The film:

A short documentary produced by Luca Comerio in 1910 and considered lost until now. It is fascinating today to see picturesque footage of Milan shot from the roof of its cathedral, but the main point of interest of the ‘rediscovery’ is the nitrate print’s format, called Duplex, an experimental format patented in 1910 by Carlo Rossi, founder of the production company in Turin, that would later become Itala Film.

The 35mm film was split in two, and the frames were printed horizontally so that they could be read in one direction and, at the end of the reel, again in the opposite direction (like a kind of U-turn).

The film restoration:

The restoration has been carried out by Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino using a 42 meter-long tinted and toned positive nitrate copy printed in the rare Duplex format. The film has been scanned with 4K resolution; the images have been split horizontally and the lower half has been turned around and then added on to form the second half of the film. The reconstructed film has been stabilized, deflickered and digitally restored.

The project has been carried out in 2017 within the L’Immagine Ritrovata film restoration labs in Bologna. 

Link Vimeo Cineteca MNC:

https://vimeo.com/397384772

Frame from the rare Duplex format:

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