Never before seen images of Othello, the darkest and most unfortunate of Orson Welles’ masterpieces, will be presented this evening for the first time at Il Cinema Ritrovato. The archives of the C.S.C. – Cineteca Nazionale di Roma contain more than two thousand meters of material filmed by Welles in 1950, and anonymously preserved in cans labelled simply “doubles”. The images display Welles’ on the spot inspection of the coastal area of Mogador, Morocco which became the fortress at Cyprus in the film; many outtakes, especially those of the encounters between Othello and Iago,; and a number of scenes which were filmed but never included in the final editing. The rediscovered material therefore offers a work diary (almost a new, unintentional Filming Othello) along with “discarded” images. But for a production which was tormented, contradictory, continually open to change, substitutions and escomatage like that of Othello, it is difficult to speak about “discards”. Every image lost (and rediscovered) probably has a story to tell as witness to a point of view taken and then passed over in the course of a production which lasted from 1947 to 1952.

A prime selection of fragments and sequences, chosen among the best and most significant ones and reprinted for the occasion, will be presented. The complete reprinting of all of the material is already underway at the C.S.C. – Cineteca Nazionale and will be concluded in the coming months.