The Pasolini Files

A film by Andreas Pichler

In coproduction with ZDF and ARTE
Part of the TV-series "The Culture Files", a format by Christian Beetz
Format development funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
Production funded by Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung and MEDIA

In the night of November 2nd, 1975, the Italian film director and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini is brutally murdered on the outskirts of Rome. The 17-year-old gigolo Pino Pelosi is found guilty of the crime and sentenced to maximum penalty, despite countless contradictions in the evidence. Decades later, Pelosi withdraws his testimony and the case is re-opened, but up till now, the murder of one of Italy’s most famous intellectuals is fat from being solved.

THE PASOLINI FILES investigates the circumstances of Pasolini’s murder from today’s perspective and draws a sinister picture of Italy in the 20th century.
A film about the intellectual’s role in society and a tribute to the life and work of Pier Paolo Pasolini.

News

  • - "The Pasolini Files" on ARTE's website until tonight

    Last chance to watch our documentary “The Pasolini Files” on ARTE’s website: it’s online until tonight!

    Last chance to watch our documentary "The Pasolini Files" on ARTE's website: it's online until tonight!

    "The Pasolini Files" on Arte+7 (German)
    "The Pasolini Files" on Arte+7 (French)


  • - "The Pasolini Files" on Arte today

    Our documentary “The Pasolini Files” premieres on TV today. Our Series “The Culture Files” will therefore enter the second round [...]

    Our documentary "The Pasolini Files" premieres on TV today. Our Series "The Culture Files" will therefore enter the second round on Arte at 10:45 pm. Andreas Pichler's film investigates the murder of one of Italy's most important intellectuals - Pier Paolo Pasolini - from today's perspective.


  • - "The Pasolini Files" premieres at Babylon Berlin

    On October 2, “The Pasolini Files“, the third episode of our TV-series “The Culture Files”, celebrates its premiere at Babylon [...]

    On October 2, "The Pasolini Files“, the third episode of our TV-series "The Culture Files", celebrates its premiere at Babylon Berlin. The screening is followed by a Q&A with director Andreas Pichler and screenwriter Karlotta Ehrenberg. We would like to invite you to come to Babylon Berlin to watch the gripping story of Pier Paolo Pasolini on the big screen. The premiere starts at 8.00 pm, tickets are be available at the box office.

    Babylon Berlin


Projekte

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The Pasolini Files

A film by Andreas Pichler

In coproduction with ZDF and ARTE
Part of the TV-series "The Culture Files", a format by Christian Beetz
Format development funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
Production funded by Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung and MEDIA

In the night of November 2nd, 1975, the Italian film director and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini is brutally murdered on the outskirts of Rome. The 17-year-old gigolo Pino Pelosi is found guilty of the crime and sentenced to maximum penalty, despite countless contradictions in the evidence. Decades later, Pelosi withdraws his testimony and the case is re-opened. How is it possible that the murder of the world famous Italian filmmaker has never been solved? Why have so many pieces of evidences and traces been ignored? And why did Pasolini have to die in the first place?

THE PASOLINI FILES investigates the circumstances of Pasolini’s murder from today’s perspective and draws a sinister picture of Italy in the 20th century. By the early 70s, Pasolini had turned into the most provocative and inconvenient voice in Italy, receiving a lot of attention by his contemporaries. His politically controversial texts and socio-critical films frequently shocked the Italian public and questioned the moral conventions of the country. Did Pasolini go too far in his criticism? Did he make too many enemies along the way?

Pasolini-experts, like the writer and close friend of Pasolini, Dacia Maraini, the sociologist Peter Kammerer, Pasolini’s cousin Nico Naldini and the literary scholar Barbara Castaldo, share their insights and speak about the influence of Pasolini’s work and the conceivable circumstances of his murder. Lawyer and university professor Guido Calvi, who played a crucial role in the re-opening of the case, is convinced that the motives behind Pasolini’s murder are political.

Text samples and film quotations taken from his rich oeuvre will add to Pasolini’s profile. Many of Pasolini’s ideas are still valid today, a startling number of his predictions have turned out to be true: the secret police plotting the series of bombs that hit Italy in the 1970s, the mafia’s growing influence on politics, the rise of Silvio Berlusconi and finally the collapse of Italy’s political system in the early 1990s.

