The PRIN project MODES, MEMORIES AND CULTURES OF FILM PRODUCTION IN ITALY (1949-1976) comes about from the belief that a specific “Italian System” can be found in the field of film production. The production methods and professional and business cultures of the “Made in Italy” label, with all the know-how and creativity built up during the second half of the twentieth century, hold kaleidoscopic and innovative value for the economy, history and culture of contemporary Italy.

These creative, productive and cultural aspects are studied through the period from the 1950s to the early 1970s. While this is one of the most significant times in Italy’s cinematographic history, it is among the least studied in terms of the film industry and production.

The year 1949 is taken as the starting point (with the cinematography law of 29 December) for the rebuilding of the sector. The 1950s and 1960s were the “golden age” for Italian cinema. It was a period characterized by extraordinary dynamism, which can be seen both in the experimentation of new types of production and in the emergence of new production companies. In addition, the historical protagonists of the film production industry left the scene. 

The phase of economic growth ended at the beginning of the 1970s, a decade that forced Italian cinema to find a new position in the media context. A precise break-off point can be seen in 1976, when the sentence of the Constitutional Court (no. 202) liberalized over-the-air broadcasting, sparking an upheaval in the mass media and production structure.

The researchers have isolated three time frames of particular interest in this period: from 1949 to 1954, with the increase in production resulting from the Andreotti law, brought to an end by the first of the cyclical crises experienced by Italian cinema; from 1958 (the end of centrism) to 1963 (the first Moro government), a phase of expansion and flourishing quality; finally, from 1971 to 1976, the last phase of growth in the national film gross (SIAE – Italian Society of Authors and Publishers) but also of the loosening of state control over production.

The methodology followed by the project blends two different, yet mutually beneficial investigation protocols: the first concerning modes of production (the reference here is to Production Studies) and the second concerning production cultures and memories (taking suggestions from Cultural Studies).

In the first case, the research investigates the dynamics that shaped the industrial system and the possible production typologies (Italian-based, co-productions, partnerships, independent productions, cooperatives, etc.). The objective is to reconstruct both the official institutional framework and the actual working methods, also including unofficial aspects and unorthodox yet shared practices (for instance, trade-offs between the economic and industrial sectors and the world of politics; interests involving different industrial sectors, such as publishing or construction, etc.). 

In the second case, the project focuses on the practical dimension of film work – set organization, workflows, bargaining dynamics, etc. In other words, it sets out to investigate the “human dimension” of film work: by which we mean the representation and self-representation strategies deployed by the subjects involved, in the conviction that the workers and operators’ shared experiences and mindsets played a decisive role in the functioning of the system. 

While exploring these historical time spans, the project will follow two interrelated lines of inquiry: modes of production, and production cultures and memories. These lines of research will enable us to account for the specificity and complexity of the Italian case.

• Modes of production in Italian cinema. This first line of inquiry aims to map the different production typologies and to bring to the surface production models hitherto undebated in the scientific literature. Furthermore, it seeks to investigate the actual dynamics underlying the production system, by reconstructing both the institutional framework of the main actors at stake (political, corporate, financial, commercial, entrepreneurial, etc.) and actual practice. The latter includes a wide range of different factors: from the strategies and coalitions which helped the Italian film industry to face its competitors and become established at an international level, to the use of certain production chains and professional clusters established informally, outside the institutional channels.

• Cultures and memories of film production and work. This second line of inquiry more specifically concerns the social, material, artisanal and professional dimensions of film production. Here on one hand we intend to explore the manufacturing and organizational dimension of film production work (meaning the practical organization of the set, day-to-day production dynamics, workflows, contractual and salary policies, recruitment, etc.) with particular reference to some figures relating to the industry environment (general organizers, production managers, script supervisors, agents, etc.). On the other hand, we set out to explore the production cultures, that is to say the discursive practices surrounding the perceptions, representations and self-representations of those involved in the work process, which progressively highlight the professional characteristics of these roles, functions, skill levels and specializations in a process of growing collective awareness and public acknowledgement.

The use of different and complementary methodologies, from archival research to the digital humanities, from micro-history to oral storytelling, will enable us to account for the complexity of the Italian case: the network of economic, professional and institutional relations as well as the hidden, unofficial or nevertheless little investigated aspects (bankruptcies, trade-offs, shady practices, etc.). This and the reconstruction of the shifting configuration of the social networks surrounding the national film industry can highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the sector as an expression of the “Made in Italy” rhetoric. 

The choice to divide the period under consideration into three five-year time spans serves a strategic purpose – at that time, five years was the average period for which commercial films were economically exploited. This perspective will optimize the research management and sustainability, enabling analysis of the national production system across its different economic phases (recovery, prosperity and depression) and the production of in-depth and reliable data that will enable us to reconstruct long-term trends.

The project will give access to a wide range of hitherto unpublished or unavailable primary sources (catalogues, inventories, digitizations), divulge its results in multiple publications, conferences and other occasions, produce oral histories and revive forgotten, neglected, additional or alternative working memories.

DIGITAL CATALOGUE OF MODES OF PRODUCTION IN ITALIAN CINEMA: it is a web-based environment that will allow free, restricted or reserved access to consult research infrastructures created ad hoc, such as databases (the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment co-productions fund catalogue from 1965 onwards, housed in the Central State Archive); inventory reorganization (the reorganization and analytical inventory of the ANICA – Italian Association of the Film, Audiovisual and Multimedia Industries – archive, deposited at the Cineteca Lucana); sets of metadata on large corpora of periodicals and audiovisuals of interest for the project (with keywords, tags and semantic filters that will allow users selective access to the collected data); and periodicals of fundamental importance for the study of the modes, memories and cultures of the Italian film industry.

INFOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF MEMORIES OF WORK IN ITALIAN CINEMA: it is a digital environment of visual narration and infographics hosting scenarios, maps, genealogies, memories and stories of Italian cinema production. While disclosing some of the research outcomes, it also aims to attract further testimonies and narratives.

DOCUMENTARY FILM: “MADE IN ITALY. THE CULTURE OF ITALIAN FILM PRODUCTION”: the research project will also produce audiovisual output to broadcast the results to a wider audience and foster audiovisual literacy of the Italian production culture. To this end, the documentary film is expected to circulate in film festivals and, later, to serve as teaching material.

EDITORIAL SERIES, MONOGRAPHICAL ISSUES, SEMINARS, CONFERENCES: the results of the research will be published in a specialist editorial series (“Fuoriscena”, Marsilio), special issues of scientific journals, seminars, and conferences of national and international interest on specific moments and processes in the structural transformation of the system and specific marginal or innovative practices.