Tonino De Bernardi

Directing

Tonino De Bernardi

Born 1937-05-24 · Chivasso, Italy

Tonino De Bernardi (1937, Italy) made his first work at the end of the 1960s. His underground films were often projected in museums and art galleries. In his films, De Bernardi mixes life with his interest in literature, music and art. In 1987 he made his first official feature, Elettra, after Sophocles.

Acting credits

Age Is... poster
7.6

Stephen Dwoskin’s final film is a meditation on the subjective experience and cultural concepts of ageing. The film is an ode to the texture, the beauty, the singularity of aging faces and silhouettes, a hypnotic poem in the Dwoskin meaning of the term which is long observations of very tiny details. A gesture, a pause, a look, a moment. Throughout his films intimacy has always played a leading role and this is also true for Age is..., all the faces being close friends, or close friends relatives and sometimes even Stephen himself.

Age Is...

2012

Dei poster
10.0

The construction of the film is very simple. Most of the time we see faces in close-up. Three pairs of faces, usually, on three different levels of superimpositions. At first, the faces are very theatrical, made-up. It's not clear whether they are men or women. They move only slightly. They are, indeed, godlike. As the film progresses, very unnoticeably, these faces begin to gain more life and masculine and feminine qualities. At the end of the film, after three hours, the faces are very real, and very human, and sexes and ages are very clearly defined: men, women, children.

Dei

1968

Migration poster
4.0

A series of migrants who at times narrate and impersonate shards of myths, among them the Great Goddess, the Virgin of Bach’s Magnificat, the Sulamite of Stockhausen’s Song of Solomon (“I am black but comely”), tales by Herodotus, Kafka, Villon (as set to music by Ezra Pound). Third part of the Flower of Eryngium cycle.

Migration

1970

365 Day Project poster
10.0

This exhibition focuses on Jonas Mekas’ 365 Day Project, a succession of films and videos in calendar form. Every day as of January 1st, 2007 and for an entire year, as indicated in the title, a large public (the artist's friends, as well as unknowns) were invited to view a diary of short films of various lengths (from one to twenty minutes) on the Internet. A movie was posted each day, adding to the previously posted pieces, resulting altogether in nearly thirty-eight hours of moving images.

365 Day Project

2007

Marco Melani: The Man with the Golden Eye poster
NR

"The Man With The Golden Eye" tells the extraordinary figure of Marco Melani through a live projection of materials collected in over ten years of research. Found footage, unpublished interviews with cinema and television personalities, fragments of films, extracts from television programs, photographs, readings and interventions by the author, intertwine giving voice to a chorus of precious testimonies.

Marco Melani: The Man with the Golden Eye

2021

Warming Up poster
6.0

Shot between Italy and New York City, Warming Up is the journal of a season of creativity. The film-maker and his characters improvise scenes and sequences, and wonder how to make up a story as they go along. The recurring theme is how to make the world (or read it as) an imaginative place...

Warming Up

1973

Coda poster
NR

A conclusion and recapitulation of the Eryngium cycle, Coda deals directly with the theme of self-portraiture. The first shot alludes to the end of Erichvon Stroheim's Foolish Wives, where the corpse of the hero-director is dispatched in a man-hole. Other dramatic self-portraits follow: Caravaggio's Goliath, Dante's Sestina (read by the film-maker), and Dürer's Self-portrait with Eryngium. The abandoned villa of Migrazione is revisited. But the finale is hopeful.

Coda

1970

Filmstudio, mon amour poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Filmstudio, mon amour

2015

Cinématon poster
4.9

Cinématon is a 156-hour long experimental film by French director Gérard Courant. It was the longest film ever released until 2011. Composed over 36 years from 1978 until 2006, it consists of a series of over 2,821 silent vignettes (cinématons), each 3 minutes and 25 seconds long, of various celebrities, artists, journalists and friends of the director, each doing whatever they want for the allotted time. Subjects of the film include directors Barbet Schroeder, Nagisa Oshima, Volker Schlöndorff, Ken Loach, Benjamin Cuq, Youssef Chahine, Wim Wenders, Joseph Losey, Jean-Luc Godard, Samuel Fuller and Terry Gilliam, chess grandmaster Joël Lautier, and actors Roberto Benigni, Stéphane Audran, Julie Delpy and Lesley Chatterley. Gilliam is featured eating a 100-franc note, while Fuller smokes a cigar. Courant's favourite subject was a 7-month-old baby. The film was screened in its then-entirety in Avignon in November 2009 and was screened in Redondo Beach, CA on April 9, 2010.

Cinématon

1978

Il mostro verde poster
NR

Short made for double parallel projections, for which Allen Ginsberg said that it's his favorite underground European film, debut from the director, cheeky hommage to B-movies.

Il mostro verde

1967

No artwork available
NR

A film commissioned by the Centre Pompidou, where the director captures moments of his daily life and of his relatives.

Où en êtes-vous, Tonino De Bernardi?

2022

No artwork available
NR

Tonino De Bernardi, author of self-produced films, many Super8 and videos, talks about cinema and Turin. Shot on U-matic.

