This research project will aim at a reconsideration of the historical role of Italian State in the development of a comprehensive cultural policy through cinema, theatre and performing arts from the 30s to the 60s.
In order to do so, we will look at several documents coming from the most relevant institutions of that time, which are currently preserved at the Archivio Centrale dello Stato (Central State Archive) under the archival fund entitled "Ministero del Turismo e dello Spettacolo". This fund is still unreleased and not yet present in the inventory and, thanks to an agreement between the Archivio Centrale dello Stato and the Department of History, Anthropology, Religions, Arts, Performing Arts of Sapienza University of Rome, it will be available exclusively for this project.
Thanks to all these documents, we will underline the cultural, legal, social, economic and political consequences of Italian State activities in the area of cinema, theatre and performing arts in a crucial moment of Italian history, 1935-1965. In 1935 both the Ispettorato del Teatro and the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia were established. We chose 1965 as the closing year of our research because of the approval of the Corona Law, a rule that proposed new measures in favour of cultural and creative industries in Italy.
With all this in mind, we will re-read all the public interventions in cinema and theatre fields in a long period perspective, between continuities and gaps. These are, in fact, the years where the process of institutionalisation of the theatre and film industry happened: here, we will look at continuity and discontinuity of Fascist policies concerning the issue of policymaking in the creative industries, underlining all the public interventions in a comparative, systemic and interdisciplinary way - between cinema, theatre, and performing arts - and how they historically affected cultural and social dynamics in post-war Italy.
In this research project, we are going to take into account archival materials from 1935 to 1965. This demarcation enables us to focus on continuity and discontinuity between Fascist regime and Christian Democrats government concerning public intervention and cultural policies of creative industries. The 1935 is not just the year in which documents start to be preserved in the fund, but it is also a key date since, in that year, the Ispettorato Generale del Teatro (transformed the following year into the Direzione Generale del Teatro, directed by Nicola De Pirro) had been established, increasing subsidies on a regular basis for several years. In 1935, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia was founded as well, meanwhile Cinecittà in 1937, trying to counter the lack of technically and artistically qualified professionals and to build a national film industry capable of competing with Hollywood cinema. In 1965, the date we chose as the closing reference period, Corona Law was approved, proposing new measures in favour of cultural and creative industries. This periodisation will allow us to re-read all the public interventions in cinema and theatre fields in a long period perspective, between continuities and gaps.
Shedding light on this archival collection, classifying and indexing the materials for the very first time, since these documents have just been acquired by the Central State Archive, is fundamental to propose an advancement of knowledge concerning film and theatre industry dynamics as well as cultural and institutional policies. Sapienza University of Rome made an agreement with the Central State Archive in order to have full access to these archival materials. Those of most relevance to this research are: a) "Organi collegial" which contains "Raccolta di atti delle commissioni consultive" (1956-1965), "Commissione per l'elaborazione della legge sul teatro" (1959-1967), "Commissione per la revisione cinematografica" (1963); b) "Direzione Generale dello Spettacolo" which contains "Atti di dirigenti: Nicola De Pirro, Franz De Biase, Adolfo De Nicola (1942-1972)", "Teatri Stabili, sale cinematografiche e teatrali (1943-1965)", "Sovvenzioni alle compagnie teatrali (1953-1973)"; c) "Divisione Amministrativa" which contains "Contributi ad attività Cinematografiche", "Sovvenzioni alle case di produzione cinematografiche" (1942-1990).
Even if there is a vast amount of literature about the creative industries, and specifically about the cinema and theatre from different disciplines such as economics, media studies, organisation and management, sociology and so on, the issue of film and theatre public finance still requires more investigation. In recent years, although there is a growing interest in macroeconomic and microeconomic studies about film and theatre industry, it is certainly true that there is a lack of academic research, especially because of the difficulty, or the impossibility, of obtaining historical data concerning specific topics or periods. A major study, dealing expressly with the analysis of archival documents as yet largely unreleased, as the materials collected in the Central State Archive are, is therefore necessary.
From a purely quantitative point of view, we do not have sufficient data to shed light on public funding in the post-war period, in order to outline in detail the extent of State intervention in the artistic and social phenomena of cinema and theatre, although, as far as theatre activities are concerned, the studies carried out provide a sufficiently complete picture of the subsidies between 1920 and 1940. Consulting the series "Commissione consultiva per il teatro" and "Commissione consultiva per la revisione cinematografica", both contained in the reference fund, may not only provide interesting data from a quantitative point of view on the allocation of subsidies, but also allow a better understanding of the internal dynamics of the committee and the parameters used for the allocation.
Focusing on public intervention in film and theatre industries, this research could open a new road, through a unique instrument of understanding, in order to deal with the issue of policymaking in the creative industries in post-war Italy and the way it affected cultural and social dynamics.