Before the Second World War it was rare, if not unusual, that Italian cinema was shot outside of the studios. Immediately following the war, inspired by Neorealism, Italian cinema went into the streets and piazzas and continued to move throughout the entire peninsula. It was a practice used not only in Neorealist films but also in comedies and melodramas, in commercial and independent films. A phenomenon visible in the following decades, a continuous search for new locations for cinema’s stories.
This exhibit is a testimony to the on-location production technique, documenting the chosen regional locales and highlighting the excellent work of set photographers over the past 75 years. Italy in all of its entirety is represented, from the Aosta Valley to Sicily, from small villages to large cities, creating a fascinating album of places and images, sensations and characters.