The Arabian Nights and the Photographer Roberto Villa

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Rome/London [ENA] Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London, is going to present on 14th May the photographic journey “L’Oriente di Pasolini” by the Italian photographer Roberto Villa. It is a fantastic and unique opportunity to see the life and heritage of people in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nepal, India, Iran, and Yemen - most of which legacy has now been destroyed by wars and political unrest.

These photographs by Roberto Villa on the set of Arabian Nights (Il fiore delle mille e una notte) in 1973, documented the director’s work in the Middle East. Villa’s images not only capture some moments in the making of the film but also the faces of the locals, as well as the mystical locations where the poet/director set his version of the Arabic folk tale. Roberto Villa was born in Genua on 21st September 1937. As a photographer, director and a media researcher is based in Milan, Italy. He was a true precursor in the use of media technology and digital photography and founded his photography, design and advertising agency AudioVisualCommunication in 1957.

He has served as the Art and Technical director of numerous design magazines, and his work has been featured in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and National Geographic. In 1972, Pier Paolo Pasolini, a genius of narrative and visuals, invited him on the set of Arabian Nights, winner of Grand Prix Spécial at Cannes Film Festival ’74, as the official film photographer. The movie by Pasolini is set in Ancient Arabia: A youth is chosen by a beautiful slave girl to be her new master; she is kidnapped and they must search for each other. Stories are told within stories; love, travel and the whims of destiny.

The photo shoot was also published with an article by Pasolini. In 2008, Villa donated a part of his vast archive, which includes photographs from Arabian Nights, to the Cineteca di Bologna. https://asiahousearts.org/