s work explores the transformation of Europe’s largest asbestos mine (Amiantifera in Balangero) by tracing the memories and dreams of its current inhabitants. Cecchinato presents a satirical 16th-century treatise that identifies dancing as a source of madness. Among the collaborating entities in the opening program, Closer, a cultural association active in the Giudecca Women's Prison, presents readings of short stories reflecting on the word “salt”. The association About, which has been engaged in Venice’s urban and social context since 2015, offers a poetry reading by Venetian poet Francesco Giusti, paying tribute to his work following his recent passing.

The edition renews its focus on experimental music performances and live film soundtracks, featuring The Man with the Movie Camera (1929) by Dziga Vertov, accompanied by the live performance of Stefano Pilia and Paolo Spaccamonti. Limpe Fuchs, a pioneering German experimental musician born in 1941, returns to the lagoon after her concert on the island of Sant'Andrea last June. For Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters, she brings on the stage Animare - Trails in the World's Chaparral. A Shadow Picture Theater, a sound performance with live animation by Gisela Oberbeck that is presented by Microclima in collaboration with Haus der Kunst München. In celebration of its 10th anniversary, IKLECTIK, the London-based experimental music and art organization, presents a site-specific performance by artist Kathy Hinde. She will perform with a vast range of instruments, blending hydrophone recordings from Venice and around the world into a live mix of her film River Traces (2020), created using river sediments directly on 16 mm film.

Each evening opens with a theme song composed by William West, an English artist and sculptor living near the Po river, and closes with Fortunello by Ettore Petrolini, a futuristic entertainment mask inspired by the popular American comic strip character Happy Hooligan, created in 1899 by cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper.

This fifth edition concludes on Sunday, September 8th, with live-sets, performances and concerts curated by the Cosmogram label. In an atmosphere of free listening and sharing, there will be musical performances by Sofia Pozdniakova e Giovanni Mancuso, Regno Maggiore, Death of Master, Carlos Casas, Gabriele Tai and Emanuele Wiltsch Barberio. The program is supported by COMBO.

The 5th Edition of Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters is achieved thanks to the support of the partners: TBA21–Academy – Ocean Space (2020-2024), Pentagram Stiftung (2020-2024), Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana – Pinault Collection (2020-2024), Fondazione In Between Art Film (2021-2024), Uzbekistan National Pavilion (2022-2024), Michèle Lamy (2021, 2022 e 2024), Collezione Peggy Guggenheim (2022 e 2024), Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain (2024).

Local contributors for the 2024 edition are: aarduork, Archivio Basaglia, Associazione Culturale About, Associazione Closer, Bogiaisso, Centro Studi e Documentazione della Cultura Armena, Cosmogram, Festival dei Matti, Libreria MarcoPolo, Master MOVIES Moving Images Arts – Università IUAV di Venezia, Rete Cinema in Laguna, Spazio Punch and wetlands.

The edition also renews and expands its national and international contributors, including: Arteco (Turin), Associazione Culturale Alberto Grifi (Rome), Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève (Geneva), Disobedience Archive, Ekrani I Artit – Art House (Shkodër), Haus der Kunst München (München), IKLECTIK (London), Ekrani I Artit – Art House, Institut Ramon Llull (Catalonia), MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Barcelona), MAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (Rome), Monokino (Ostend), The Citadel Cinema Club (Beit Sahour), The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Education Center (New York), Todolí Citrus Fundació (Valencia).

Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters is further supported by the Accademia di Francia a Roma – Villa Medici; COMBO; Fondazione Venezia, Habibi Kiosk of the Münchner Kammerspiele; Regione Lazio; The KHR McNeely Family Fund Kevin, Rosemary and Hannah Rose McNeely.

Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters is a project by Edoardo Aruta and Paolo Rosso presented by Microclima and co-curated by Alessandra Messali, aiming to create a collective vision and desire. The public is invited to enter the waters of the lagoon, forming an amphibious settlement in close contact with natural elements.

Previous editions have brought together over 80 local and international institutions, associations, museums and festivals, presenting more than 250 feature and short film screenings, 50 musical and theatrical performances and 300 authors.

The complete program of Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters is available on the official website: www.cinemagalleggiante.it

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CONVIVIO ACQUATICO is the gastronomic offering curated by TOCIA! Cucina e Comunità, an interdisciplinary platform founded by chef Marco Bravetti. Every evening the collective's brigade - Enrico Sambo, Lorenzo Mattei, Maicol Viale and Lorenzo Scantamburlo - joins forces with chefs from the lagoon area and beyond to create a festive experiment in communal and popular cuisine. This endeavor is dedicated to sustainability and innovation, exploring new forms of relationships between humans and the amphibious landscape through the language of food.

The ASD Gloria Rogliani, Soralai, and Canottieri Giudecca associations provide rowboats to ferry the public to the Floating Cinema platform.

The illustrations for the 5th Edition of Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters are designed by Federico Barbon, Thomas Braida, and Sarah Mazzetti.

TBA21–Academy - Ocean Space supports Cinema Galleggiante by offering its venue as an alternative location in case of rain for the evenings of September 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

The event is part of Città in festa, Comune di Venezia.

