maria arena

www.mariarena.com Maria Arena is a director, photographer and movie post-production editor. Currently she is teaching 'digital video' at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Catania, Italy. From 1998 she's been working with the electronic project 'The Dining Rooms' taking care of the visual aspect and for whom she made various videoclips.In 1999, her collaboration with Stefano Ghittoni gave birth to 'Ambient Blues Caffe'', an ambient sonorization project for turntables and video. 'Ambient Blues Caffe'', which was performed at various locations around Italy and Europe, morphed later into 'Film', where images have a tendency to be more "narrative" and a true movie/soundtrack synergy happens.In 2001 she started to work with coreographer/dancer Emma Scialfa of Moto Mimetico art ensemble. They collaborated on a project for a performance named 'The Miracle' that, in the summer of the same year, was asked to represent Italy in Sarajevo at the 10th edition of the Fair for Young Artists from European and Mediterranean Countries.In December 2001 she produced "Catania City Blues - 24 Fotogrammi Al Secondo" contained in the book "Italian Landscapes". In 2003 The Dining Rooms start playing gigs and she becomes part of the live band, adding her live video mix to the show. 2003 sees her to continue collaboration with Emma Scialfa on the video-dance performance 'Camera Del Sonno'. During a three-week residence in Paris in late October 2004 they finalized all aspects of the performance and prepared it for its presentation at Point Ephemere on November 6th.From December 21st to the 26th 'Camera Del Sonno' has been performed at Majaze' in Catania and in the same period the video installation that accompanied it was on show at the 'ArteContemporanea' art gallery. 'Camera Del Sonno' was then performed during 2005 at Fabbrica Europa (Firenze), Festival delle ombre (Staggia Senese) and Notte bianca (Roma).In Maria philosophy is always been very important to mix different kind of arts with live performance. In this way she performed in march 2005 at the Contemporary Dance Festival “PrePulsi” (Esterni, Milan) mixing her images live with Simona Livraghi (trombone), Sergio Prada (guitar) and in march 2006 at Triennale of Milan, during Passepartout festival, with coreographer Roberto Castello and actor Antonello Cassinotti.The Triennale’s performance becomes so the starting point of a new installation based mostly on a wall destruction and bodies deconstruction. FraLeMura is born and was performed for the first time at Majaze' in Catania during december 2006 with poetess Rosaria Lo Russo and dancers Alessandra Contarino and Elena Rosa.The end of 2006 is very busy for Maria: she directs the first video clip of italian jazz star Mario Biondi and, with production of fashion designer Saverio Palatella, the short movie "Ceremony"."Ceremony", inspired by "La voix humaine" of Jean Cocteau and with the presence of actress Emanuela Villagrossi and the original soundtrack by The Dining Rooms, has been selected at 60th Locarno Film Festival in the "Play Forward" section. Play Forward is the privileged look-out post on all kinds of contemporary audiovisual experimentation, at the junction of cinema, video art and all the other arts, resolutely facing the future.In september 2007 Maria Arena produced the video "Me/The Religion of my Time" selected by Bruno Di Marino for his Extra Attori/Spettatori section at Festa del Cinema di Roma. "Me/The Religion of my Time" is a collection of repertoire material to illustrate six affirmations referable to daily family life. A snapshot on individualism, the exclusive religion shared by the sons of capitalism.In october 2007 she directed "Promise-musical esistenzialista", the teathrical evolution of the short movie "Ceremony". "Promise", produced by Saverio Palatella and Teatro I, mixes different languages (music, theatre, dance and video) and sees the presence of the actress Emanuela Villagrossi, of the actor and singer Dany Greggio and of The Dining Rooms live soundtrack. "Promise" is presented at Teatro I in Milano the 26th, 27th and 28th of october.For any more information and contact, please check the website: www.mariarena.com