A proposito di sbavature

1985

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Cinématon n°1542 : Tonino de Bernardi

Cinque Giorni Di Tempesta poster
8.0

Giovanni, a young boy who left Sicily for Bolzano to perform his military service , arrives five days early and is forced to stay outside the barracks before the official day of the call-up. Between surreal encounters and situations of all kinds, Giovanni is the protagonist of various events and movements from various cities and countries; however, once he returns to Bolzano, the boy decides not to show up for the call and flees to Australia where his cousin Vince lives and works.

Cinque Giorni Di Tempesta

1997

Erinnerung An Die Zukunft poster
NR

Unfinished feature film by Piero Bargellini.

Erinnerung An Die Zukunft

1970

Tonino e le galline poster
5.0

Italian film-maker Tonino De Bernardi meets in rural Liguria an old countrywoman, Agnese, and her chickens.

Tonino e le galline

2010

No artwork available
NR

It exists only in a fragmented state.

Bacino Casa del lupo o di Tonino Massimo e Piero

1970

No artwork available
8.2

No synopsis available yet.

Ultimo bagliore e nulla

2003

Strade perdute - Filmmaker 23 poster
NR

For Filmmaker Film Festival (2023), Fulvio Baglivi and Cristina Piccino asked some filmmakers (R. Beckermann, J. Bressane, D’Anolfi/Parenti, T. De Bernardi, L. Di Costanzo, A. Fasulo, F. Ferraro, M. Frammartino, S. George, ghezzi/Gagliardo, C. Hintermann, G. Maderna, A. Momo, A. Rossetto, M. Santini, C. Simon, S. Savona) to give us their own "lost road," that is, a sequence, scene or piece of editing that did not later find its way into the final version of one of their works. Each fragment has its own accomplished presence, often has a different title from the film it was made for, which is not necessary to have seen in order to find meaning; on the contrary, those who set out thinking they know the world they are walking through will find themselves displaced.

Strade perdute - Filmmaker 23

2023

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Il giardino erboso

1968

Galileo’s Thermometer poster
4.7

A whole summer long, Portuguese filmmaker Teresa Villaverde stayed with Italian cult director Tonino De Bernardi, who was working on projects including a film version of Sophocles’ Electra starring only local villagers. She sits at the table with the family in their garden, on the back seat of the car on the way home in the evening or listens to the stories told by the woman De Bernardi buys cheese and eggs from.

Galileo’s Thermometer

2018

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Ophelia Afar

2000

Tonino De Bernardi: One Time, One Encounter poster
NR

"Tonino De Bernardi - Un tempo, un incontro" is a film about the duel between two friends who are very different from one another. Two different approaches, two characters, two views that only seem antithetical meet and then open up in front of a camera. Or, more precisely, in front of the cameras. On the one hand, the eye of Daniele Segre. On the other hand, Tonino's, which almost taints the film's aesthetics. The film's development conveys a sense of immediacy, which is a fundamental principle for both directors. Daniele films Tonino and Tonino films Daniele, and this takes place in a play of associations, and in the space of an encounter. The two directors have seized this opportunity to swap views and experiences.

Tonino De Bernardi: One Time, One Encounter

2021

Behind the camera

No artwork available
7.0

A Neopolitan hustler named Antonello is living his life in Torino. He turns tricks as a transvestite, using the name Rosatigre, or more commonly, Rosa. His closest pal is Wanda, who exercises the same “profession” and, being his best friend, is also the incarnation of his feminine alter ego. While we watch the two of them hanging out on the street, sweet and carefree as the young Moll Flanders, we eavesdrop on their exchange of confidences and learn the secret details of their private lives. Wanda could have been a teacher but she preferred the street, where she can indulge her sentimental, dreamy nature in sighing over the "Americano" she once met in Naples, for whom she still carries a torch.

Working the Streets

2001

No artwork available
7.0

A Neopolitan hustler named Antonello is living his life in Torino. He turns tricks as a transvestite, using the name Rosatigre, or more commonly, Rosa. His closest pal is Wanda, who exercises the same “profession” and, being his best friend, is also the incarnation of his feminine alter ego. While we watch the two of them hanging out on the street, sweet and carefree as the young Moll Flanders, we eavesdrop on their exchange of confidences and learn the secret details of their private lives. Wanda could have been a teacher but she preferred the street, where she can indulge her sentimental, dreamy nature in sighing over the "Americano" she once met in Naples, for whom she still carries a torch.

Working the Streets

2001

No artwork available
7.0

A Neopolitan hustler named Antonello is living his life in Torino. He turns tricks as a transvestite, using the name Rosatigre, or more commonly, Rosa. His closest pal is Wanda, who exercises the same “profession” and, being his best friend, is also the incarnation of his feminine alter ego. While we watch the two of them hanging out on the street, sweet and carefree as the young Moll Flanders, we eavesdrop on their exchange of confidences and learn the secret details of their private lives. Wanda could have been a teacher but she preferred the street, where she can indulge her sentimental, dreamy nature in sighing over the "Americano" she once met in Naples, for whom she still carries a torch.

