THE PUPPETEERS In the hills overlooking Parma, a great artist lives with his family, using a bench knife to carve faces into a small block of wood. He uses the tools that his father and grandfather used before him, crafting beautifully detailed puppets that he will later paint, costume and bring to life with his very hands. He will write the script, compose the music and build the sets. He is Gimmi Ferrari, a 3rd generation puppeteer, who with his son Giordano and the rest of his family, is determined to preserve the colorful history of the puppet theater in Italy. THE PUPPETEERS is a documentary on one of the oldest Italian families of the puppet theater. Shot entirely on location in Parma and its surrounding areas, THE PUPPETEERS combines active interviews with archival materials and breathtaking cinematography to tell the triumphant yet tragic story of a family’s love affair with an art form in decline. Puppets have played a part in man’s history from ancient times. The puppet show dates back to at least the times of Aristotle and Plato, who both mention puppet theater in their writings. Early Christians used puppets to spread the teachings of the church, but by the 1300s, puppeteers began to explore themes other than religious ones and a comedic influence began to emerge. Puppet theaters found a new home in the streets and fairs of the working class. By the 1500s, puppet theaters existed all over Europe, especially in Italy. It is during this period in Italy that the characters who would go on to become idols to the public are born. (PANTALONE 1550-PULCINELLA 1558 – Dr. BALLANZONE 1560 – BRIGHELLA 1560 – ROSAURA 1580 - CAPITAN FRACASSA 1598) In the seventeenth century, hand puppets -- figures with heads and a body of cloth that fit over the puppeteer’s hand -- became popular. They were easier to operate, cheaper to make and more mobile. Shows could be given from the back of wagons and from small portable stages on street corners. Puppet characters became popular and shows about local politics became common. These puppets could poke fun and comment on things the masses could not, giving them important social and political importance. At the end of the 18th century, the repertoire of the puppet theater finds its origins in the Comedy of Art. It was the actors of the Comedy of Art who invented the characters and the type of shows that we are still able to see today. When Napoleon arrived in Italy, this genre of theater was banned, and lost a large part of it’s fascination in the opera world, but continued to live in the theaters of puppets and marionettes. By late 1800s, when Italo Ferrari made his first puppet, the once simple art form of folk performers had become a popular entertainment for all social classes and a lucrative business, all across Italy. Born in Sissa, a small town a few kilometers away from Parma, Italo sculpted his first puppet, carving the head from simple pieces of wood used to support grapevines, and dressing the puppet in rags. He started doing shows for the local people in his town. For a theater, he used a cow stall. From the beginning he demonstrated his amazing skills as an artist, poet, writer, and entertainer. Finally, Italo created his own character, Bargnocla, which over the years has come to represent the true spirit of Parma. In a break with tradition, the Ferraris have moved their shows off the street corners and into the studios of radio and television, as well as the most prestigious theaters of Italy. After 120 years and the death of Italo, and of Giordano Ferrari, the great puppeteer of international acclaim, the grandson of Italo, Gimmi, and his family continue to keep the family art alive according to the tradition of their forefathers. THE PUPPETEERS provides a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the family’s work in the puppet theater, from writing the scripts and creating original music scores to costume design – all masterfully performed by one Ferrari or another. Emphasis will be placed on making puppets, with Gimmi and his son Giordano demonstrating their expertise and artistic flair on-camera. Once the puppet is “brought to life,” the sets constructed, the scripts and music finalized, the Ferrari family heads for one of the many famous theaters, where they set up their theater and give audiences of children and adults alike the opportunity to see a show performed with the same passion and skill for the last 100 years. The audience can follow the story of Bargnocla, Sandrone, and Fasiolino. Watching the puppets in Parma, one would never guess that this seemingly timeless form of entertainment, struggling to keep its place in a high-tech world of television and computers, is a dying art form. While the streets and theaters were once home to a great variety of puppet shows, today the numbers have dwindled to just a handful of artists like the Ferrari family, more concerned with preserving the heritage and traditions of the theater than earning a lira on the corner. And thanks to the meticulous research of Giordano Ferrari and his family, future generations will be able to experience the puppet theater at the museum they helped found, Il Castello dei Burattini, which houses the world’s largest collection of puppets and marionettes, as well as scripts, stage designs and music. After the death of Giordano, the Ferrari family partnered with the city of Parma to establish this first class museum that houses not only his amazing collection of more than 2,700 puppets and marionettes (some over 500 years old) and staging items, but to catalogue and conserve the family’s extensive archives. Though inaccessible to the public, the museum archives contain vast amounts of material from families of puppeteers of many generations, preserving an important part of history. Through the generosity and passion of THE PUPPETEERS, one can look into the past -- at the vibrant history of a fading tradition, but also to the future where the faces and expressions carved in to wood, by Gimmi and Giordano’s expert hands, remain jealously preserved to educate and entertain. This documentary is an MALU ART production, in association with Borgnine Entertainment, Solares Cultural Foundation and Officinema, executive producer is Armando Gallo (ARGA Images).