The film is completed by the artful animations of Ali Soozandeh (“The Green Wave“), visualising Pasolini’s daily prowls around the city and reconstructing his last day.

A film about the intellectual’s role in society and a tribute to the life and work of Pier Paolo Pasolini.

The film THE PASOLINI FILES is one episode of the 3-part TV-series “The Culture Files” which will be broadcasted in October 2013 on ARTE. Based on the aesthetics and storytelling of modern day crime scene investigation series, it captivates the audience by exploring the unsolved mysteries revolving around many of Europe‘s greatest artists and thinkers. The vivid pace and investigative story line is designed to engage a younger audience with personalities whose work shaped our cultural perceptions of today.

Director: Andreas Pichler
Script: Karlotta Ehrenberg, Andreas Pichler
Director of Photography: Marco Pasquini, Jürgen Rehberg
Camera Assistant: Jens Mattner, Hannes Sternkiker, Falco Seliger
Editing & Sounddesign: Johannes Hiroshi Nakajima
Animation Producer: Ali Soozandeh, Angel Rams, Marze
First Gaffer: Martin Handrow
Gafferr: Thomas Thiele, Artjom Antipin
Dolly: Hagen Raeder
Art Direction: Marc-Oliver Lau
Property Master: Jeremias Urban, Alexander Endrullat, Martin Junghans, Dominique Kirsch
Make up artist: Chistin Läßig
Sound: Oliver Stahn
Location Manager: Tom Kretschmar
Technical Supervisor: Philipp Weigold
Narration: Anne Moll, Bernhard Schütz
Producer: Georg Tschurtschenthaler, Eva Schelenbeck
Line Producer: Kathrin Isberner
Production Manager: Nick Pastucha
Production Assistant: Anique Roelfsema, Rina Ringl, Luca Mandrile, Anna Blässer, Claire Roggan
Researchers: Eva Schellenbeck, Luca Riccardi, Anique Roelfsema
Production Supervisor: Sandra Zentgraf
Executive Producer/Idea: Christian Beetz
Commissioning Editor: Martin Pieper

Koproduktion

Förderer

  • The Pasolini Files

    Babylon - Berlin, Germany
    02 October 2013 at 8:00 pm

  • The Pasolini Files

    Arte
    16 October 2013 at 10:45 pm

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    29 November 2014 at 11:25 pm

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    30 November 2014 at 6:25 pm

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    02 December 2014 at 5:35 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    10 December 2014 at 2:10 pm

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    12 December 2014 at 3:05 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    14 December 2014 at 8:15 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    21 March 2015 at 3:55 pm

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    Spiegel Geschichte
    23 March 2015 at 4:45 am

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    Spiegel Geschichte
    23 March 2015 at 9:00 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    29 May 2015 at 4:50 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Kino des Deutschen Filmmuseums - Frankfurt
    10 June 2015 at 12:00 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Kino des Deutschen Filmmuseums - Frankfurt
    27 June 2015 at 12:00 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    01 October 2015 at 1:05 pm

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    11 October 2015 at 9:15 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    16 October 2015 at 12:50 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    10 December 2015 at 11:45 pm

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    11 December 2015 at 9:45 am

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    Spiegel Geschichte
    13 December 2015 at 5:10 am

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    Spiegel Geschichte
    13 December 2015 at 7:50 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    03 February 2016 at 10:50 pm

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    Spiegel Geschichte
    04 February 2016 at 4:30 pm

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    06 June 2016 at 1:00 am

  • Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    24 June 2016 at 9:30 am

  • The Passolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    19 October 2016 at 9:55 pm

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    Spiegel Geschichte
    20 October 2016 at 4:00 am

  • The Passolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    20 October 2016 at 3:25 pm

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    22 October 2016 at 7:10 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    arte
    23 January 2017 at 12:30 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    03 February 2017 at 11:55 pm

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    06 February 2017 at 5:25 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    06 February 2017 at 5:40 am

  • The Pasolini Files

    Spiegel Geschichte
    22 April 2017 at 11:55 pm