Omaggio a F.

The project originates from an in-depth reflection on early cinema, and in particular on the poetics of silent film as developed by Charlie Chaplin: his physical expressiveness, his sense of visual rhythm, and his ability to convey the human condition through the figure of the clown. From this foundation emerges an overlap between Chaplin’s imagery and that of Federico Fellini. Fellini, a profound admirer of Chaplin, transformed the figure of the clown into a powerful symbol of melancholy, humor, and human fragility.

“Omaggio a F.” unfolds within this shared space, adopting the language of silent cinema as an act of homage to two visions that continue to resonate across decades.
The choice of black-and-white cinematography is not merely aesthetic, but conceptual: a way of reducing the image to its essential qualities, evoking the materiality of classical cinema and restoring to the visual narrative its archetypal force.

At the core of the short film lies the theme of otherness and the understanding of the other, a recurring thread throughout Fellini’s work, where difference is not framed as anomaly but as a bearer of deeper insight into human existence.
The short film was developed with the active involvement of students, who assumed professional roles throughout the production: Flavio Germani as assistant director, Maria Rosaria Dell’Orto as production manager, Riccardo Charlie Marino as costume designer, with production assistants Lorenzo Fabbri and Michele Pomponio.