BEST ACTRESS. Oscar® Divas The National Cinema Museum renders tribute to the 72 actresses awarded with the prestigious statuette

The National Cinema Museum presents the BEST ACTRESS. Oscar^® Divas exhibition as a world premiere, from 3 April to 31 August 2014. Conceived by Stephen Tapert, it is a tribute to the 72 women who received the prestigious statuette for the best female performance between 1929 and 2014. Great stars and actresses, who not only left their mark in the history of cinema but also in social mores, extraordinary icons of the changes in women’s roles within American society, spanning the entire Twentieth century.

The exhibition, by curators Stephen Tapert, Nicoletta Pacini, Tamara Sillo, will develop throughout the outer railings at the Mole Antonelliana and in the Temple Hall, the heart of the National Cinema Museum. It includes 370 items, sourced from Stephen Tapert, from the Cinema Museum collections and from American, British and Italian collectors.

The exhibition tour starts at the outer railings at the Mole Antonelliana, where a sort of virtual red carpet is replicated by the pictures of 19 actresses walking the entrance catwalk at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for the awards evening, between wings of photographers and cameramen. 

Inside the museum, in the Temple Hall, a spectacular setting at the base of the large screens will present sketches, set costumes and ceremony gowns worn by the stars at Oscar Nights: from the famous Valentino dress for Julia Roberts, to the sophisticated Armani tailleur for Jodie Foster (arriving direct from the actress’s personal wardrobe), to the eccentricities created by Bob Mackie for Cher. And furthermore, the apparel worn by Louise Rainer in 1937, some scenery costumes worn by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Emma Thompson on their respective sets.

The exhibition will continue on the helicoidal ramp, with a chronological circuit which will unfurl like a film reel and retrace the history of this famed award. 86 years of memories, going from the statuette awarded to Janet Gaynor in 1929 to the Oscar received this year by Cate Blanchett, alternating set photos, film sequences, publicity portraits, rare posters, glimpses of the ceremony.

The exhibition will end at the top of the helicoidal ramp with a section dedicated to Oscar Night: invitation tickets for the awards, publicity posters and programmes for the most suggestive, influential and popular celebration of the film industry and its protagonists.

Furthermore, from 1 to 25 April, the Cinema Massimo will offer a selection of 16 films, starring as many Oscar winning actresses. At the same time, three films will be offered at the Library/Mediatheque, dedicated to three great actresses from the ‘Sixties: Anne Bancroft, Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn.

For the entire duration of the exhibition, the museum educational services will offer new guided itineraries and activities for the public and for schools.

Stephen Tapert, the exhibition co-curator, is also the author of BEST ACTRESS. Dictionary of Oscar Divas, published by Silvana Editoriale. In addition to the introductory texts, the volume includes critical and biographical notes for each one of the 72 actresses, their photographic portraits and numerous other pictures from the exhibition.

For the occasion of the BEST ACTRESS. Oscar^® Divas exhibition organised by the National Cinema Museum in Turin (Mole Antonelliana, 3 April - 31 August) and the “Tina Modotti. Retrospective” exhibition (Palazzo Madama, 1 May - 6 October) organised by Palazzo Madama in collaboration with Silvana Editoriale, Turin University will propose a studies day dedicated to certain case studies of actresses awarded with an Oscar, selected in relation to particularly significant moments and turning points in the history of cinema. Several Italian women scholars will present leads for reading and analysing the female identities and characters outlined in the films under scrutiny.

The conference, titled The Women in the portrait. Diva models and female identities, is by curators Giulia Carluccio and Mariapaola Pierini from Turin University DAMS - CRAD (Centre for Research on Actors and Stardom) Department of Humanities and will be held at the Cinema Massimo on 9 June 2014, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The occasion of the exhibition, will also feature the presentation of a renewed partnership between the National Cinema Museum and AIR FRANCE, the official airline of BEST ACTRESS. Oscar^® Divas. Air France KLM Group will accompany major museum events throughout the year: besides the above exhibition, KLM will support the CinemAmbiente Festival and the TGLFF - Torino Gay&Lesbian Film Festival for the third time, while the French company will flank the Torino Film Festival and the exhibition foreseen for the coming autumn.

The renewal of the agreement between Turin Airport and the National Cinema Museum is also announced, featuring temporary showcases in airport venues, interactive screens and promotional initiatives addressed to all passengers in transit, in view of promoting visits at the National Cinema Museum and the development of a tourism and cultural vocation within the territory.

The BEST ACTRESS. Oscar^® Divas exhibition is organised with the patronage of the Consulate General of the United States of America in Milan. Vanity Fair is media partner.