My cinema

This Pasolini compendium examines the great Italian director and author's life through a detailed survey of his films. Opening with Accattone (1961) and closing with Salò (1975), followed by a section on unrealized works, Pier Paolo Pasolini: My Cinema devotes a chapter to each of Pasolini's movies, supplementing stills and a wealth of documentary material with extended commentary by Pasolini on each film, in the form of interviews, journal notes, stories and essays, as well as screenplay excerpts. The four unrealized films discussed in the book's final chapter are The Savage Father (1963), Notes for a Poem on the Third World (1968), Saint Paul (1968) and Porno-Teo-Kolossal (1973). Also included are photos by some of the great Italian set photographers: Angelo Pennoni, Angelo Novi, Mario Tursi, Mario Dondero, Mimmo Cattarinich, Deborah Beer, Bruno Brunia and Roberto Villa. The book closes with an album of photographs from the archive of Laura Betti, the actress and singer who was Pasolini's close friend and confidante, which include photos of Pasolini with his mother, and in the company of writers such as Alberto Moravia, Carlo Emilio Gadda and Ezra Pound. Set designer Dante Ferretti, who began his career with Pasolini, contributes a foreword. My Cinema offers the most succinct statement of the director's vision in print.