Ricerc@Sapienza

The project aims to explore and analyze musical biopics through a multidisciplinary approach that combines musicology, ethnomusicology, film studies, media studies, and performance studies. The project is divided into three main sections: 1) the study of biopics about composers, musicians, performers, bands, or music scenes (across different musical genres), with the aim of reconstructing their cultural positioning and social roles in various contexts; 2) the updating of the Music Biopics Catalog available at https://musicallivesonscreen.it/ (Dipartimento di Lettere e Culture Moderne); 3) the production of short documentaries on living musicians. The goal of these three complementary actions is to examine the public image of musicians as the result of the interaction between different media and “remediation” strategies. The first section of the project focuses on defining the status of the musical biopic, analyzing its sound elements, the interaction between original and repertory music, as well as strategies of authentication and remediation. The aim is to investigate the musical biopic as an expanded form of biography, exploring the influence of the musical canon on the production of biographical films and, conversely, the influence of cinematic conventions on musical biopics. The second section seeks to update the catalog of musical biopics (on the website musicallivesonscreen.it) produced from the advent of sound in cinema (1927) to the present day, providing detailed film fact sheets that include production data and a brief analysis of the soundtrack. The third section is dedicated to the production of short documentaries on living musicians active in various musical genres. The use of audiovisual media follows an established trend in historical research and will contribute to the creation of a public and accessible multimedia archive. All research results will be integrated into the website https://musicallivesonscreen.it/.