The film:

Venanzio Sella (1901-1990), councilor and vice president of Banca Sella, member of the Accademia di Cultura di Torino, scholar and local historian, travels to Japan and China in 1952.  In China, he visits the most important cities during a delicate period of political transition. The signs of that time are visible in the film, which is divided in four parts: In the crowd of the capital city, The convulsions of a population, Memories of an empire, The Great Wall. Sella films the phases of his journey, alternating panoramic views of monuments and landscape beauties to street and daily life scenes and official events. His point of view pays the penalty for the Western prejudices; however in different situations it shows a sincere interest and admiration for the millennial Chinese culture.  

The film restoration:

The preservation of Tra I figli del cielo was carried by the Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino, the Fondazione Sella, EACS (European Association of Chinese Studies) and the Facoltà di Lingue e Letterature Straniere dell’Università di Torino. From a tinted nitrate print that was bought in 2000, that same year a dupe negative and colored positive prints were printed on safety film.

The restoration was carried out at the Bruno Favro laboratory in Torino.

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