150 Elvira Coda Notari
An event promoted by Macass APS and Linea d’Ombra Festival, with the High Patronage of the European Parliament.
Cava de’ Tirreni pays tribute to Italy’s first woman director
8 February 2025
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Elvira Coda Notari, the city of Cava de’ Tirreni hosted the celebratory event “150 Elvira Coda Notari”, promoted by Macass APS and Linea d’Ombra Festival, with the Comune di Cava as co-organiser.
The day – bringing together an exhibition, a talk, readings, and screenings – offered a collective tribute to one of the most important, and long-overlooked, figures in the history of Italian cinema.
The initiative was held under the High Patronage of the European Parliament, with the patronage of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, the Unione Circoli Cinematografici Arci, and ANPI Provincia di Salerno, in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna, Film Commission Regione Campania, and numerous national partners.
The exhibition
The day opened with the inauguration of a photographic exhibition featuring materials from the Fondo Martinelli of the Cineteca di Bologna, staged in the Sala Teatro “Luca Barba”. A journey through the seventh art, shaped by the iconography and period materials connected to the filmmaker.
The talks
At 10.00 am, the first in-depth session took place:
“Elvira nella storia del cinema”, with:
Giuliana Bruno (via video), professor at Harvard University and author of Rovine con vista. Napoli e il cinema di Elvira Notari
Sara Matetich, lecturer at the Università di Salerno
Francesca Amitrano, cinematographer and director
This was followed by the second panel:
“L’eredità contemporanea”, with:
Francesco Della Calce, film critic
Maria Di Serio, ANPI Salerno
Paolo Battista, Circolo Arci “Marea” Salerno
Antonio Borrelli, UCCA – Unione Circoli Cinematografici Arci
Moderated by Sara C. Santoriello (Macass APS) and Peppe D’Antonio (LDO Festival).
Institutional greetings were also delivered by Mayor Vincenzo Servalli and Councillor Federico De Filippis, delegate for the 150th anniversary celebrations.
Readings in dialogue
In the afternoon, at 5.30 pm, a conversation between literary works dedicated to Elvira Coda featured:
Flavia Amabile, author of Elvira (Einaudi, 2022)
Emanuele Coen, author of La figlia del Vesuvio (2023)
Moderated by Gennaro Carillo, Salerno Letteratura Festival.
The session opened with remarks by Councillor Lorena Iuliano, who inaugurated the project Cava Che Legge.
The screenings
The evening programme opened with the presentation of the short films that won the Premio Elvira Coda (2021-2024), produced by Macass APS as part of the “La 48H” competition.
Present in the theatre: Gabriele Angrisani, Vincenzo Giordano, and Simone Romano.
The day concluded with a screening of È Piccerella by Elvira Coda Notari, in the restored print by the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, with live musical accompaniment by the duo Made in Swing. Introduction by Peppe D’Antonio.
Words from the curators
“The story of Elvira Coda is deeply contemporary, and her gaze on the twentieth century is an invaluable heritage, brought together in a triptych of media innovation, female protest, and enterprise.”
Sara C. Santoriello, Macass APS
“The few surviving images of her work possess remarkable visual and emotional power, gathering from urban space stories, cultures, and ways of life, with an unprecedented and unsettling vision of the female body between eros and thanatos.”
Peppe D’Antonio, Linea d’Ombra Festival
Further reading
