“Our duty as storytellers is to bring people to the station. Everyone will get on any train they want, but we must at least bring them to the place of departure, ”said Federico Fellini.

Of course, it was not enough for him to escort the audience to the “pier”, but he prepared their luggage. They carried fantasy, exaggeration, dream scenes, grotesque characters, wild laughter and deep despair in their suitcases. They organized the “trip” in every detail. Even before he was on the set, he sketched with pencils, markers, ink and felt-tip pens the universe that contains each of his films.

“It is impossible to talk about Fellini’s filmography without taking into account his sketches, which were an important part of his life and work,” says Katerina Haag, curator of the exhibition Federico Fellini – From Drawing to Film at Kunsthaus Zurich. (until September 4). Fellini painted tirelessly: he made funny portraits of the actors and technicians involved in the production, he drew while talking on the phone, and he always developed the plot and characters, “building” the pictures with a pencil. “When I’m preparing a film, I write very little. I prefer to draw characters and scenery. I have adopted this habit since I gave various concerts in the provinces. Since then and to this day, I continue to capture on paper everything that comes to my mind, turning each idea into an image. These caricatures, these momentary creations serve as pointers for set designers, costume designers, make-up artists.

Fellini painted incessantly: he made funny portraits of the actors and technicians involved in the production.

Fellini wasn’t the only one who trusted his markers before getting behind the camera. The film industry has a long tradition in this area: from Eisenstein, Hitchcock and Fassbinder to Tim Burton, Kurosawa and David Lynch, each has visualized his thoughts with careful strokes or rude gestures. Especially for the latter, Fellini was an important role model. “La strada” and “8 ½” were exciting, but in fact I loved all of his films and still do, because each of them is a separate world. I love the characters, the atmosphere, and that subtle ‘je ne sais quoi’ that comes from each of them.”

The exposition includes 250 paintings and the same number of photographs, impressive costumes, models, posters and even trailers for 13 films, which, together with sketches, shed light on the creative path of the Italian creator. The narrative of the exhibition begins with the 1952 film “Lo sceicco bianco”, but Fellini’s relationship with cinema goes back several years, starting in 1945, when he worked on the production of Roberto Rossellini’s film “Roma città aperta”. Prior to that, he worked as a cartoonist in various publications, and together with his friends opened the business “Funny Face Shop”, selling their “portraits” to American soldiers.

The mood for extravagance and grotesque never left him. But above all, from his own perspective, we learned that reality teeters on a fine line with sleep and the subconscious. In his drawings we meet little Titta with rosy cheeks from Amarcord, a film with autobiographical references, and from the same film we see Titta’s crazy uncle and father. This sketch was created during filming and helped the crew to understand what the actor Armando Brancia should be like to play the part. The sketch of the seductive Sylvia from La Dolce Vita contrasted with the curves of Anita Ekberg, who played her, and the sketch of Mrs. Carla, made two years before 8 ½, is a prime example of how long Fellini needs before he destroys his heroes.

The exposition also includes an excerpt from an interview with him, complementing his charming images and penetrating his way of thinking: “When I can’t go further, I collect notes and sketches and put an ad in the newspapers that roughly reads: “Fellini will accept everyone who want to visit it.” In the next few days, I will greet hundreds of people. All the psychos of Rome, including the police. Madness predominates, a highly stimulating state. I carefully look at them all and retain something of the personality of each visitor. I meet thousands to include in my films just two, but mentally I absorb them all. They seem to tell me: look at us carefully, because we are all part of the mosaic that you want to create.