What did we know of Italian silent cinema in 1990? Not much, and not the best. Only in the past 30 years has its varied topography been mapped and revealed: the Diva film, the inexhaustible creativity of great comic actors and actresses, the distinctive style of its major production companies, directors and scenario writers, the prolific producers of non-fiction films, the high-end art directors and more. This revelation would never have happened without the tireless filmographic research of Aldo Bernardini and Vittorio Martinelli, the search for lost films conducted worldwide by FIAF’s Lumière Project and the restoration (in colour) of the Desmet Collection by the then Nederlands Filmmuseum. Because of the urgent need to rediscover, from zero, decades of this film history, the festivals of Bologna and Pordenone have made it a priority to screen Italian silent cinema. We needed to see, to judge. To put it simply, its reputation by hearsay was bad, but it turned out to be great.

The Komiya collection arrived at what is now the NFAJ in Tokyo in 1988 and was preserved at the same moment and by the same procedures as the Desmet Collection in Amsterdam. Both collections are treasure-troves of Italian silent cinema from the golden years 1911-1915, the period of its world-wide success. Since Ambrosio productions are particularly conspicuous and numerous in the Komiya collection (there are more than 20 of them), they deserve their own programme. The selected top five are: a comic sketch set in a snowy landscape, two comedies starring the inimitable Gigetta Morano and Eleuterio Rodolfi, and two unidentified films starring Mary Cléo Tarlarini. We do hope the Bologna audience will solve the mystery of the social drama No. 6383 with Febo Mari, a working-class setting and a sober visual style.

Mariann Lewinsky