Leonor Fini, a film by Yvan Butler

As an artist, Leonor Fini has never received as much attention as her contemporary and near namesake Leonora Carrington but this didn’t stop film-makers calling at Fini’s door in later life. The best of the ones I’ve seen to date (and probably the best of all) is the feature-length documentary made by Chris Vermorcken in 1987 but there are many other short ones, several of which were made for television. Fini worked as a costume designer for the theatre and later for film which may have helped stimulate interest from directors. Most of the shorts have yet to turn up anywhere but I keep looking from time to time. Leonor Fini is a black-and-white short made in 1966 by Yvan Butler for Swiss TV. There was a copy circulating years ago but I seem to recall it was lacking subtitles, a problem rectified by the version linked here. Butler’s film is a portrait of the artist and her friends staging a private masquerade in the ruined monastery which Fini used as her summer residence. Shots of her…