Echoing Public Program:
Projection of the documentary Pagani (2016) by Elisa Flaminia Inno.
Marea Art Project inaugurates Echoing Public Program, a series of free events that will continue until Sunday, February 23
On Sunday, January 26, at 6 PM, at the Centro Culturale Pane in Praiano, we will present the documentary "Pagani" (2016), a film by director Elisa Flaminia Inno centered on the celebration of the Madonna delle Galline, a blend of popular songs, bodies, sexuality, and religion.
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 52 minutes
Language: Italian
SYNOPSIS
Ancient religious syncretisms linked to Mother Earth still survive in the deep south of Italy. In Pagani, near Pompeii, the Madonna delle Galline is celebrated seven days after Easter—a Virgin worshipped with ancestral songs and dances. For thirty days, the devout community moves in unison to perpetuate the Tradition, an event in which everyone participates, driven by faith that becomes memory and transcendence.
Fonzino is the chosen one who leads the community in building the Tosello. This secret temple annually represents the present and is revealed to the people during the Virgin's procession on the festival day. Biagino is a farmer, a singer, and part of a group of effeminate devotees who play a key role in the most orthodox liturgical events and preserve traditions linked to the LGBTQ+ community, such as the marriage of Zeza, the Death of Carnival, and the Birth of the Femminielli.
The wait for the Madonna marks the days leading up to the festival and the repetition of popular rituals that signify the changing of the seasons, culminating on the day of the Madonna delle Galline when everything dissolves into a celebration of music and dance aimed at catharsis and the birth of a new spring.
CURATOR'S NOTES – Sonia D'Alto
The idea for this film emerged from research into the popular traditions of southern Italy and the desire to narrate the transformation of an ancient religiosity that continues to express itself through ritualized practices.
In Campania's traditions, the customs and habits of the ancient world are preserved, interwoven with a symbolism that connects human life to natural elements and manifests through contemporary forms of devotion. What is now perceived as spectacular - popular dances, trance, and community as a way of life - symbolizes a profound belonging to a place, a resistance to modern individualism, and a collective identity that survives in Campania, protected by the mystery of faith.
Celebrating the Mother as a guarantor of new life, the cult of the dead, and interaction with natural and supernatural forces intimidate the contemporary man, now detached from spiritual and material connections to his nature. In the era of mass communication, orally transmitted culture has been transformed through ever-evolving religious, social, and communicative syncretisms.
In this context, it was necessary to penetrate reality with the camera's lens, a participatory, immersive perspective that reveals the hidden treasures of southern Italy's intangible heritage. The film takes place on the outskirts of Pompeii, where, after years of attending devotional and ritual events, I selected a story and its protagonists.
Fonzino, with his construction of the Tosello Madre, forms the backbone of the narrative structure. The Tosello is an ara pacis, an ancient place of worship and community gathering where misery is exorcised, and the Mother is invoked, just as the sun was invoked by beating the Diana or playing the tambourine.
Biagino embodies Tradition, preserving the ancient knowledge of rural Vesuvian life alongside elderly women. Together with Ermanno, Bruno, and Maurizio, they are part of a gay community of devotees that unveils the figure of the femminiello, a transcendent being akin to the primordial androgynous human condition. Masters of the cult, virtuosos in singing and dancing, possess a profound faith supporting their unique destiny.
Pagani narrates the story of this community in the period leading up to the celebration of the Madonna delle Galline, the most vibrant of all Marian celebrations in Campania, held seven days after the spring equinox.
"I have eaten from the tympanum, drunk from the cymbal, carried the torch, and entered the bridal chamber." (Eleusinian Mysteries, initiation formula)
Elisa Flaminia Inno
The film is produced by Parallelo41 in collaboration with 15 06 Film.
The event is part of the Echoing Public Program, a series of free events connected to the Echoing artist residency, a project funded by the European Union and implemented by the Goethe-Institut.
Special thanks to the Distretto Turistico Costa d'Amalfi for providing the venue.
Practical Information
Free event. Reservation required.
The event will occur at Centro Culturale Pane, Via Casa Rispoli, Praiano (SA).
The screening begins at 6 PM. It is recommended to arrive by 5:45 PM.
For more information, call +39 350 047 0811 or email info@mareartproject.com.
