Dio segnò i confini d'Italia
(1918) Production: Sezione Cinematografica del Regio Esercito Italiano –
Lenght: 540m –
Intertitles: Italian –
The film:
War documentary produced by the Sezione Cinematografica del Regio Esercito [Royal Italian Army Film Department]. The film was very probably subjected to cuts and re-editing over the years, as the non progressive numbering of the intertitles attests. The film starts with images of a map of Europe on fire and proceeds to show Italian Army equipment. The footage shows trenches taken from the Austrians at the “Ansa di Lenzon” on the Piave, dilapidated houses in the zone occupied previously with patriotic slogans on listing walls, caved-in bridges, prisoners. There are takes of war scenes, infantry in action on the Montello hills and the fallen. For Christmas, the Duke of Aosta hands out gifts to the soldiers and awards medals to valour; among the recipients are his son, the Duke of the Puglie and some English officers. The images of Udine following liberation on 4 November 1918 depict ruin and devastation; however, on 5 November, in the course of a public ceremony, the city authorities free two pigeons to send news of the liberation to the troops fighting in the mountains.
The digital process:
Thedigitalization of Dio segnò i confini d’Italia was carried out by Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino from a 2K scan of a 540 meter-long duplicate negative preserved by the Museo. The digitized film was processed with digital restoration tools to stabilize images and reduce major flaws.
All works were carried out in 2015 at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Bologna.
This digital process was part of a project to safeguard and valorize the World War I films conserved by the Film Archive of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino and promoted on the occasion of the exhibition, at the Mole Antonelliana, AL FRONTE. Cineoperatori e fotografi raccontano la Grande Guerra [ON THE FRONT. Cameramen and photographers recount the Great War] (curated by Roberta Basano and Sarah Pesenti Campagnoni - Mole Antonelliana, January 29 – May 17 - 2015).
