INSIDE THE UFFIZI

By Corinna Belz and Enrique Sanchez Lansch

Germany | In Italian, English and German with English subtitles | 2021 | 96 min | PG

Singapore Premiere

Built in 1561, the renowned Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, is one of the oldest museums in the world. Inside the Uffizi showcases its extraordinary collections, which includes masterpieces by Botticelli and other Renaissance artists. Here, the viewer is invited to gaze upon Leonardo da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi, examine Titian’s Venus of Urbino, and be confronted by Andrea Commodi’s Fall of the Rebel Angels.

The documentary is a rare opportunity to look at museum work behind-the-scenes, like the painstaking restoration of a painting that was almost completely shredded in a mafia attack, the preservation of historical footage and photographs, and the design and set-up of exhibition spaces. What stands out is the passion and dedication of its director Eike Schmidt and his staff, as well as its audiences and supporters whose contributions collectively sustain the Uffizi‘s artworks for future generations.

This documentary also captures the making of British artist Antony Gormley‘s 2019 Essere exhibition in the Uffizi. In Essere, the artist‘s sculptures explore the body in space, and the body as space. Placed within the Uffizi, these works interact with its historic collection and architecture, as well as the city’s rich cultural heritage. Through dialogues between Gormley and Schmidt, and between their teams, the viewer is introduced to the processes and challenges that go into successfully presenting contemporary works in a national monument.

Inside the Uffizi premiered at DOK.fest Munchen, DOK.panorama, Germany (2021), and screened at festivals including Shanghai International Film Festival (2021), Artecinema Italy (2021) and Beirut Art Film Festival (2021).

Corinna Belz (b. 1955, Germany) is a director, producer and lecturer, and is one of Germany’s most renowned documentary filmmakers. She first worked as a radio writer and assistant director to Helga Reidemeister. Belz received the German Film Award for her film Gerhard Richter Painting.

Enrique Sanchez Lansch (b. 1963, Spain) is a Spanish-German director and a trained classical singer. He often deals with music in his films: The Reichsorchester focused on the Berlin Philharmonic in Nazi Germany, Piano Encounters talks about a childhood spent at the piano, and Rhythm Is It!, about 250 dancing teenagers. His most recent documentary is A Symphony of Noise—Matthew Herbert’s Revolution.

As part of this programme, there will be free curator tours of the Antony Gormley exhibition at National Gallery Singapore on Sunday 3 July and 17 July, 11am. Participants will learn more about the process of exhibiting contemporary works like Gormley’s in a national art institution and historical monument like the Gallery. Please click ‘BOOK TOUR’ to register.

The on-site screenings of Inside the Uffizi on both dates are fully subscribed.