Launch of the book Italian Cinema Audiences. Histories and Memories of Cinema-going in Post-war Italy.
The authors (Daniela Treveri Gennari, Sarah Culhane, Danielle Hipkins, Silvia Dibeltulo, and Catherine O’Rawe) will be in conversation with Dr. Sam Manning and Prof. Mariagrazia Fanchi.
We know a lot about the directors and stars of Italian cinema’s heyday, from Roberto Rossellini to Sophia Loren. But what do we know about the Italian audiences that went to see their films?
Based on the AHRC-funded project “Italian Cinema Audiences 1945-60”, this book draws upon the rich data collected by the project team (160 video interviews and 1000+ written questionnaires gathered from Italians aged 65 and over; archival material related to cinema distribution, exhibition and programming, box-office figures, and critical discussions of cinema from film journals and popular magazines of the period).
For the first time, cinema’s role in everyday Italian life, and its affective meaning when remembered by older people, are enriched with industrial analyses of the booming Italian film sector of the period, as well as contextual data from popular and specialized magazines.
Within the framework of the initiative “Fare Cinema” of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.