Factory and “Cultural Landscape” in Biella’s Industrial Cinema

National Identity and Place Memory in the Films of the Oldest Italian Wool Textile District

Abstract

The industrial cinema of Biella, even in its small production of works, constitutes an interesting case study. On the one hand, for having enriched the history of Italian national cinema – thanks to the rediscovery of works unknown to the general public since they are still preserved in the archives of local industrialists; on the other hand, and above all, it is interesting in the perspective of the study of the transformations of both local landscape (natural transformation) and the related "historical-cultural landscape" (anthropic transformation) produced over time by the contextual and multi-perspective activities. This study outlines a complex psycho-socio-anthropological framework that is reflected in these works, both directly and indirectly, in different ways, starting with the impact of the historical period and the film language of the time.