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Established figures navigate the turbulent birth and evolution of the Venice Film Festival, shaping global cinema amid political upheaval and the events of World War II.
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Venice Lido, 6 August 1932, 9.15 pm: on the sea terrace of the Grand Hotel Excelsior a projector is switched on. An elegant and wealthy audience witnesses the birth of the Venice Film Festival. It is the outcome of a meeting between three characters: Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, president of the Biennale and an important figure on the Italian industrial scene; Antonio Maraini, secretary of the Biennale and an art connoisseur; Luciano De Feo, president of the Istituto Internazionale per la Cinematografia Educativa, who manages to bring American majors and European productions to the Lido. The Dai nostri inviati project celebrates its third anniversary with a prequel, which aims to talk about the first twenty-one years of the festival from 1932 to 1953. Via a selection from the Luce and Rai archives the documentary examines the historic events of the festival: its "international" birth, the influences of the Fascist regime after the proclamation of the empire, the outbreak of World War II on the closing day of the 1939 festival, the three wartime festivals, Venice as the "cinecittà" of the Repubblica di Salò, the return of peace and democracy with the festival's re-launch in 1946 up until the sensational ex-aequo of six Silver Lions at the fourteenth festival in 1953.
