SPETTACOLO _ Screening in Brooklyn

Materia Prima was excited to partner with ESOPUS Foundation, the Italian arts foundation operated by the Castellani winery in Tuscany, to copresent an evening of Italian wine, food, and film al fresco at Brooklyn's Popina restaurant on Wednesday, June 26, 2018. The event took place in Popina's beautiful backyard space in the Columbia St. waterfront area and featured a screening of Spettacolo, the lauded 2017 documentary by Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen that is also featured in Esopus 25. The evening began with a complimentary wine-tasting from Castellani's "Collesano" collection and a selection of salumi and cicchetti prepared by Popina chef Chris McDade. 

Spettacolo _ Jeff Malmberg & Chris Shellen / 2017 / 91 minutes / Spine #11

Once upon a time, villagers in a tiny hill town in Tuscany came up with a remarkable way to confront their issues: they turned their lives into a play. Every summer, their piazza became their stage and residents of all ages played a part – the role of themselves. Monticchiello’s annual tradition has attracted worldwide attention and kept the town together for 50 years, but with an aging population and a future generation more interested in Facebook than farming, the town’s 50th–anniversary performance just might be its last. Spettacolo tells the story of Teatro Povero di Monticchiello, interweaving episodes from its past with its modern-day process as the villagers turn a series of devastating blows into a new play about the end of their world.