Lo sceicco bianco (The White Sheik)

Two newlyweds come to Rome from the provinces for their honeymoon. The apparition on the swing of the white sheik Alberto Sordi, star of the photo strip soap opera. And thus the illusions of the world of entertainment. The kindly prostitutes of the capital, among them Giulietta Masina’s Cabiria. The whole of Fellini’s world can already be found in this first solo effort by the director from Rimini (Luci del varietà was co-directed with Lattuada). “The originality of expression finds concrete form in an unrelenting disquiet that is reflected and manifested in the malicious way in which the camera moves, sometimes staring pitilessly, at others satirically inciting gestures, deeds and actions on the part of the petit bourgeois protagonists grappling with the fulfillment of their provincial dreams. A petite bourgeoisie seen as a renunciation of authenticity, as a desire to pursue a host of common and flaccid myths with touching dedication: from the brass band of the Bersaglieri to the world of photonovels; from the carriage ride through the streets of Rome to the honor suicide and the yearned-for [papal] audience.”
Lino Del Fra, “Bianco e Nero”, yr. XVIII, no. 6 (June 1957)

The first day of shooting of Lo sceicco bianco got off to a bad start. [...] I arrived at Fregene at a quarter to ten when the appointment had been for half past eight. They had all set off on a barge that was a kilometer away on an immense expanse of sea. They seemed to me to very distant, out of reach. [...] I asked myself “And now what do I do?” I couldn’t remember the plot of the film, I couldn’t remember anything. I just wanted to get out of there. To forget all about it. But then all my doubts vanished as soon as I set foot on the rope ladder. I hoisted myself onto the barge. I slipped in among the crew. I was curious to see how it was all going to end.
Federico Fellini, Fare un film (Turin: Einaudi, 1980), 51-52

PRODUCTION 1: FONDAZIONE CINETECA DI BOLOGNA
via Riva Reno 72
40122 Bologna, Italy
Tel. +39 051 2194214
cinetecadirezione@cineteca.bologna.it
http://www.cinetecadibologna.it

PRODUCTION 2: RTI-Mediaset

PRODUCTION 3: Infinity

PRODUCTION WHEN THE FILM WAS MADE: P.D.C. - O.F.I.

PRESS OFFICE: Andrea Ravagnan - FONDAZIONE CINETECA DI BOLOGNA
via Riva Reno 72
40122 Bologna, Italy
Tel. +39 051 2194833
cinetecaufficiostampa@cineteca.bologna.it
http://www.cinetecadibologna.it