Notes Towards an African Orestes

Synopsis

A film about an idea for a film never made: Pasolini journeys to post-colonial Africa to develop a film version of Aeschylus’ masterwork, The Oresteia. While his camera searches out potential locations, Pasolini on the soundtrack offers his ideas about the play as well as provocative observations about the continent.

Director Biography

Pier Paolo Pasolini achieved fame and notoriety long before he entered the film industry. A published poet at 19, he had already written numerous novels and essays before his first screenplay in 1954. His first film Accattone (1961) was based on his own novel and its violent depiction of the life of a pimp in the slums of Rome caused a sensation. He was arrested in 1962 when his contribution to the portmanteau film Ro.Go.Pa.G. (1963) was considered blasphemous and given a suspended sentence.