Borsalino was one of the very first Italian companies to use cinema as a means of “réclame”. In fact, Borsalino developed a multi-faceted media strategy for its hat business. Produced by Milano films, the film was shot in 1912 and distributed on December 1, 1913. The film opens dramatically with a shipwreck, and the only survivor finds refuge on a desert island. Rabbit fur gives him the idea of a new fabric with great potential (the Zenit hat was in fact made with felted rabbit fur). The film then jumps to the Borsalino factory where we see every phase of hat production and a finale featuring the activities of the employees after work.

This version is the fruit of two prints, one found at the Cineteca Nazionale and the other kept at the Fondazione Micheletti in Brescia. This version with Spanish and English intertitles was created to market Borsalino abroad. The restoration took place at the Eurolab laboratories up to saving it in 2K format on a hard disk as a starting point for putting it back onto film.

Film in collaboration with Fondazione Borsalino