Federico Fellini: The Book of Dreams

by Sergio Tofetti (Editor), Felice Laudadio (Editor), Gian Luca Farinelli (Editor)

This is a new edition of the diary kept by Federico Fellini, in which the great director faithfully recorded his dreams and nightmares.

A highly colorful journey into the boundless territory of a genius's imagination, this is a work that added a fundamental element to the study of Federico Fellini and his creative experience. From the late 1960s until 1990, the great director used this diary to represent his nocturnal visions in the form of drawings or, as he himself described them, "scribbles, rushed and ungrammatical notes."

Currently out of print, this new edition will include a critical introduction, as well as updated graphic design. It will be published in collaboration with the Municipality of Rimini as well as the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, and the Cineteca di Bologna (the three main Italian institutions in the field of cinema).

The volume will be released to coincide with the centenary of Federico Fellini's birth (January 2020), which will be celebrated in Italy with a traveling exhibition on the director that will start its journey from Milan in December 2019.

584 pages, Hardcover

Published January 28, 2020

Reviews

[Irena Pranjić · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nisam pročitala text ali mi je svejedno super, totalno drugačija od svih izdanja koje sam do sada primila u ruke utoliko što je već u samom startu, pri nastanku, bila posve odterećena od očekivanja publike - nastala je kao dnevnik snova kojim se trebao služiti samo njen autor i trebala je biti razumljiva samo njemu. Bliska mi je utoliko što povezuje svijet umjetnosti sa svijetom snova i podsvijesti, obzirom da je Fellini brojne motive svojih filmova pronalazio u snovima koje je bilježio. I sama sam se okušala u tome pa se zato mogu povezati s tim procesom i vidjeti u njemu osobitost važnu za vizualnu naraciju, a to je stvaranje piktometafora odnosno vizualnih prizora koji su bremeniti simbolikom a koji govore bez da se sukcesivno nižu u stripovskoj maniri - sam je prizor po sebi toliko rječit, blistav, pun života i želje da nam nešto poruči da podsjeća na iskustvo ikonologije klasičnog slikarstva u kojemu se iz niza alegoričnih i metaforičnih gesti i atributa u samo jednom prizoru daju odgonetnuti i isčitati svi slojevi prikazanog lika. Piktometafore koje nastaju u našim snovima također su nalik logici svijeta simbola i vizualnih znakova suvremenog svijeta koji se taloži u dubinama naše podsvijesti - talog je taj koji stvara nove slike i prizore kolažirajući svijet naše jave u nove odnose čijim kompozicijskim silnicama vladaju naše strasti i emocije.

[Van Dist Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ambiguë et poétique, on se perd dans les souvenirs entre rêve et réalité

[Kisse E · Rating 5 out of 5]

ความฝันฟรี(3000 บาท)โดยเซียนความฝัน

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm probably pretty lucky to have read this book. I used it for my Masters dissertation, which focused on the creative imagination in film with a focus of Fellini, and I have never had a book with such restricted access. The copy I accessed required the use of archival gloves, and I wasn't allowed to leave the room until I was done with it (for the day, I had this for two weeks).

A peek into the mind of an auteur was both enlightening and disturbing. Fellini was certainly an eccentric, and learning that so many of his common themes and techniques were embedded in his unconscious mind makes me question how much the best art is subconscious. Also, all his doodles of boobs and butts made me giggle.

Overall, if you have any interest in Fellini's filmography, this isn't required reading, but to look further into both his films and yourself, this book could provide a fresh and thought-provoking perspective.