Past screening

The Treasure of His Youth: The Photographs of Paolo di Paolo

Directed by: Bruce Weber
Runtime: 1h 45min Certificate: PG
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Directed by: Bruce Weber
Runtime: 1h 45min Certificate: PG
Topics: Arts & Culture
Last Screened: Thu 17th Aug 2023

For a brief spell in the 1950s and 60s, Italian photojournalist Paolo Di Paolo was the most trusted photographer and confidante of Italy's cultural elite.

His intimate photographs – featuring the worlds of art, fashion, cinema and working class life – paint a tableau of Italy as it re-emerged from the post-war era at the dawning of la dolce vita. With his Leica in hand, he captured stunning, candid, elegant shots of Pier Paolo Pasolini (with whom he collaborated closely), Luchino Visconti, Anna Magnani, Rudolf Nureyev, Sofia Loren and many, many more.

Decades later, when renowned American filmmaker Bruce Weber stumbled upon a photograph of Pasolini at a small gallery in Rome, he was so struck by its beauty that he sought out the elusive photographer who took it. Weber meets Di Paolo at a spritely 94 years old, and discovers the incredible story of a photographer at the heart of society who put down his camera and turned his back on his life as an artist. It is a tale of glamour and intrigue, filled with luminaries, starlets and aristocrats. And it is a tale of a family kept in the dark until a chance discovery leads to the restoration of a legacy.