The agreement for the transfer of the copyright of Federico Fellini's masterpiece "La Strada"

Fellini, Federico, Italian filmmaker (1920-1993). Typed document signed.

€ 3,500.00

Four-page private agreement between the authors (Federico Fellini and Tullio Pinelli) and the Società Cinematografica Ponti-De Laurentiis (Carlo Ponti and Agostino De Laurentiis) for the transfer of the copyright and related rights of the film "La Strada".

The 1954 Italian drama film "La Strada" ("The Road") was directed by Fellini from his own screenplay co-written with Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. It tells the story of Gelsomina, a simple-minded young woman (Giulietta Masina) bought from her mother by Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), a brutish strongman who takes her with him on the road. Fellini has called La Strada "a complete catalogue of my entire mythological world, a dangerous representation of my identity that was undertaken with no precedent whatsoever". As a result, the film demanded more time and effort than any of his other works, before or since. The development process was long and tortuous; there were various problems during production, including insecure financial backing, problematic casting, and numerous delays. Finally, just before the production completed shooting, Fellini suffered a nervous breakdown that required medical treatment so he could complete principal photography. Initial critical reaction was harsh, and the film's screening at the Venice Film Festival was the occasion of a bitter controversy that escalated into a public brawl between Fellini's supporters and detractors. Subsequently, however, La Strada has become "one of the most influential films ever made", according to the American Film Institute. It won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1957. It was placed fourth in the 1992 British Film Institute directors' list of cinema's top 10 films. La Strada won more than fifty international awards, including an Oscar in 1957 for Best Foreign Language Film, the first recipient in that category.

To the present document are added two film stills (unsigned, dating later) and a xerox copy of a letter/contract sent to Fellini before December 1953 (there is a posthumous date, 22 October 1953), and counter-signed by him, in which he renounces to the copyright of the film. In the contract, they are indicated in detail the processing time of the movie and the director's compensation, set at 18 million lire (now ca. $325,000).

In perfect condition.