By RAY KELLY
FormaCinema will screen the recently restored The Merchant of Venice, along with footage intended for the stage show Too Much Johnson and a never-before-seen extract from Portrait of Gina in Milan on November 4.
The footage was uncovered in a Pordenone, Italy warehouse several years ago, Massimiliano Studer, managing editor of formacinema.it told Wellesnet.
The footage was found in a box once belonging to Welles. The actor-director moved his belongings from Madrid to an Italian warehouse in the early 1970s.
Since the announced discovery of Too Much Johnson in 2013, multiple sources have told Wellesnet that several previously lost treasures were found in that box, though the full contents have not been made public.
Studer will be joined at the event by the BBC’s Paolo Mereghetti and Luke Giuliani of Cinemazero.
Too Much Johnson, intended for use in a 1938 Mercury Theatre stage show starring Joseph Cotten, was restored by George Eastman House and debuted at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in October 2013.
The Merchant of Venice was first screened at the Venice Film Festival last month. Footage found in Pordenone was combined with materials from the Munich Film Museum and Cineteca di Bologna to approximate what Welles had planned for airing on CBS in 1969.
Portrait of Gina, or Viva Italia, is a 1958 documentary shot by Welles, but never released. The film was thought lost until 1986. The approximately 10 minutes found in Pordenone is not included in Welles’ cut. Portrait of Gina can be viewed on online at youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHuJ1yklDFBl4kAvf9IF5KA59gaQUr9uZ
The November 4 event is presented by the Cultural Association Formacinema in partnership with Cinemazero, The Podenone Silent Film Festival and Apollo spazioCinema.
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