The Treasure of His Youth (Il Tesoro di San Gennaro)
A chance discovery of forgotten negatives leads photographer-filmmaker Bruce Weber to the 94-year-old Italian lensman Paolo di Paolo, whose intimate portraits of post-war Rome captured auteurs, icons and the spirit of an era.
DIRECTOR
Bruce Weber
with
1h 45m • Documentary, Biography • USA
Paolo di Paolo • Silvia di Paolo • Bruce Weber (voice) • Giuseppe Casetti • Luca Stoppini
Yet all of this extraordinary photography and Paolo’s artistry was forgotten for decades and even unknown to his family. How could such an artist and his work have been forgotten for so long? Not until Director Bruce Weber stumbled upon one of his images and was so impressed that he sought to find the elusive photographer, was this truly extraordinary story brought to light. At a spritely 94 years of age, Paolo di Paolo was able to reveal his astonishing work and tell some unbelievable tales of a truly golden era. Paolo Rotondo
CRITICS ROUNDUP
A luminous portrait of art and memory
Some real-life stories can be as extraordinary as a film. In the 50’s and 60’s, Paolo di Paolo was a photojournalist, trusted photographer and friend of some of Italy’s most glamorous stars. His Leica camera captured exquisite portraits of Marcello Mastroianni, Sofia Loren, Pasolini, Visconti, Bertolucci, Rudolf Nureyev, Charlotte Rampling, and so many more. His images were intimate, whimsical, thoughtful and seemed to capture the essence of his subjects. Aside from the glitz and the elite, he had a gift for perfectly depicting postwar Italy’s beauty in its gloriously optimistic economic boom years.