On Sunday 24th August the opening show of the XXXV Meeting edition will offer a great homage to Federico Fellini: “Me, a pebble among the stars”, musical suite by Nino Rota from the movie “The Road”, in the occasion of the sixty years of Fellini’s masterpiece. Accompanied by a set of images from the movie, the undisputed protagonist will be the Philharmonic Orchestra’s music of the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo, conducted by Pier Carlo Orizio, in cooperation with Emilia Romagna Festival. The event will take place in the Auditorium Intesa San Paolo D5 at 9.45 p.m.
Francesca Fabbri Fellini, journalist, will introduce the event, revealing some stories about her uncle and the film. An up-to-date and powerful masterpiece for this Meeting edition, with themes like loneliness, need of the other and the certainty of any person’s unlimited value.

«Choosing “The Road” as a theme of the opening show of the XXXV Meeting edition – said Francesca Fabbri Fellini during the Meeting’s presentation – means choosing a message for a universal public. It has been the most loved movie from Federico, just for its language needless of subtitles, and it’s a never ending story. Then in the exact moment Federico writes and realizes 100% poetry, as this movie has 60 year and it doesn’t show it, he creates these three characters, who are three faces from the same man: Giulietta (Giulietta Masina), wonderful, amazing, who speaks by the eyes; Zampanò (Anthony Quinn) strong and brutal Cistercian, and then the “clown” (Richard Basehart) crazy and philosopher at the same time. So, I believe that in this movie the theme of the Meeting is held: remember that you’re not here by mistake, remember that you make sense, because also this pebble makes sense, otherwise neither stars would make sense, nothing would make sense, even you, you only have to find your own way, your own path. That is the extraordinary modernity of this movie which had the soundtrack of Nino Rota, a symbiosis life with Federico, two essential figures inseparable the one from the other, which met like beautiful meetings happen in life».

During the live performance of the Nino Rota suite some images from the movie will be shown, so that those who already know it can see it again, and those who have never seen it will be invited to watch it entirely. Telling what’s behind “The Road”, what the most awarded movie have meant in the world, the first winner of the Oscar as “best foreign movie” and got a beautiful path started, a story composed by masterpieces with Federico and Giulietta. The most fabulous of Fellini’s movies, it has 60 years but it seems to be like they’ve filmed it nowadays, because of its modern meaning: the pain of being alone, the need of others, the certainty that everyone of us is useful, no matter how modest or obscure. «The word “road” means love, melancholy, hope, but especially that sweet, delicate, funny clown called Gelsomina» explained Federico. Gelsomina is the character who brought fame to Giulietta all over the world, enough to deserve to be named “Charlot lady”.
«I believe – added the director – that the I made the movie because I fell in love with that girl – old lady, a little crazy and a little saint, with hers funny, ungraceful and lovely clown called Gelsomina and that even today succeed in making me melancholic when I hear the music of her trumpet».

An homage to a unique binomial between art and friendship, the one among Fellini e Rota, underlined again Francesca Fabbri Fellini.
«With Gelsomina’s character, Nino – Federico told me – succeeded in making a big gangster of New York crying. He had 70 years with a baldness that aggravated his threatening aspect of a banned. A man tall 1.90. he had a sweet name, which I’m scared to report. He shook my hand with strength and the first thing he said to me was: “Federico, look at me”. And then he started singing the song of “The Road”. And you should know that he also told me: “You make me cry” and he cried. Being with him for a month, he took me to Las Vegas and he showed me the power of Mafia. He was really a boss, a powerful Mafioso. If I whistled the song of “The Road”, that was enough to make him cry: the mysterious power of Nino’s music…».
«The Road by Fellini – declared recently Pope Francis – is maybe the movie I loved the most. I identify myself with that movie, where there’s an implicit reference to St. Francis».