Her last film before her death, co-directed with Paolo Pisanelli, The World in Shots is a beautiful documentary and ode to the art of photography, images, and cinema. Mangini, who was also an accomplished photographer, reflects on photos she took over the years while experimenting with digital filmmaking for the first time. While looking backwards, Mangini and Pisanelli refuse nostalgia, as the focus remains on Mangini’s very vibrant life in Rome and travels to Montreal and Tehran.  

Essere Donne is a frank depiction of the reality of the lives of women in 1960s Italy. The film was commissioned by the state, which officials regretted afterward given the short’s radical feminist militancy.

The World in Shots  
Directors: Cecilia Mangini, Paolo Pisanelli. 2021. 90 min. Italy. B&W and Color. Italian, French, Farsi. DCP.  

Essere Donne
Director: Cecilia Mangini. 1965. 30 min. Italy. B&W. Italian. DCP.

All film screenings of Rare Takes: The Works of Cecilia Mangini are available here.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.