Gianni Amelio. The paper screen

Photostrip stories were an extraordinarily successful phenomenon during the 1950s, an Italian specialty, a piece of popular publishing history that was overlooked for decades, a bizarre combination of cinema and popular literature. The National Cinema Museum dedicates a surprising, vast exhibit to this amazing and fascinating phenomenon, based on the personal collection of Gianni Amelio and other material belonging to the Museum’s collections.
The exhibit is hosted at the State Archives of Torino and features approximately 200 original photostrip stories in a setup with many scenographic elements. There are gigantic reproductions of two photostrip stories and a large spool of film unwinds along the exhibit with images from the photostrip story Senso, based on the film by Luchino Visconti. An interactive station lets visitors make personalized covers of the photostrip stories on view.
Two publications have been prepared by the National Cinema Museum for the exhibit.
“Lo schermo di carta. Storie e storie di cineromanzi,” created by Gianni Amelio and curated by Emiliano Morreale, is the first systematic attempt to reconstruct the history of this editorial phenomenon. The book contains an unpublished text and an interview with Amelio, several in-depth essays by sector scholars, historical-critical files on the main series of photostrip stories and many illustrations.
“Cineromanzi. La collezione del Museo Nazionale del Cinema” is a monograph of critical essays, many illustrations and an analytical catalog of all the publications that can be consulted at the “Mario Gromo” Mediatheque of the National Cinema Museum.

The exhibit is available to be set up in other locations.