COMUNICAZIONI SOCIALI - 2024 - 3. Italian Cinemas and Moviegoing. Venues, People, Management by Elena Mosconi, Maria Grazia Fanchi, Paola Dalla Torre is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0   
INDEX
di Paola Dalla Torre, Maria Grazia Fanchi, Elena Mosconi
pagine: 4
Scarica
di Alfonso Venturini
pagine: 13
Scarica
di Edward M. Bowen
pagine: 18
Scarica
Abstract ∨
This study examines the effectiveness of exhibitor Giovanni Amati’s strategies for launching and circulating films in his dominant Roman cinema chain in the mid-1960s. The main sources for this investigation are two complete years of daily reports from 1965 and 1966 on the performance of first-run cinemas in Rome compiled by the monitoring company Nazional Control Cine. This article will first discuss the nature of this company’s reports, its history and its method of recording data. It will then examine two different release strategies, wide and narrow, that Amati took with major films in 1965, focusing primarily on the circulation of Goldfinger (Hamilton, 1964) and Mary Poppins (Stevenson, 1964). This article aims to expand our knowledge of the inner workings of cinema chains, film circulation within them and the effectiveness of programming decisions. It underscores the importance of the early weeks for a blockbuster release in terms of gross earnings and the advantages of adopting narrow circulation strategies either for a launch or for the middle stretch of a film’s first-run. It suggests that Amati had a threshold of minimum attendance or minimum gross earnings that he was willing to tolerate before making programming changes: these changes included decreasing the number of copies in circulation, moving films to lower cost cinemas in different neighborhoods or dropping films entirely from his circuit. This study also analyzes film programming records in second- and third-run cinemas to demonstrate the extent of Amati’s control over the films’ entire life cycles in the urban area of Rome.
The Strategies of Launching and Circulating Films in a Cinema Chain in Mid-1960s Rome by Edward M. Bowen is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
di Federica D’Urso, Damiano Garofalo
pagine: 14
Scarica
Abstract ∨
During the fall of 1997, the first complex of multiplexes was inaugurated in Italy by the Warner Village group. At the dawn of the new millennium, multiplexes account for more than 50 percent of the Italian cinema market, in terms of box office and tickets sold. The aim of this essay is to propose a reflection on the relations between film distribution and exhibition in the period between 1998 and 2015, in the years just before Netflix launched in Italy. The essay analyzes the Italian multiplex phenomenon and the significant transformation of movie theatres at the intersection of regulatory landscapes, distribution strategies, and the onset of platformization. The analysis will consider, firstly, quantitative data on the revenues of movie-theaters, categorised by typology (single-screen, multi-screen, and multiplex). We will then examine the significance and impact of this situation on distribution. Specifically, we will explore how distribution strategies changed during the reference period and how the interactions among operators evolved in response to these changes. To achieve this, we will utilize quantitative sources such as Cinetel, as well as reports from trade associations and regulatory texts. Additionally, we will conduct targeted interviews with key stakeholders, including distributors, exhibitors, and trade associations.
Here Comes the Multiplex! Notes for a ‘Flipped’ History of the Italian Film Market (1998-2015) by Damiano Garofalo, Federica D’Urso is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
di Virgil Darelli
pagine: 13
Scarica
di Morgan Corriou
pagine: 13
Scarica
Abstract ∨
In her memoirs, Claudia Cardinale, the star of The Leopard, born and raised in Tunisia, recalls her late discovery of Italian cinema: “For almost all immigrants, Italian cinema [...] had become a new homeland. But this was not the case in Tunis, where we had no desire to claim our roots.” Under the policy of “de-Italianization,” the French authorities actively sought to dismantle Italian economic and cultural infrastructures in Tunisia following World War II. For Italian films, this marked the final stage of a long-standing celluloid war that had begun with the arrival of the cinematograph in the country. While the circulation of Italian films encountered numerous obsta-cles throughout this period, Italian exhibitors played a key role in the development of cinemas in Tunisia. The French conquest unfolded within a context of intense competition with Italy: until the late 1930s, the Italian population was, in fact, more numerous than the French colony, and the “Italian danger” lay at the heart of French concerns. This article examines both the strategies of entrepreneurs who were neither colonisers nor colonised, and their involvement in a film trade increasingly embedded within a colonial economy, as well as the growth of an Italian film culture, without presuming a direct connection between the two. Accordingly, this work aims to contri-bute to a broader reflection on the role of minorities in the circulation of films in areas considered peripheral by major studios. The social history of films shown by Italians, as well as Italian films exhibited, offers a more nuanced understanding of intermediary roles, revealing new film routes and diverse forms of mediation.
