Mario Rizzi

Mario Rizzi presented The Little Lantern (2019) the third film in the trilogy of “Bayt” (2013-2019)[meaning home in Arabic]. It narrates the untold story of Anni Kanafani, a Danish educator who has set up kindergartens in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon since the 1970s. The work centres on ideas of home and identity, care and engagement, belonging and uprooting with a specific reflection on the female identity in the Arab world.

Mario Rizzi’s participation formed part of Little did they know, the Guest Programme of the 39th EVA International, curated by Merve Elveren. 

Biography 

Mario Rizzi is an artist and filmmaker based in Berlin. Rizzi’s work deals with lives on the margins, concentrating on collective memories and individual stories that are often forgotten or unspoken. Over the last twenty years his films and photographs have mainly focused on the Middle East and the topic of migration. Rizzi’s works have been exhibited at art institutions and film festivals, including Pecci Contemporary Art Center, Prato (2019); Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, (2016); MAXXI, Rome (2015), MoMA PS1, NY (2014); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2008), 6th Taipei Biennale (2008); Tate Modern, London (2007); 6th EVA International (2006); 9th Istanbul Biennale (2005); MART, Rovereto (2004); 14th Sydney Biennale (2004).

Rizzi won the Italian Council Award of the Ministry of Culture (2018), Sharjah Art Foundation Production Program Award (2012), the 7th Sharjah Biennale Best Artist Prize (2005), and the Mulliqi Prize, Kosovo (2004). His films were selected for the International Film Festival of Ankara (2015, 2016), the Dubai International Film Festival (2013) and the Berlin Film Festival (2008, 2013).