Working the Streets

2001

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Donne

1982

No artwork available
10.0

This film tells three different love stories, or alleged love stories, or, nevertheless, stories of sentimental relationships set in the Lazio countryside, Rome, and Naples. This is the reiteration - in different days and in different places - of an encounter among three people that (perhaps) may turn out to be fatal.

The Way in the Woods

2001

No artwork available
10.0

This film tells three different love stories, or alleged love stories, or, nevertheless, stories of sentimental relationships set in the Lazio countryside, Rome, and Naples. This is the reiteration - in different days and in different places - of an encounter among three people that (perhaps) may turn out to be fatal.

The Way in the Woods

2001

No artwork available
10.0

This film tells three different love stories, or alleged love stories, or, nevertheless, stories of sentimental relationships set in the Lazio countryside, Rome, and Naples. This is the reiteration - in different days and in different places - of an encounter among three people that (perhaps) may turn out to be fatal.

The Way in the Woods

2001

Il bestiario poster
NR

4 screens overlapping in part in the shape of a crooked cross and having initially each petal a single color and scent but then resulting in a corolla of rose, lily-of-the-valley, lily, cornflower, and fragrant artichoke. "My bestiary".

Il bestiario

1968

Il bestiario poster
NR

4 screens overlapping in part in the shape of a crooked cross and having initially each petal a single color and scent but then resulting in a corolla of rose, lily-of-the-valley, lily, cornflower, and fragrant artichoke. "My bestiary".

Il bestiario

1968

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Accoltellati

2006

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Accoltellati

2006

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Terra

2002

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Terra

2002

Dei poster
10.0

The construction of the film is very simple. Most of the time we see faces in close-up. Three pairs of faces, usually, on three different levels of superimpositions. At first, the faces are very theatrical, made-up. It's not clear whether they are men or women. They move only slightly. They are, indeed, godlike. As the film progresses, very unnoticeably, these faces begin to gain more life and masculine and feminine qualities. At the end of the film, after three hours, the faces are very real, and very human, and sexes and ages are very clearly defined: men, women, children.

Dei

1968

Dei poster
10.0

The construction of the film is very simple. Most of the time we see faces in close-up. Three pairs of faces, usually, on three different levels of superimpositions. At first, the faces are very theatrical, made-up. It's not clear whether they are men or women. They move only slightly. They are, indeed, godlike. As the film progresses, very unnoticeably, these faces begin to gain more life and masculine and feminine qualities. At the end of the film, after three hours, the faces are very real, and very human, and sexes and ages are very clearly defined: men, women, children.

Dei

1968

Little Horrors poster
10.0

A woman in her flooded kitchen thinks of Ophelia and death by drowning. A nun wonders about her vocation. A girl, dumb by choice, walks around in Naples. A ballerina in a wheelchair. Three youths around a bonfire in a little island. A man secluded in a tower waiting for the end of the world. And many other stories.

Little Horrors

1994

Little Horrors poster
10.0

A woman in her flooded kitchen thinks of Ophelia and death by drowning. A nun wonders about her vocation. A girl, dumb by choice, walks around in Naples. A ballerina in a wheelchair. Three youths around a bonfire in a little island. A man secluded in a tower waiting for the end of the world. And many other stories.

Little Horrors

1994

RosaTigre poster
4.4

This is a story about a Neapolitan guy, Antonello, immigrant in Turin, who, for a living, hooks on the street as Rosatigre. Sasà, a friend of his, tries to bring him back to Naples, but, after a tortured decision, Antonello chooses to come back North and to keep living “on the street”.

RosaTigre

2000

RosaTigre poster
4.4

This is a story about a Neapolitan guy, Antonello, immigrant in Turin, who, for a living, hooks on the street as Rosatigre. Sasà, a friend of his, tries to bring him back to Naples, but, after a tortured decision, Antonello chooses to come back North and to keep living “on the street”.

RosaTigre

2000

RosaTigre poster
4.4

This is a story about a Neapolitan guy, Antonello, immigrant in Turin, who, for a living, hooks on the street as Rosatigre. Sasà, a friend of his, tries to bring him back to Naples, but, after a tortured decision, Antonello chooses to come back North and to keep living “on the street”.

RosaTigre

2000

Canto infinito poster
5.0

Tonino De Bernardi and Massimo Bacigalupo met in the second half of the 60s and since then they have always remained friends, the two of them and their families. Massimo appears in several of Tonino's films and Tonino is in some of Massimo's films, an uninterrupted relationship, theirs, which has been a source of comparison and sharing for both.

Canto infinito

2025

Elettra poster
9.0

Elettra is adapted from the tragedy of Sophocles and played by non-professional actors of Casalborgone.

Elettra

1987

Elettra poster
9.0

Elettra is adapted from the tragedy of Sophocles and played by non-professional actors of Casalborgone.

Elettra

1987

Lune poster
NR

Lune (Moons) is a fragment from Cronache del sentimento e del sogno (Chronicles of the Sentiment and the Dream) and consists of a series of images-in-images of faces and bodies. It is a study of the significance of the face, movement and the character of (photographic) light.

Lune

1968