Research: Film promotion and distribution in Italy: the Cineriz case (1956-1981)
The objective of the research project is to reconstruct the Italian distribution landscape between the 1950s and the 1980s and to study the workings of film marketing through the privileged observatory of the files of the Cineriz Fund, preserved at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, put in relation to other archival materials (in particular the files devoted to the practices of granting certificates of nationality for films preserved at the Central State Archives), trade press magazines and industry publications such as the various editions of the Yearbook of Italian Cinema.
A first part of the project will be devoted to the reconstruction of the history and industrial practices of the Cineriz company, which distributed from the 1950s to the early 1980s films that testify to the entrepreneurial spirit and great insight of its founder, Angelo Rizzoli, capable of satisfying different types of audiences (Cantore, Minuz 2018) and able to promote not only established filmmakers but also new talents. The history of cinema will be put in dialogue with the history of literary publishing and to everyday publishing.
The second part of the project will focus on the analysis of promotional campaigns that, on the one hand, allow for the emergence of communication and money flows within the supply chain and, on the other hand, highlight the networks of relationships that link cinema to other sectors of the cultural industry (Di Chiara, 2021). Studying film marketing through the 467 files in the Cineriz fund will allow us to accrue reflections on reception as well, since advertisements are designed to formulate proposals that go beyond the content and aesthetic dimension of the film, to invest the sphere of values and that related to the promotion of particular lifestyles.