Tonight we're going to see "Following",
the first feature film
by Christopher Nolan.
I want to thank our host
Adriano Ercolani.
He's going to introduce the film.
Adriano is one of the founders
of Cultural Association La Farfalla
sul Mirino, promoting this Festival.
He's also a film critic
for several papers
and TV writer at Coming Soon Television.
You may have seen his show,
"I Cinepatici".
He recently curated a program
of films by Nolan at UGC Ciné Cité.
I give him the floor now.
Thank you.
Good evening and welcome.
We're about to see the first feature
film by Christopher Nolan,
"Following", made in 1998.
It had a budget of 6,000 $.
The shooting lasted one year.
They worked during weekends only.
The crew and the actors had other jobs.
They were available
during weekends only.
With a budget of 6,000 $
you can't expect the style,
the production values and the vision
of "Inception", "The Dark Knight"
or other works by Nolan.
There's a big gap
between a 360 million dollar budget
and a 6,000 one!
Yet, in my opinion, "Following" is
paramount in exposing Nolan's vision. 
Here you can already
find the aesthetics
and the themes
to be further developed by Nolan.
First of all, the way he uses the genre. 
"Following"
is a full-fledged film noir.
Yet, at the same time,
it's a very personal film.
Nolan has a different way
to use the genre.
And I think that
very few director besides him
are able to handle the genre
in such a personal way.
What many great
film directors do,
like Michael Mann, for example,
is to inject into the genre
their own aesthetics
and themes.
Nolan works the other way around.
When he writes the screenplay
he's well aware
of being part of an industry.
So he shapes the screenplay
into a mainstream genre film.
"Following" shows Nolan's early
preference toward this format.
Also, it sports many
of the treats and the features
which mark both his mainstream
and more personal efforts.
For example, the deconstruction
of the narrative time-line.
Then there's the single most important
characteristic of Nolan's cinema.
Even with a 200 million dollar movie
Nolan forces his audience to be part
of the story unfolding on the screen.
You're not called
to passively sit and absorb the film.
You're forced to use reason and logic
to understand what's going on.
As I said before, in "Following"
you can experience the deconstruction
of the narrative time-line.
Then there's the aesthetics of Nolan.
Nolan wrote, directed,
photographed and edited this film.
You'll see how
Nolan wants to be respectful
of the genre he chose to explore
and of the aesthetics
of black and white cinema,
and yet he wants to revisit these
values with a contemporary view.
If you look close
you can see
in a couple of scenes
the foreshadowing
of Nolan's career in Hollywood.
Thank you.
