Eighty years after the introduction of sound in films, many silent films are now lost. The further back one goes toward the glorious years of the pioneers of cinema, the more one must face the difficulties involved in conserving these films.
The silent films conserved in the Museum’s archives are therefore of considerable importance, above all thanks to the privileged relationship that the Museum has always shared with Torino’s great early cinema. The nucleus of material collected by Maria Adriana Prolo comes mainly from the collections of these local pioneers, most importantly Giovanni Pastrone.
In the first decade of the twentieth century, Torino was one of the most productive centers in Italy and was considered one of the most important in the world. This collection of Torino’s silent films is therefore of exceptional importance both for the rarity of the titles and the good condition of its copies.
Thanks to the Demet fund, which was purchased from the Nederlands Film Museum, copies of the first films made in Torino that were distributed abroad have been recovered. This group includes titles such as Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei by Luigi Maggi and comic films by Cretinetti, Robinet and Polidor.
In addition to fictional titles there is also an important collection of silent historical, nature and medical documentaries, including La neuropatologia and La vita delle farfalle, precious testimony of the earliest film productions in Torino. |
In detail
Extra Info
Contacts
Film Archives
Tel. +39 011 8138 580
Fax +39 011 8138 585
cineteca@museocinema.it
Claudia Gianetto
Tel. +39 011 8138 582
gianetto@museocinema.it
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