Il cinema e le ideologie politiche alla Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica di Venezia.

Abstract

This thesis explores the relationship between political ideologies and cinema in Italy in relation to the Venice Film Festival, from the fascist period to the 1968 contestation. In particular, newspaper and magazine reviews are used to show that the ideologies of Italian political parties and of the Church had an impact on the Italian films shown at the Venice Film Festival and that Italian cinema became viewed as a means to exert one's own ideology onto the masses. The thesis begins with the creation of the Venice Film Festival under the Fascist regime, discussing the ambiguous relationship between State and cinema and the contradictory ideologies that can be seen in the Italian films awarded at the festival. In the post-war period a political and ideological battle between left and centre-right political parties began as they fought for power. The Venice Film Festival can be seen to be a microcosm of this battle and an analysis of the films shown in this period demonstrates that the different political parties, in particular the Italian Communist Party and the Christian Democrats, fought for hegemony over Italian cinema as a means to exert their own ideology. Finally, the thesis discusses the events of 1968 when the social unrest known as the contestation reached the film festival, showing again that the political atmosphere of Italy was reflected at Venice and in Italian cinema. This year the film festival was contested for being undemocratic and politically compromised and immediate reform was demanded, as such the festival as it was known changed forever.