Castellitto responds to accusations on the management of the Experimental Center
Actor Sergio Castellitto responds to accusations about the management of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, of which he has been president for a year, with a letter sent to Evening Courier.
“After the barrage of attacks I have suffered in recent days,” writes the actor and director, “I believe it is my right to respond point by point.”
In recent days, in fact, Marco Grimaldi of Alleanza Verdi Sinistra announced a question to the Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli accusing Castellitto of having squandered public money through trips and assignments also to his wife, the writer Margaret Mazzantini, and of having fired 17 collaborators. Accusations to which Castellitto replied point by point considering them “unfounded”.
The actor, first of all, denies having fired the 17 collaborators. “These collaborators, for whom I have the utmost respect, had a fixed-term contract, for a digitalization project, expiring in July. The manager Stefano Iachetti with an independent initiative sent an employment contract to all seventeen. A decision that is up to the general manager only with the approval of the Board of Directors and the president, who in hiring must respect precise selection notices and verify whether the Foundation has the financial coverage. Following the opening of a disciplinary proceeding, the Board of Directors, unanimously, decided to remove the manager from his position, as would have happened in any company because the bond of trust had ceased”.
On consultancy, Sergio Castellitto states: “All the presidents who preceded me hired consultants and lawyers they trusted. The new contracts, which were also pay-as-you-go, simply replaced the old contracts that were expiring. I called the consultancy firm KPMG, which worked closely with internal managers and consultants to restructure the previous PNRR plan that had been considered inadequate. After months of work, a few weeks ago we obtained the MEF’s approval for the new plan. And this is a great success. The Experimental Centre will be able to benefit from 25,528,977 million euros to invest in training, events, urban restructuring, technology and equipment”.
Regarding the consultancy of his wife Margaret Mazzantini, the interpreter clarifies: “I organized the demonstration Diaspora of artists at war which had a huge turnout. Margaret Mazzantini was invited as an external guest in relation to the meeting with the writer David Grossman. Initially, the CSC proposed another name to the publishing house, but there was no agreement on it. Mazzantini was a name that Grossman liked, since the two authors had a previous acquaintance. She received the sum of four thousand euros gross like all the other guests at the event. She does not carry out any consultancy activity at the CSC”.
On Villa Gallo, the residence rented by the actor for the Venice Film Festival, the director clarifies: “For my stay in Venice during the Festival, I gave up the room available to me at the Hotel Excelsior and decided to stay, with my family, at Villa Gallo which had been rented as the CSC’s operational base. Before my arrival, in fact, some of the workers who contributed to the preparation of the exhibition on Marcello Mastroianni had stayed there, among others. As president, at the beginning of my mandate, I was given a corporate card that I used for the first time, in Venice, almost a year after taking office, to pay for four single meals and four boat taxis, for a total of 731.50 euros. I made many transfers by vaporetto like anyone else. Among the many activities carried out during the days of the Venice Film Festival, I inaugurated the exhibition “Marcello Come here” curated by Laura Delli Colli, welcoming the public, journalists and authorities. I attended the Carlo Lizzani award, invited by the president of ANICA Francesco Martinotti to the presentation of the restoration of “La notte” by Michelangelo Antonioni, together with the curator Stefano Della Casa. I participated in the panel organized by the Veneto Region to restart the beautiful project of the headquarters of the Centro Sperimentale di Venezia-San Servolo on which the director of the school Adriano De Santis and his team have been working for months”.
“I would also like to clarify the matter of the Cinema Fiamma – adds Castellitto – The cost of the purchase was covered by the previous governance from ordinary funds with the guarantee that it would then be reimbursed by the PNRR. After I took office, I was informed of the categorical impossibility of using PNRR funds for this purpose. Considering the additional economic burden for the costly renovation of the Fiamma, with great regret we were forced to put it back on sale. After a regular expression of interest published, we received a suitable offer that could allow the Center to recover the amount spent on the purchase”.
Sergio Castellitto also addressed the issue of the conservation of flammable films, stating: “It was the first emergency I tried to address. Their precariousness is a problem that has always existed, as demonstrated by the many fires in the past. After the last episode in June, I adopted surveillance measures. Thanks to the mediation of the person responsible for institutional relations Angelo Tumminelli and the engineer Marco Bernardini, we finally obtained a suitable space from the Ministry within the Polmanteo military complex in Tor Sapienza”.
In stressing that his position is unpaid, Sergio Castellitto concludes by not excluding his farewell to the Experimental Center: “I work, with all my commitment, completely unpaid. And I have never seen this written anywhere. My stay at the Experimental Center costs a couple of coffees a day. I am systematically attacked only because I am trying to bring order and I have probably stirred up stagnant water for many years”.
“I resisted for the love of the students, but I don’t know for how much longer, because honestly I want to go back to doing my job. I will certainly stay as long as it is necessary to restore a climate of dignity and independence from any exploitation. Also in defense of all the teachers, managers, trained and good employees who have worked for years to make the CSC an excellence in film education in the world. And of an honest and cohesive Board of Directors that has never made me feel alone. In my life I have encountered conflicts and harmonies but I will always fight the ferocity disguised as indignation”.
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