“De-Italianize” Cinema! A History of Italian Film Exhibition in Colonial Tunisia by Morgan Corriou is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
di Lorenzo Carlo Tore
pagine: 15
Scarica
Abstract ∨
At the beginning of 1968, Parma had approximately fifteen movie theaters. These are years when venues become an active part of political discourse, serving as a tool that sought new forms of production, distribution and exhibition. The first University Film Studies courses were established, and it gained popularity, expanding through courses, festivals and seminaries [Grassi 1978, Chiesi 1999, Flores, De Bernardi 2003]. Film studies became an integral part of the institutional program and a central focus during high school assemblies and university student organizations, such as Centro Universitario Cinematografico or Collettivo Cinema Libero, two of the most significant entities of the period. Simultaneously, there were numerous protests, raids, blockades, and venues occupations, which featured films promoting U.S. imperialist propaganda, such as John Wayne’s The Green Berets (1968). The essay examines how film consumption venues in Parma evolved during the 1970s. This transformation affected not only the institutional theaters, which featured politically charged programming, but also the cine clubs and university collectives, which continuously reinvented themselves throughout the decade. What had once been purely a space for film screenings gradually became a stage for theatrical performances, a hub for debate and education, and eventually transformed into a genuine site for experimental audiovisual production.
Parma Theaters and Film Clubs between 1968 and 1977. Political Contestation in the Screening Space by Lorenzo Carlo Tore is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
di Maria Elena D’amelio
pagine: 11
Scarica
Abstract ∨
This essay explores the history of state-owned movie theaters in San Marino from the 1980s to today. In San Marino, there are no private cinemas; the State has managed all movie theaters since 1983. Using archival research, oral history, audience data, and interviews, this study examines the connection between film culture, public funding, and the moviegoing experience in San Marino. It highlights the interconnectedness of economic-industrial practices on distribution, acquisition, and programming with a broader political-cultural awareness of the moviegoing experience. The findings show that a State-run cinema is essential in San Marino, as private theaters are not financially viable due to the small audience size. Additionally, State-run cinemas can support both blockbuster films at lower prices and independent films from festivals, which are otherwise unavailable in peripheral cinemas.
A State-Run Moviegoing Experience. The Case of State-Owned Movie Theaters in the Republic of San Marino by Maria Elena D’amelio is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
di Samuele Briatore
pagine: 13
Scarica
di Enrico Biasin
pagine: 21
Scarica
Abstract ∨
The present article focuses on Italian male film audience of the 1950s from a double epistemological frame of reference. On one hand, it provides a description of the models through which young Italian male cinemagoers were represented by the cinematic medium during the 1950s. On the other hand, it broadens the field of textual analysis by including, conversely, the presentation of forms through which the “empirical” spectators of the time reacted to the stimulations of cinema. Along this latter direction, using a series of oral accounts collected during an ethnographic research, and employing a heterogeneous range of “allograph” texts (diaries, biographies, lists and photographs), this study tries to re-conceptualise the cinematic experience of male spectators, both historically situated and culturally oriented towards several consumption practices.
Before the Miracle. Male Cinemagoers of the 1950s: Texts, Places and Sexuality by Enrico Biasin is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
di Diletta Pavesi
pagine: 14
Scarica
Abstract ∨
After the Second World War, Barbiana became one of the most innovative educational experienc-es in Italy. The aim of its founder, Don Lorenzo Milani, was to achieve the spiritual, cultural and political emancipation of children from the most disadvantaged social classes. As the collective writing behind the famous pamphlet Letter to a Teacher (Lettera a una professoressa, 1967) shows, Milani favored above all the acquisition of language and writing, which he saw as funda-mental tools for liberating the peasantry and working class from their atavistic state of subalterni-ty. On the contrary, the indomitable Florentine priest, especially in the early years of his pastoral and teaching activity, showed a critical attitude towards the cinema and the decisive role that this medium was gradually assuming in the cultural and social life of many Catholics. This position, however, was not without its nuances. Obviously influenced by the documents of the Magisterium and contemporary experiences such as the film forums, Milani was also able to include cinema in his own educational project. Like all the other activities carried out at Barbiana, film education was conceived in relation to what Don Lorenzo considered to be the most urgent needs of his stu-dents. Through a study of Milani’s writings and interviews with three of his former students, this essay attempts to reconstruct Barbiana’s cinematographic education. It focuses on the school of Barbiana, which, under the guidance of its priest-teacher, gradually managed to equip itself with solid tools for film analysis. However, the essay will also take into account the experiences of some of Milani’s students who have appeared in front of the camera for documentary productions aimed at testifying to the exceptional nature of Barbiana.
“Da ieri in qua lo stiamo proiettando ininterrottamente per sviscerarne l’arte e i difetti”: Film Education at the School of Barbiana. From Spectorship to Performance by Diletta Pavesi is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
MISCELLANEOUS SECTION
di Marta Reichlin
pagine: 12
Scarica
|
|
Fascicolo digitale
|
