Natalie Cristiani – director – Nicola Costantino: The Artefacta
Some weeks before her participation to the 2015 edition of HOT DOCS in Toronto, FRED meets NatalieCristiani, who will be in Toronto for the first time as the Director of her first documentary NICOLA COSTANTINO: THE ARTEFACTA, after many years working as editor in documentaries and fiction films , both in Italy,where she was born, and Argentina, the country she is based in and chose to live her life.
NatalieCristiani chooses not to to tell the life story of Nicola Costantino in a classic documentary form but as it was a diary, with Nicola’s voice to guide the audience through this tale in which reality and fiction merge.
NICOLA COSTANTINO: THE ARTEFACTA – Nicola Costantino is one of Latin America’s most controversial and admired visual artists. With often macabre imagery rooted in a violence that pervades the history of Argentina, she is known for provocative works, such as lifelike casts of animals, soap constructed out of fat liposuctioned from her own body and clothes and accessories made of male nipple casts.
Filmmaker NatalieCristiani makes her directorial debut with this gorgeous cinematic tribute to Costantino, drawing audiences into her dark and mysterious work and the rigorous process of preparing to exhibit her latest work at the 55th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
As much as this film is a portrait of Costantino, it also uniquely pulls us into her art, making viewers into participants.
Alice Rohrwacher has been appointed President of the Caméra d’or Jury at Cannes 2025. Known for her poetic and visionary cinema, Rohrwacher will award the best first feature at the festival’s closing ceremony on May 24.