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The Show MAS Go On
by Rä di Martino
Italy 2014, 30′
Presentato allo Schermo dell’arte Film Festival 2015
Camera: Niccolò Berretta, Filippo Silli
Photography: Niccolò Berretta, Filippo Silli
Editing: Enrico Giovannone
Music: Enrico Ascoli
Photography: Niccolò Berretta, Filippo Silli
Editing: Enrico Giovannone
Music: Enrico Ascoli
Sound: Enrico Ascoli
Producers: Rä di Martino, Federica Illuminati, Marcella Libonati
Language: italian
Producers: Rä di Martino, Federica Illuminati, Marcella Libonati
Language: italian
“The Show MAS Go On” (a play on words derived from the title of a song by Queen) is the prize-wining director’s ironic take on the strange story of the gigantic Roman department store MAS – an acronym for Magazzini allo Statuto – after hearing of its imminent closing. Founded at the beginning of the century for an affluent clientele, MAS became “The People’s Department Store” in the 1970s. A shopping goal for a diverse swarm of humanity becomes a stage where everyday life, in the presence of regular clients, is enriched by the performances of actors such as Sandra Ceccarelli, Maya Sansa and Filippo Timi. The owner, played by Iaia Forte, takes us through this microcosm; her personal stories interweave with those of the customers and salesclerks. Moments of humor, like an exhilarating revisitation of Lou Reed’s song Perfect Day (played by Filippo Timi), alternate with suspense and surreal atmospheres.
Rä di Martino (Rome, 1975) studied at the Chelsea College of Arts and the Slade School of Fine Art in London before moving to New York from 2005 to 2010. He lives and works in Rome. He has exhibited in Italy and abroad in institutions such as Tate Modern in London, MOMA-PS1 in New York, Palazzo Grassi, Fondazione Sandretto, Mart in Rovereto, HANGAR|Bicocca, Museum of Contemporary Arts in Chicago, the Bronx Museum, Artists Space NY. He has participated in international festivals such as Festival del film Locarno, VIPER Basel, Transmediale, New York Underground Film Festival, Kasseler Dokfest and Torino Film Festival and participated with the medium-length docufilm “The Show MAS Go On” at Giornate degli autori, Venice Film Festival in 2014 winning the SIAE Award and the Gillo Pontecorvo Award, a special mention at Salina DocFest, a Silver Ribbon for best docufilm 2015. In 2017 he participates again in the Venice International Film Festival with his first feature film “Controfigura” with which he won the Eurimages Lab Award in the same year and is in the Silver Ribbon selection for best docufilm 2018. In 2018/2019 he won the Mibac-Italian Council and developed the video installation and a book Afterall presented at Mattatoio-Roma and Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Zurich (2020). Also in 2019/2020 he produces a new video “L’eccezione” commissioned and at the Museo del 900 in Florence, which wins the first edition of the Lio Capital prize (Milan, 2020). In 2021 he directs a documentary for Artè on G. Bassani’s Giardino dei Finzi Contini, finalist as best docufilm at the Nastri d’Argento 2022 and the documentary film “Fuori dai teatri” inspired by the archive of the historic Piccolo Teatro in Pontedera.
Selected Filmography
2013 The Picture of Ourselves; 2012 Petite historie des plateaux abandonnes; 2010 If You See the Object, the Object Sees You; 2017 Controfigura; 2017 Poor Poor Jerry; 2019 L’eccezione; 2022 Fuori dai Teatri
2013 The Picture of Ourselves; 2012 Petite historie des plateaux abandonnes; 2010 If You See the Object, the Object Sees You; 2017 Controfigura; 2017 Poor Poor Jerry; 2019 L’eccezione; 2022 Fuori dai Teatri