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Alberto Grifi

Alberto Grifi

Directing

Biography

Alberto Grifi (Rome, 1938–2007), a painter, director, cameraman and photographer, is a fundamental figure of Italian experimental and activist cinema. In the first half of the 1960s he worked on the production of documentaries, and in 1964, together with Gianfranco Baruchello, he made La verifica incerta, followed by many other experimental films. With the cult film Anna 1975 he was one of the first to experiment with the use of videotape in an independent film. In 1976 – together with a group of ‘video hoodlums’ – he produced documentaries rarely screened today on youth protests in Milan, Bologna and Rome. Throughout the 1980s he shot industrial documentaries in the United States, Latin America, Africa, Australia and Southeast Asia. Grifi has also produced many radio programmes, published his writings on penitentiaries, contributed to various film magazines and held seminars in many squats, and universities, becoming a reference for future militant filmmakers.

Known For

KomaK

Alberto Grifi, an experimental filmmaker, becomes aware of the experiments conducted by Dr. Kanudo, who, following in the footsteps of T. Leary and A. Huxley, documents the effects of psychotropic substances on the human mind. In collaboration with engineer Norsen, Dr. Kanudo invents a machine capable of visualizing mental images. The scientist's goal is to document, in a mirrored manner, the mental experience under the influence of ketamine, a substance known for its hallucinogenic and dissociative effects. Dr. Kanudo agrees to have the experiment filmed. The filmmaker also takes on the task of finding two patients to take ketamine and attends a rave party, where he documents the use of the substance in such gatherings. Meanwhile, in the laboratory, everything is progressing well until an unexpected reaction from the second patient to the administration of the drug and a raid by the authorities threaten to derail the situation.

KomaK

2002Movie