Superoptimists – Regional archive of family films
The heritage of family films of Superoptimists has been the subject of the census project promoted by ICAR-Istituto Centrale per gli Archivi since 2017 with the aim of starting a mapping of the archival realities dealing with the preservation of family films on the whole Italian territory. The project envisaged a general description of the heritage of the archives involved and the enhancement of some of the film fonds preserved, by means of in-depth archival work and multimedia editing to make some collections of family films accessible on the Portale Antenati, in the section Family Histories.
The editing and video edition were carried out with the Klynt software, a platform that allows the user to consult the film collections in an innovative and interactive way, following their chronological sequence or building alternative paths. The video edition is made up of a selection of the films that make up the film collection, accompanied by introductory signs and explanatory captions that allow the images to be contextualised, also providing precise information on the people, places and situations represented, and which are the result of an archival process of research, cataloguing and documentation.
(Edited by Karianne Fiorini)
Superoptimists – Regional archive of family films
Superottimisti is a memory recovery project through the collection of amateur family films in 8mm, super8, 9.5mm Pathé Baby and 16mm formats, their subsequent digitisation, archiving and distribution. The need to set up an archive of family films stems from the recognition of the historical and social value of the images contained in this type of material and the urgent need to safeguard and preserve it, given the natural deterioration of the media. Superottimisti is the regional family film archive of Piedmont and was founded in Turin in 2007 as part of the Documentary in Europe Association. In 2015 the project and the archive were managed by AMNC – Associazione Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino, with the aim of relaunching its activities on the local and regional territory, involving social, cultural and production realities. From 2020, Superoptimists becomes an independent APS association focused on the digitisation, archiving and valorisation of the preserved family film heritage. The collection projects carried out in the area allow whole communities to get involved and make them reflect on their recent past and their social experience. The archive in particular is characterised by its work on the valorisation of materials, carrying out cultural projects and developing creative products with authors and production companies.
The preserved heritage
The archive consists of over 3,000 reels in the reduced 8mm, super8, 9.5mm Pathé Baby and 16mm formats. The digitised film material amounts to about 600 hours and is systematised and organised for quick searching according to archiving standards shared with similar projects nationwide. The original films are kept at the Film Library of the National Cinema Museum – Maria Adriana Prolo Foundation. The collected and catalogued materials are then made available to scholars and enthusiasts, but the Archive also works to enhance the materials by organising events and screenings, collaborating with production companies to make TV programmes, documentaries and films, museum displays, video installations for theatre performances, training projects and film workshops. The images on the reels tell the story of the lives of filmmakers and their families from the late 1920s to the early 1980s, providing us with much food for thought on changing customs, leisure and family life, and collective social phenomena.
The videos
These are the searchable videos of some of the funds preserved at Superoptimists – Regional Archive of Family Films:
Family life and popular traditions – Giorgio Cecchetti Collection
Fausto Moroni, China and Baldissero Torinese – Fausto Moroni Collection
Bruno Gallo, the family, Val di Susa, and travel– Bruno Gallo Collection