Istituto Luce

The Istituto LUCE ( [istiˈtu: to ˈlu: tʃe] ; Italian apronym : L'U nione C inematografica E ducativa : Bildungsfilm-Union; Istituto Luce: "Licht-Anstalt") was an Italian film company that was founded in 1924 during the time of fascism Founded.

While on the one hand it was known as a powerful propaganda instrument of the fascist regime, it is also the world's oldest public organization for the production and distribution of educational and information films .

history

The Società Anonima (joint stock company) LUCE was originally a small private film company founded by the journalist Luciano De Feo to educate the illiterate in Italy with the help of cinema; hence the acronym Luce (light).

In July 1925, the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers sent a circular to the Ministry of the Interior , Education , Economics and Colonial Affairs to use the resources of the LUCE exclusively for educational and propaganda purposes. On November 5, 1925, at the instigation of Benito Mussolini , the previous joint-stock company LUCE was converted into an institution under public law, the Istituto LUCE , by Royal Decree No. 1985 .

According to the statute, the institution's activities were aimed at "spreading popular culture and general education through cinematographic images that are marketed on the most favorable terms and circulated for the purpose of charity and national and patriotic propaganda".

In 1927 the newsreel Giornale Luce was founded. It was compulsory to show them in front of the main film in all Italian cinemas.

Mussolini in 1937 laying the foundation stone for the new headquarters of the institute

In 1935 the Ente nazionale industrie cinematografiche (National Office for the Film Industry, ENIC) was founded with the help of the Istituto LUCE , which was directly involved in film production. One of the first films produced was the monumental film Karthagos Fall (original title: Scipione l'Africano) by Carmine Gallone . In 1936 direct responsibility for the Istituto LUCE passed from the head of government to the Ministry of Popular Culture ; In the same year, the construction of the new headquarters of the institute in the vicinity of the building of the Cinecittà and the emerging Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia began .

Immediately after the end of the war, production was resumed, including for the La Settimana Incom newsreel and for audio recordings for RCA Italiana . Since the post-war period, the Istituto Luce has produced many documentaries and feature films , directed by, among others, Pupi Avati , Marco Bellocchio , Claude Chabrol , Liliana Cavani , Mario Monicelli , Ermanno Olmi and Ettore Scola .

Building complex

Headquarters of the institute from 1937

In 1937 the new headquarters of the Istituto Nazionale Luce opened in Rome's Quadraro district - at today's Piazza di Cinecittà . The original project, designed by the architects Clemente and Andrea Busiri Vici and Rodolfo Rustichelli, was selected by a commission made up of the presidents of the institution as well as representatives of the veterans charity Opera Nazionale Combattenti , the insurance company Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni , the social security institution Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale and others.

The central building has a semi-cylindrical shape and is surrounded by outbuildings. The latter contained dubbing and photo studios; the central building contained technical laboratories, the management offices and film storage facilities. There was also a garage with 50 parking spaces and a leisure building for employees. The ensemble was designed according to a campus concept.

Towards the end of the Second World War, the complex was badly hit by the Allied air raids on Italy . After the war, it was decided to preserve the complex despite its connection with fascism, giving priority to historical claims over political ones. Parts of the outbuildings were demolished and the buildings rebuilt according to new requirements. Today it is the administrative seat of the VII Municipality of Rome.

heritage

In 2009 the company merged with Cinecittà Holding SpA and formed a new joint stock company , Cinecittà Luce SpA , which in 2011 became the Istituto Luce Cinecittà .

In accordance with an agreement with Google , an extensive collection of film recordings (around 30,000) has been available to the public via a YouTube channel since July 2012 . The inventory of newsreels and photos of the Istituto Luce was included in the World Document Heritage in 2013 .

The institute's archive in the form of a media library has moved to Via Tuscolana 1055 in Rome.

Web links

Commons : Istituto Luce - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Giuliano Montaldo: Le stagioni dell'aquila. Storia dell'Istituto LUCE , DVD credits, Istituto Luce 2001, EAN 8014191900072.
^ Giornale Luce , Newsreel No. B1191 of October 27, 1937
↑ Online da oggi 30mila video organizzati in archivi dedicati a cinema, storia e personaggi del secolo scorso . wired.it.
↑ Newsreels and photographs of Istituto Nazionale LUCE , UNESCO Memory of the World, accessed June 25, 2019.

[1] Giuliano Montaldo: Le stagioni dell'aquila. Storia dell'Istituto LUCE , DVD credits, Istituto Luce 2001, EAN 8014191900072.

[2] Giornale Luce , Newsreel No. B1191 of October 27, 1937

[3] Online da oggi 30mila video organizzati in archivi dedicati a cinema, storia e personaggi del secolo scorso . wired.it.

[4] Newsreels and photographs of Istituto Nazionale LUCE , UNESCO Memory of the World, accessed June 25, 2019.