Umberto Eco: A Library of the World / Film School Radio interview with Director Davide Ferrario

Davide Ferrario’s UMBERTO ECO: A LIBRARY OF THE WORLD is a documentary immersion into all things Eco. His sublimely intimate film takes us on a tour of Umberto Eco’s private library, guided by the author himself. Combining new footage with material he shot with Eco in 2015 for a video installation for the Venice Biennale, Ferrario documents this incredible collection and the man who amassed it. From the precious section of the original seventeenth-century books to the shelves dedicated to the 'literary fools' who pay to be published, passing through the mystery about Shakespeare's identity, the film retraces and illustrates the main obsessions of Umberto Eco, which underlie all his literary production, fiction and otherwise. As Eco leads us among the more than 50,000 volumes and his family reflects on his legacy, we also gain insight into the library of the mind of this vastly prolific and original thinker. UMBERTO ECO: A LIBRARY OF THE WORLD director Davide Ferrario joins us for a lively conversation on how he approached his humble and warm-hearted subject, enlisting Umberto’s family, Renate, Stefano and Carlotta, into this joyful collaboration and how important he felt it was to make Umberto’s sonorous collection of literature the other “character” in this exhilarating ode to Umberto Eco. For more go to cinemaguild.com/umbertoeco