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The Centennial of Tonino Guerra, 1920–2020
  • ISSN: 2047-7368
  • E-ISSN: 2047-7376

Abstract

This interview with Italian former child actor Alfonso Bovino, who most famously appeared in the second episode of Roberto Rossellini’s neorealist classic () (1946) elicits recollections from him about his time working with Rossellini. It covers his ‘discovery’ by Rossellini in his home town of Maiori, and his move to Naples, where he remained for several months to shoot the episode. This introduction contextualizes the interview and reflects on some key themes: these include the significance of the child performer to neorealist cinema, the circumstances of the film’s production, some important methodological questions regarding the status of memory and testimony so many years after, and what it is exactly that interviewers or readers are hoping to access when they speak to an actor or other artist, especially so many years after the film’s production.

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2023-01-02
2024-04-29
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The non-professional child actor in neorealism: Interview with Alfonso Bovino1
Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies 11, 185 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1386/jicms_00167_7
/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00167_7
/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00167_7
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  • Article Type: Other
Keyword(s): acting; casting; oral history; Paisan; performance; post-war cinema; Roberto Rossellini

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