Floating Cinema – Unknown Waters

V Edition

from August 23rd to September 8th, 2024
Opening at 6:00 PM – Boarding at 7:20 PM – Program starts at 7:45 PM
Giudecca, Rio de Sant’Eufemia, Consorzio Venezia Sviluppo Ex “Cantiere Lucchese” Venezia

Reservations:

Reservations are required for both private boats and pedestrians and can be made on the website

www.cinemagalleggiante.it

How to get here:
On foot: exit at the Giudecca Palanca stop, turn right, and take the first Calle on the left, Calle lunga dell’Accademia dei Nobili. The entrance to the Consorzio Venezia Sviluppo Ex “Cantiere Lucchese” is located about 250 meters down this calle. Please arrive before 7.10 PM.
By boat: Floating Cinema – Unknown Waters is situated in the shoal area adjacent to Giudecca island on the lagoon side, near the Rio de Sant’Eufemia exit. Arriving from the Zattere, enter the Rio de Sant’Eufemia, a canal located between the church having the same name and Harry’s Dolci, and proceed directly to the platform where attendants will guide you to the moorings. Arriving from the Canale Retro Giudecca, the Cinema is located in the shallow area in front of Consorzio Venezia Sviluppo Ex “Cantiere Lucchese’’. Please moor before 7:40 PM.

Presented by: Microclima
Concept: Edoardo Aruta and Paolo Rosso
Curated by: Edoardo Aruta, Alessandra Messali and Paolo Rosso
Partner: TBA21–Academy - Ocean Space, Pentagram Stiftung, Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana – Pinault Collection, Fondazione In Between Art Film, Uzbekistan National Pavilion, Michèle Lamy, Collezione Peggy Guggenheim, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
With the support of: Accademia di Francia a Roma – Villa Medici; COMBO; Fondazione Venezia, Habibi Kiosk of the Münchner Kammerspiele; Regione Lazio; The KHR McNeely Family Fund Kevin, Rosemary, and Hannah Rose McNeely.
Contributors: aarduork (Venice), Arteco (Turin), Archivio Basaglia (Venice), Associazione Culturale About (Venice), Associazione Closer (Venice), Associazione Culturale Alberto Grifi (Rome), Bogiaisso (Chioggia), Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève (Geneva), Centro Studi e Documentazione della Cultura Armena (Venice), Cosmogram (Venice), Disobedience Archive, Ekrani I Artit - Art House (Shkodra), Festival dei Matti (Venice), Haus der Kunst München (Munich), Iklectik (London), Institut Ramon Llull (Catalonia), Libreria Marco Polo (Venice), MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Barcelona), Master MOVIES Moving Images Arts – Università IUAV (Venice), MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (Rome), Monokino (Ostend), Rete Cinema in Laguna (Venice), Spazio Punch (Venice), The Citadel Cinema Club (Beit Sahour), The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Education Center (New York), Todolí Citrus Fundació (Valencia), wetlands (Venice).
Logistical partners: Consorzio Venezia Sviluppo Ex “Cantieri Lucchese”, Cantiere Manin, TOCIA!, Famiglia Bognolo (renowned giudecca’s fishermen)

Engineering design: Nicola Ferrari – ST Servizi Tecnici s.r.l.
Stage construction: VoxelStudio
Technical support: Mattia Biadene, Michele Mescalchin (VoxelStudio), Enrico Wiltsch, Lucio Serpani, Ivan Calza, Luca Vento
Service video: TargetDue (Padua)
Production assistant: Sara Maggioni
Production assistant junior Stage – Università Ca’ Foscari: Tommaso Macelloni
Illustrations: Federico Barbon, Thomas Braida, Sarah Mazzetti.
Graphic design: Elisa Calore
Website: Francesco Bevilacqua – tarranttabor.com
Ticket office: Est Coulon
Management and coordination in the water: Niccolò Bocenti, Andrea Vendramin
Rowboats for public transport: ASD Gloria Rogliani (Nicolò Lachin, Luca Targa), SORALAI (Francesco Bernardi, Sara Dotto, Alisa Eduardova, Federico Mantovan, Diego Scaggiante, Marta Vicinanza, Giovanni Zaninotto), Canottieri Giudecca.
Cuisine and co-ordination of collaborations: Tocia! Comunità e Cucina - Marco Bravetti, Lorenzo Enrico Sambo
Video documentation: Tommaso Stefani
Photographic documentation: Riccardo Banfi
Thanks to: Air de Paris, Lisa Andreani, Ermanno Antonioli, Maria Ida Bernabei, Arnold Braho, Beatrice Bulgari, Barbara Casavecchia, Agostino Cortese, Galleria Michela Rizzo, Galleria Zero..., Gelateria Alaska, Ginko Film, Gladstone Gallery, Edoardo Lazzari, Fiorenza Molli, Valentina Perniciaro (Fondazione Tetrabondi Onlus), Alessandro Rabottini, Markus Reymann, Alice Ongaro Sartori, Marco Scotini, Q (aka Kyoo Lee), Todolì Citrus Fundaciò.

Contacts:

e: cinemagalleggiante@gmail.com w: www.cinemagalleggiante.it
I: microclima_

IMAGE CREDITS

Cover: Photocredits Riccardo Banfi, Cinema Galleggiante 2022 (Henrik HaÌkansson)

fig. 1: Photocredits Riccardo Banfi, Cinema Galleggiante 2021

fig. 2: Photocredits Riccardo Banfi, Cinema Galleggiante 2023, Tacita Dean

Floating Cinema - Unknown Waters

Rethinking the City from the Lagoon - 5th Edition.

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