Romics 27th edition from 2nd to 5th April 2020
Federico Bertolucci will receive the Golden Romics of the XXVI edition of the festival. Nominated for the Eisner Awards for his remarkable work carried out on Love, Bertolucci is regarded as one of the most important and talented italian illustrator. Brindille – the adventurous fairytale for readers of all ages written by Frédéric Brrémaud and published in Italy by saldaPress – confirms it, considering the great success both from critics and public achieved in France, in Italy and in many other countries. And it is precisely thanks to the partnership with saldaPress that we have the opportunity to meet him in Rome at the XXVI edition of Romics.
Born in Viareggio in 1973, after having studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Bertolucci dedicated himself to his true passion: Comics. He has always been an enthusiastic reader of many anthologies of Topolino collected by his father during the seventies and preserved in an old trunk in the attic. Since 1998 Bertolucci has begun to work with Disney Italia on various magazines, including Topolino and W.i.t.c.h. Magazine, and he has also begun to attend the Disney Academy of Milan. Endowed with an eclectic and dynamic style, he alterned the career as a comic book artist to that as an illustrator, collaborating, among others, with Panini, Mondadori, Edizioni EL, il Sole 24ore, Mosaik, Mattel, CNR.
In 2007 he created a comic book aimed at the french market: Richard Coeur de Lion, in couple with scriptwriter Frédéric Brrémaud, a partnership destined to last over time. He collaborated with companies like Bamboo, Claire De Lune, Delcourt and Ankama. Precisely for Ankama he created together with Brrémaud the series Love, successfully published in France, United States and many other countries, whose strength is the careful depiction of the animals, obtained thanks to the passion for these subjects and a constant research. It is thanks to the series Love, that in 2016 and in 2017 Bertolucci was for three times nominated for the Eisner Award (twice as Best Painter/Multimedia Artist, once for the Best U.S. Edition of International Material). With the comic book Love – The Fox he won the gold medal for best graphic novel at the Indipendent Publisher Book Awards 2016. The artistic collaboration with Brrémaud brought him to work for Dupuis on a short story dedicated to the popular character of Marsupilami and he subsequently illustrated Piccole Storie, a series for children, further collaboration with Brrémaud. In this series, where animal figures are always the protagonists, illustrations have a more educational and less cruel slant and are combined with strips “Since the strip [...] is the true form of comics, it cannot be reproduced by other means with the exception of paper and ink. What I mean is that the emotion of reading the Peanuts, is quite different from the cartoons that have followed them […]” (From the interview by Alberto Brambilla on Fumettologica, 2017). His career has then continued on three different fronts, Walt Disney’s comics, french production and children’s books with Mondadori, EL edizioni, il Battello a Vapore and other italian publishers.
Federico Bertolucci will present at Romics a preview of the books box Brindille, published by saldaPress, which collects the entire saga written by Frédéric Brrémaud.
The character of Brindille will be the protagonist of the exhibition dedicated to Bertolucci at Romics: an itinerary focused on the latest masterpiece of the two authors, a marvellous story, vibrating of colors, beauty and contrasts, for readers of all ages.
Brindille is digitally created and the exhibition path will disclose all the steps necessary to reach the completion of the table: from the characters studies to the pencil sketches, from the setting of the framings to the different coloration levels of background and characters to experience a work that has enchanted readers all over the world.
