Carlo Gaberscek, after chronicling the locations of American western films and dedicating books, essays and articles to the locations of films and series shot in Friuli Venezia Giulia, has published his new book, “Istria. The Places of Cinema.”
The volume, published by La Cineteca del Friuli, was presented at the Turin Book Fair on May 19 in cooperation with the Cineteca and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region.
The archaeologist of places’ latest volume explores Istria and its film locations. “Istria. Places of Cinema” consists of 610 pages and 1750 images, a volume resulting from passionate research that delves into as many as 168 films set in Istria.
It is a journey where Gaberscek takes the reader on a discovery of great film productions: from the first silent films of the 1920s to the great works of art, not forgetting the most recent feature films.
A volume that compares film stills, stopped in time, with images of the same places found and photographed by the author.
A treasure hunt all to browse through in search of the places that have hosted such films as František Čáp’s “The Girl from the Salt Pans,” starring Marcello Mastroianni and Isabelle Corey, and “The Warriors” with Clint Eastwood.
Rarely did Istria represent itself in cinema; often the peninsula was presented generically as a “Mediterranean environment” or impersonated Sicily, Sardinia or other places in fiction. Gaberscek’s book embraces cinema and territory, honors the places and reveals their special and significant features. A work, that of the film scholar, that restores identity to locations and emphasizes their importance.
Carlo Gaberscek has always supported and collaborated with the FVG Film Locations project, a great professional who believes in the value of places and the importance of their storytelling.