Il 16 mm: “l'avvenire” o “l’affare più disgraziato” del cinema cattolico? La Chiesa e la circolazione del formato ridotto nell’Italia del dopoguerra

Th e research that has guided my contribution revolves around a query that arises from the observation of an evident peculiarity in the circulation of small-gauge cinema in Italian postwar Catholic fi lm distribution. Looking at the Catholic fi lm distribution practices in Italy, there are at least two aspects that diff erentiate them from the international tendencies of the time. Th e fi rst aspect is that, in the 1950s, the network of parish halls involved in Italian fi lm distribution reaches a numerical consistency and a force of social infi ltration that has no equivalent anywhere else in the world. Th e second aspect – and this is the peculiarity – concerns the relationship between standard format movie theaters and small-gauge movie theaters. In the mid-1950s, when the Italian Catholic fi lm distribution was counting about 5.000 cinemas (peaking at 5.306 in 1958), it was mainly comprised of theaters using 35mm movie fi lm gauges; the ratio with halls using the narrow-gauge format was around 3 to 1. Compared to the international scene, this is an anomalous proportion. Why is it that in Italy, during the peak of the Catholic practices’ infrastructural expansion, 35mm distribution prevailed over 16mm distribution, contrary to the international Catholic 236scene? Can the events and strategic choices that led to this reality be reconstructed? Th e starting point of this research was readings found in several Vatican and Ecclesiastical archives. Th rough their schematization, these documents show how much the query about the use of small-gauge format has been at the top of the Vatican agenda on cinema for at least 15 years