Home > Photo Archive

Photo Archive

The photographic archive of the CSC – Cineteca Nazionale carries out constant work of preservation and reconstruction of the memory of cinema through photography and has a heritage of over a million images of various formats on different media, from original negatives and photographic prints to images on glass plate.

 

 

Home > Photo Archive

The conservation and enhancement of the heritage are implemented through an adequate archival policy. The photographic archive of the CSC – Cineteca Nazionale proceeds daily to the identification, inventory and ordering of the photographic materials that are conserved in specially air-conditioned environments. The progressive digitization makes possible a rapid consultation and diffusion of the heritage, preventing the alteration of the originals.

 

The collections mostly refer to Italian cinema – even if there is no lack of images of foreign-produced films – moreover they are made up of various acquired funds, that have been donated and deposited over time. The main ones include the Bini collection, acquired directly from the producer Alfredo Bini, mainly composed of stage and set photographs of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s films; the Frontoni collection, acquired jointly with the Museo Nationale del Cinema in Turin, made up of negatives acquired directly by stage photographers; the Civirani collection and the negative  collection purchased by Reporters Associates.

Of particular importance is the collection of images relating to the history of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, which documents the presence of the numerous students who studied there and some of the exercises and essays that they made, as well as the visits and lessons of great authors, the events, everything testifying the changes that have affected the structures and environments of the Centro Sperimentale over time.

The collection of the film archive of the Cineteca Nazionale, one of the richest in the world, consists of about 60,000 titles including feature films and short films
Anselmo Ballester, schizzo preparativo per il film “Bellezze in cielo”, con Rita Hayworth
The posters and advertising materials that accompanied the release in the movie theater are a very useful tool for reconstructing the history of cinema and constitute an important artistic and cultural expression.