The forgotten films of Article 28
Giving another chance to forgotten films. With this objective, the Cultural Minister has given Cinecittà Holding the task of managing the rights of films financed by the state from 1966 to 1994 on the basis of Article 28 of Law 1213.
Before the cinema law was modified, Article 28 stipulated that public money could be invested in a film of particular artistic and cultural interest, with a loan of up to 30% of the total budget. Many films, unable to settle the debt as a result of meagre box office earnings or producers’ scarce solvency, were acquired by the state. A catalogue put together by Cinecittà Diritti, the company created specifically to manage these rights and recover resources, lists almost 500 films made with public contributions. These include important films by well-known directors of the last 40 years of Italian cinema: Taviani, Salvatores, Avati, Moretti, Bertolucci, Archibugi, Rubini, Martone, Faenza, Ferrario, Giordana, Maselli, Piccioni, Corsicato.
However, many of these films, at least 80, never made it to cinemas. "The idea for the catalogue,” explained the president of Cinecittà Diritti (“Cinecittà Rights”), Michele Lo Foco, "came precisely from the desire to present this legacy. There are films that have never been shown on television and at least 40-50 can be sold and could find a buyer. Some insolvent producers continued selling their films to television broadcasters, appropriating resources that actually should have gone to the state. By selling the rights and recovering the resources, this cinematic public treasure could bring in €2-3m".
Through an agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Cinecittà, the proceeds will go towards a production, distribution and exhibition fund, as stated by the Director General of Cinema, Gaetano Blandini .
(Translated from Italian)
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