Lab 80

Fernanda Wittgens joined the Brera Museum in 1928, and after a few years she was its director. Courageous and visionary, during the war she saved artworks from the bombings, aided political opponents of Fascism and Jewish families in fleeing the regime, and was imprisoned for her actions. After Italy’s liberation, she rebuilt the Brera and championed its being open and accessible to one and all. Yet despite her groundbreaking policies, she was forgotten after her death. This film seizes on that absence. Calling on the actress Sara Drago, who lends her face and voice to Wittgens in her letters, and the art historian Giovanna Ginex, the filmmakers create a collaborative space in which the past, the present, and their interpretations are intertwined. Fernanda, albeit invisible, is a living presence.

1630, Val Brembana, Northern Italy. The arrival of the plague in a small village breaks every fragile balance. The disease takes over bodies, homes, relationships, slowly transforming the community into a sick organism dominated by fear and suspicion while nature remains indifferent to man's suffering.