Mario De Biasi
Marina Spada
Italy, 2006, 24′
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English
De Biasi joined Epoca in ’53 as a photojournalist and became a great next to greats: Epoca was the iconic magazine of the time, the best Magnum photographers worked there, and the most important names in journalism and culture wrote for it. De Biasi remained at Epoca for thirty years, but even after that, and throughout his life, he never stopped photographing.
De Biasi joined Epoca in ’53 as a photojournalist and became a great next to greats: Epoca was the iconic magazine of the time, the best Magnum photographers worked there, and the most important names in journalism and culture wrote for it. De Biasi remained at Epoca for thirty years, but even after that, and throughout his life, he never stopped photographing.
SYNOPSIS
De Biasi, working for Epoca from ’53 to ’83, chronicled the life of Italy and the world. Photographers such as Capa, Bischof, Eisenstein collaborated with Epoca at the time; writers such as Steinbeck, Palazzeschi, Biagi, Zavattini signed for the review. De Biasi never had to fear comparison. The exceptional nature of his work and approach was consecrated as early as 1956, when he managed to produce an incredible reportage on the events in Hungary, a test of human and professional courage that earned him the nickname “crazy Italian.”
De Biasi signed 132 covers of Epoca and reportages that have become famous, such as the service for the expedition with Walter Bonatti to Siberia in 1964 and the one for the moon landing with shots of Neil Armstrong. Famous are the photos of his non-European travels, to India, Japan, and Siberia, and the shots of Milan as well as his “shirt-sleeved” portraits of the protagonists of the time.
He has published more than one hundred books (including 16 on Milan) and received numerous international awards. Enzo Biagi called him “the man who could photograph everything”.
“Many people think I have taken more than a million shots. I think it’s many more. I’ll never count them, though, because I’d rather go out and take new photographs than count the ones I’ve already taken”.
CREDITS
Director Marina Spada
Director of photography Sabina Bologna
Sound engineer Luca Fedrigo
Editing and post production Roberto Maltagliati
Assistant director Federica Bianchi
Production director Michaela Cipriani
Production assistants Caterina Catalano, Moira Tempestilli
Music Flipper Music
Consultant Denis Curti
Produced by Renata Tardani (Miro Film) for Sitcom
With Mario De Biasi, Laura Leonelli
