From April 15 to 19, the Sala Radici at M9 – Museum of the 20th Century hosted the puppet exhibition of Playing God (2024), a stop-motion short film directed by Matteo Burani, President of the International Shorts Jury. The film, winner of the Special Jury Prize in the Italian Shorts section at the first edition of Stop e-Motion Days, stages, in a laboratory immersed in darkness, the restless birth of a clay creature under the gaze of its creator: a visual parable about creation, control, imperfection, and the desire to be recognized.
Playing God
Mostra dei Puppet/Puppet Exhibition
The exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to encounter up close the puppets that inhabit this dark and powerful universe. Outside the screen, these figures reveal the full complexity of stop-motion craftsmanship: sculpture, mechanics, texture, manual gesture, and stage presence coexist in objects that are at once physical bodies and cinematic characters. Observing them up close means entering the very heart of a film that has transformed matter into vision—and that continues to preserve its strength within that very materiality
Dal 15 al 19 aprile, la Sala Radici di M9 – Museo del ’900 ha ospitato la mostra dei pupazzi di Playing God (2024), cortometraggio in stop-motion diretto da Matteo Burani, presidente della giuria dei corti internazionali. Il film, vincitore del Premio Speciale della Giuria nella sezione Corti Italiani alla prima edizione degli Stop e-Motion Days, mette in scena, all’interno di un laboratorio immerso nell’oscurità, la nascita inquieta di una creatura d’argilla sotto lo sguardo del suo creatore: una parabola visiva sulla creazione, il controllo, l’imperfezione e il desiderio di riconoscimento.
La mostra offre ai visitatori l’opportunità di incontrare da vicino i puppet che popolano questo universo cupo e potente. Fuori dallo schermo, queste figure rivelano tutta la complessità dell’artigianato della stop-motion: scultura, meccanica, texture, artigianalità e presenza scenica convivono in oggetti che sono al tempo stesso corpi fisici e personaggi cinematografici. Osservarli da vicino significa entrare nel cuore stesso di un film che ha trasformato la materia in visione — e che continua a custodire la propria forza proprio all’interno di quella materialità.
From April 15 to 19, the Sala Radici at M9 – Museum of the 20th Century will host the puppet exhibition of Playing God (2024), a stop-motion short film directed by Matteo Burani, President of the International Shorts Jury. The film, winner of the Special Jury Prize in the Italian Shorts section at the first edition of Stop e-Motion Days, stages, in a laboratory immersed in darkness, the restless birth of a clay creature under the gaze of its creator: a visual parable about creation, control, imperfection, and the desire to be recognized.
Playing God
Puppet Exhibition
Sala Radici - M9 Museum of the 20th Century
The exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to encounter up close the puppets that inhabit this dark and powerful universe. Outside the screen, these figures reveal the full complexity of stop-motion craftsmanship: sculpture, mechanics, texture, manual gesture, and stage presence coexist in objects that are at once physical bodies and cinematic characters. Observing them up close means entering the very heart of a film that has transformed matter into vision—and that continues to preserve its strength within that very materiality.
