Communication Evolution

Aldo Vidali

Among other things documentary film director Aldo Vidali is a boat builder, publisher, world traveler, political and environmental activist, father, and eclectic writer.

Vidali and his family joined the Resistance Movement against fascist and Nazi forces during World War II. When he was only 13 years old, he was captured by the Nazis during the Fosse Ardeatine Nazi dragnet in Rome, but was released shortly thereafter because of his age. At the time, his family members were sheltering several Jewish refugees in their apartment to prevent their deportation to death camps in Germany.

At the age of 18 (1949) Vidali explored the tropical wilderness of the Brazilian interior selling Coleman lamps and stoves to primitive villages as a way to earn college tuition. He came to the United States to study geology at the Colorado School of Mines in 1950. During the early 50s, Vidali prospected in the Mexican states of Sonora and Durango. After selling his interest in his Mexican mineral discoveries (Plomo Y Plata de Mexico and Exona) to ALCOA, he returned to Europe to do documentary film work. It was here that he collaborated with director Fellini on a project entitled The Strange Voyage of Mr. Mastorna and learned directing and cinema acting during the Fellini creation of 8-1/2.

As the Italian post-WWII film renaissance unfolded, Vidali formed a production company which brought about a motion picture partnership between American and Italian cinema. In 1961, he formed Autori Associati and joined together with Michelangelo Antonioni to form Michelangelo Antonioni Gruppo Internazionale Cinematografico (M.A.G.I.C. Films) in Rome, Italy.

Vidali’s documentary works originated a new genre, superimposing fiction on real-life documentary backgrounds. Straw Hat and the Crown, shown on the Italian R.A.I. Television Network, received recognition even from the Vatican for its subtle moral theme set off by contrasting a fairy tale on a background of real life events.

In 1963, Vidali went to Africa as Second Unit Director of the feature documentary Good-bye Africa, a Rizzoli Production. He covered South Africa, Southwest Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Zanzibar, Congo, and Angola. This exposed him to a wide range of human beings, both as a director and the liaison officer between the South African government and the Italian film unit.

Back in the U.S. in 1965, Aldo wrote and directed Sunset at Dawn, a predictive environmental film essay on the worsening ecological crisis, followed by Trail to the Stars, a film view of the NASA space program contrasted with America’s pioneering past.

In 1978, Vidali participated in the environmental-political campaign in Kauai, Hawaii, to save the island’s pristine shorelines at Nukoli’i from yet another tourist development. A champion of the environment, Vidali later challenged Republican Interior Secretary James Watt, when Watt opened vast sections of Federal lands to exploitation. Vidali developed a plan to preserve the wilderness by rushing to the Denali region of Alaska, and leasing thousands of acres of federal oil lands.

Vidali returned to the mainland in late 2000 where his family created a film with students entitled Life & Liberty in the Balance, protesting the illegitimate court appointed Bush administration.

Reviving the motion picture work developed under Fellini’s guidance, Vidali is now teaching and preparing productions dedicated to promoting the restoration of American Democracy, defense of the Bill of Rights, and openly denouncing the neo-fascist “Patriot” Act and the neo-con imperialistic scheme against America.

Vidali volunteers as Chairman of Uneco, a nonprofit environmental and humanitarian organization. He speaks English, Italian, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, and is a public lecturer on social, educational, and environmental subjects. He lives with his wife on California’s Central Coast.