THE OTHER IS ME

Throughout her life Elisabetta Catalano photographed artists, film directors and writers who shaped European culture in the second half of the twentieth century: from Federico Fellini to Pier Paolo Pasolini, from Claudia Cardinale to Roland Barthes, and from Peter Brook to Joseph Beuys. Her portraits capture the atmosphere of a Rome at the center of the international scene, where art, cinema, music, literature and fashion converged. A pioneer in a male-dominated world, Catalano turned portrait photography into a deep encounter, revealing something essential about those she portrayed. Yet despite thousands of photographs taken during her career, she never allowed a true portrait of herself. Behind the brilliant and cosmopolitan photographer lies a more intimate story and a difficult relationship with her mother. Through her extraordinary photographic archive, the film reconstructs an era and reveals what always remained out-side the frame: the woman behind the camera.