Given the intensity of its planned cultural program and the difficulties inherent in a pandemic not seen in the world for a century, 2020 – the year we dedicated to the Centenary of Federico Fellini’s birth – represented a great challenge for the Fellini Foundation. Despite the obstacles due to health safety constraints, the Fellini Foundation successfully carried out all the ambitious projects that it had planned to celebrate the immense work of the Maestro both in Switzerland, in particular at its cultural center in Sion and abroad. Such was the strength of will, the driving force of the team at the Fellini Foundation since its creation in 2001, that no project, whatever its nature, was abandoned. At the same time, we must draw attention to the support which made this kind of commitment possible: the confidence of the City of Sion and the Bourgeoisie de Sion which, in this jubilee year, renewed until 2023 their institutional support for the Foundation, the various bodies, such as the Romand Lottery wich support our activities; the important cultural partnership concluded at ministerial level with Italy; the confidence of the cultural partners of the Foundation, in particular Il Comune di Rimini, Philipp Keel and Jakob Keel; the loyalty of the public; and, finally, the support of the media, in particular Le Nouvelliste newspaper in the Valais.
It is in this spirit that our institution is proud to present this report detailing the program carried out in 2020 as we celebrated the Fellini Centenary. It is addressed, on the one hand,to His Excellency, the President of the Italian Republic, Mr. Sergio Mattarella, and, on the other, to all the partners of the Fellini Foundation.The Foundation Board would like once again to express its deep gratitude to H.E.The President of the Italian Republic for the honor of having conferred on our institution, through the offices of H.E. The Consul General, Mr. Antonino La Piana, the Special Medal of the Italian Presidency on the very day of the Maestro’s birth, January 20.The same date also marked the opening of the first Centenary exhibition, enthusiastically entitled Viva Fellini ! For the record, the celebration of the centenary of Federico Fellini’s birth kicked off in 2018, with the exhibition David Lynch. Dreams - A Tribute to Fellini. This premiered at the Cultural Center of the Fellini Foundation in Sion, Switzerland, with the close collaboration of the great American master himself. It was followed in 2019 by the exhibition Federico Fellini. Genius of Humanity - A Tribute to Human Rights, which also received its world premiere, this time at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, in partnership with the United Nations Office and the Italian Mission to the United Nations.