Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
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Works as film critic and journalist who covers stories about culture and sustainability. With a degree in Political Sciences, a Master’s in Screenwriting & Film Production, and studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Chiara has been working in the press since 2003. Italian by blood, British by upbringing, fond of Japanese culture since the age of 7, once a New Yorker always a New Yorker, and an avid traveller, Chiara collaborates with international magazines and radio-television networks. She is also a visual artist, whose eco-works connect to her use of language: the title of each painting is inspired by the materials she upcycles on canvas. Her ‘Material Puns’ have so far been exhibited in four continents, across ten countries. She is a dedicated ARTivist, donating her works to the causes and humanitarians she supports, and is Professor of Phenomenology of Contemporary Arts at Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan.
Works as film critic and journalist who covers stories about culture and sustainability. With a degree in Political Sciences, a Master’s in Screenwriting & Film Production, and studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Chiara has been working in the press since 2003. Italian by blood, British by upbringing, fond of Japanese culture since the age of 7, once a New Yorker always a New Yorker, and an avid traveller, Chiara collaborates with international magazines and radio-television networks. She is also a visual artist, whose eco-works connect to her use of language: the title of each painting is inspired by the materials she upcycles on canvas. Her ‘Material Puns’ have so far been exhibited in four continents, across ten countries. She is a dedicated ARTivist, donating her works to the causes and humanitarians she supports, and is Professor of Phenomenology of Contemporary Arts at Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan.

Flamin’ Hot, A Flavoursome Rags To Riches Story

If you can dream it, you can do it. This is the feel good message of Flamin’ Hot, that marks Eva Longoria’s directorial debut and brings to the screen the story of a man who went from being a janitor to Director of Multicultural Marketing in a multinational company. Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia), after a…

Dalíland, Filmmaker Mary Harron Merges Artistic Creation With Subconscious Intuition

Director Mary Harron depicts the poetic decline of the master of Surrealism through the cinematic medium. Her film, Dalíland, had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. We meet Salvador Dalí, played by Sir Ben Kingsley, at the height his career as he entertains himself with extravagant parties whilst keeping up with…

Victim/Suspect, A Look Inside Modern Society’s Taming Of The Shrew

American filmmaker and media strategist Nancy Schwartzman has made a documentary on a very poignant issue of our era. The film Victim/Suspect discusses (quoting an article from The New York Times) “When the Accuser Becomes the Accused.”  The movie follows the work of investigative reporter Rachel de Leon, who dedicated 4 years of her life…

Cannes Film Festival: Rapito (Kidnapped), Bellocchio’s Historical Drama Exposes The Violence Of Dogmatism

Marco Bellocchio, the secular director from Piacenza, has often explored the consequences of religious imposition — never being sententious yet remaining truthful to his laical perspective. In his 2002 film, My Mother’s Smile (L’ora di religione), he touched upon the sensitive issue of being baptised in treason. In that case it occurred to the son of the…

Book Club: The Next Chapter, Clichés Exterminate The Promising Debate On Gendered Ageism

Life and art have a vigorous osmosis. Filmmaker Bill Holderman exemplified this with his directorial debut: the 2018 romantic comedy Book Club. The entertaining flick showed how the readings of four friends, during their monthly book club, would affect their personal lives. The success of this cinematic guilty pleasure has lead to a sequel, Book…

Peter Pan & Wendy, The Nth Unnecessary Reboot In The Age Of Tokenism

Director and co-writer David Lowery delivers a live-action reimagining of the J.M. Barrie novel and the 1953 animated classic, that is available on Disney+.  Peter Pan & Wendy introduces Wendy Moira Angela Darling (Ever Gabo Anderson), a young girl who does not want to renounce to the playful fun of childhood, whereas her family encourages…

Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai At Japan Society: Tokyo Heaven, The Spiritual And Earthly Merge Through Drollery

Japan Society’s Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai celebrates the Japanese filmmaker’s evocation of adolescence by including in its line-up the 1990 feature Tokyo Heaven. Yuu Kamiya (Riho Makise) is sixteen years old, when she leaves school to embark upon a career in entertainment. It takes no time for her to realise how…

Il Sol Dell’Avvenire, Moretti Returns To His Humorous Social Commentary With Felliniesque Charm

Nanni Moretti’s new film Il Sol Dell’Avvenire, in competition at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, is a compelling journey through the director’s themes such as cinema, communism, therapy, romantic problematics, family issues, and observations on society. His habitual and irresistible sardonic style — that was temporarily dispersed in his previous film Three Floors (Tre Piani)…

Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai At Japan Society: Typhoon Club, A Classic That Externalises The Turbulence Of Puberty

Japan Society’s spring programme, Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai allows audiences to remember the works of a pioneering Japanese filmmaker, who remains largely unrecognised in the West. Shinji Somai directed some of the most enduring works of the Eighties and Nineties instilling a contemplative approach into the seishun eiga (youth film) genre….

Plan 75 : Exclusive Interview with Director Chie Hayakawa on the Cannes Winning Film

Recently cinema has delivered several films where elderly characters express their support for euthanasia worldwide, from The Netherlands with Pink Moon, to India with It’s Time To Go and Japan with Plan 75. The latter, directed by Chie Hayakawa is set in a near-to-futuristic landscape in the Land of the Rising Sun.  In this context,…