Episode 143: Chronicle of Francesco Rossi in Mompox

In 1986 Italian cinematographer Francesco Rossi travelled to South America to make a film version of Gabriel García Márquez non magic-realist novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Rossi, forced by Márquez himself to film in Colombia instead of Sicily, where he wanted to do it for obvious financial and logistical reasons, chose Mompox, one of the best well preserved 16th century Spanish colonial cities in the Americas. Dr Gracia Ramirez is a senior lecturer in film and screen studies and has made an essay documentary about Rossi's epic journey and the impact and legacy the production of his film had on the inhabitants of that remarkable town on the shores of The Magdalena River. This recording was made in front of a live audience at the Italian Institute in London and was an attempt to preserve the conversation that followed the screening of Dr Ramirez's documentary and the subsequent Q&A session. The conversation was chaired by Maria Carla Zizolfi with the partcipation also of Juan Toledo.