Third edition of the Cervello&Cinema Festival: Curiously. Indications of ordinary madness
Cinema has always investigated the complexity of the human mind and its extravagances. Cervello&Cinema brings some anomalous cognitive abilities to the screen and into the midst of scientific debate, which have allowed neuroscientists to better understand the development and functioning of the brain.
The themes of the 7 films animate the presentations conducted by neuroscientists, psychoanalysts and experts.
The meetings are moderated by: Viviana Kasam, Giancarlo Comi and Armando Massarenti.
From 23 to 27 September at 7.30 pm; 28 and 29 September at 11.00.
Anteo Palazzo del Cinema Sala Excelsior, Milano.
Free entry while places last.
Following the informative tradition of BrainCircle Italia‘s BrainForums, the event is organized together with IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Anteo Palazzo del Cinema and Hebrew University of Jerusalem – ELSC (the prestigious brain research center of the HUJ). With the patronage of the Municipality of Milan and the support of Roche.
MONDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 7.30pm
How magic deceives the brain
Carlo Faggi, illusionist and scientific communicator and David Burr, University of Florence present HUGO CABRET by Martin Scorsese (USA – 2011 – 125′).
A cast of superstars in Scorsese’s delicate masterpiece which analyzes the magical world of a child and the illusions that allow him to survive, embodied in the figure of Méliès, the inventor of cinema, masterfully played by Ben Kingsley. A little-known cult film not to be missed, which helps us understand how often what we think we see is not reality, but a fiction of our brain and how the truth is elusive, even where it seems indisputable. And why the brain needs to delude itself.
TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 7.30 pm
In the labyrinth of identity
Cesare Maffei, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, presents: GIRLS INTERRUPTED, by James Mangold (USA – 1999 – 125′).
Winner of many awards, the film, produced and starring Winona Ryder, tells the life of a group of girls with personality disorders, a very frequent pathology, especially among adolescents, and not always identified.
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 7.30pm
Rituals to survive
Letizia Leocani, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and Antonio Malgaroli, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and University of Southern Switzerland of Lugano, present SOMETHING HAS CHANGED, by James L. Brooks (USA – 1997 – 138′), with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt.
In 104th place among the best 500 films of all time, Something’s Changed won two Oscars for Nicholson’s brilliant performance as a neurotic and obsessively hygienist writer who never misses an opportunity to offend people and Carol, an unlucky young woman , which makes him discover love. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), much more frequent than we think, dissolves when we manage to overcome the cognitive beliefs that justify the rituals of washing, cleaning, order and control.
THURSDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 7.30pm
Playing to get lost
Massimo Clerici, University of Milan Bicocca and Luigi Gallimberti, President of the Novella Fronda Foundation, Human Science and Brain Research, present IL GIOCATORE, by John Dahl (USA – 1998 – 121′), with Matt Damon and Edward Norton.
An absolute masterpiece with a stellar cast, the film, considered the best in this genre, explores the world of gambling, a plague which today, thanks to the web and legalization in many countries, has become one of the most serious factors of addiction. And which, according to neuroscience, is a real brain disease, to be addressed with innovative therapies.
FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 7.30pm
Sparks of madness
Francesco Benedetti, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, presents: THE HOURS, by Stephen Daldry Dahl (USA – 2002 – 114′), with Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep.
Creativity is still a mystery, but neuroscience is trying to pinpoint the connections in the brain’s circuits that give some individuals the gift of creating masterpieces. These differences are often associated with mental pathologies and the list of poets, writers, painters and musicians suffering from hallucinations, drug addictions, obsessions and above all bipolar syndrome is very long. Among these Virginia Woolf, protagonist of the award-winning The Hours and played in three different incarnations by three screen star performers.
SATURDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 11.00 am
How the group degenerates into a pack
Simona Argentieri, medical psychoanalyst, ordinary member and teacher of AIPsi and IPA, presents L’ONDA, by Dennis Gansel (Germany – 2008 – 101′), with Jürgen Voge and Frederick Lau.
Based on a real social experiment that took place in California in 1967 to explain to students how Nazism was born, the film shows the psychology that underlies the birth of authoritarian structures and herd behaviors. A very topical topic because authoritarian and violent group tendencies are one of the great social plagues not only among young people but also in sport and politics.
SUNDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 11.00 am
Caged inside oneself
Antonio Persico, University of Messina, presents BODY AND SOUL, by Ildikó Eneyedi (Hungary – 2017 – 116′), with Morcsányi Géza and Alexandra Borbély.
Inspired by a poem by Agnes Nemes Nagy, the film, Orso d’Oro in Berlin in 2017, tells the difficult love story between two people who cannot communicate their emotions. A picture similar to that of Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism, a disease which is growing exponentially today and the causes of which are unknown.
