A Friendly Place

There is a place in Venice that renews its vocation since 1869, is the Querini Stampalia Foundation. It’s a place made of water, canals, rooms, works and masterpieces of the intellect, of art and architecture, of the will to welcome the world while remaining true to itself.
A friendly place. A film tells it today, on the occasion of its 150 years.
It’s a gift to the city – a gift from Count Giovanni Querini Stampalia who, in his will, in 1869 established the Foundation that bears his name. The reading room and its art collection had to be made available to those who, lovers of "good studies and useful disciplines", needed them.
The 150 years anniversary is an opportunity to retrace the history and the identity, the present and the future of the Querini Stampalia Foundation, which has accompanied, in some cases even anticipated, the economic, political and social life of Venice, and of the Palace that houses it.
It is the story of men and values, the Querini, a maze to get lost in, to find ourselves somewhere else, just like in Venice, its city.
The film is based on new ad hoc shots and on archival footage that documents the history of the Foundation and the Palace, enriched by the exclusive testimonies of many, influential exponents of the world of culture, art and architecture.