L’assetto produttivo del cinema italiano risente di una mutata sensibilità del legislatore e delle istituzioni che sempre più, nell’erogare finanziamenti pubblici, guardano allo sviluppo economico del settore cinematografico e audiovisivo e sempre meno sono interessati ai presupposti ideologici che giustificano tale erogazione. Basato sull’analisi strutturale, morfologica e semantica di un campione rappresentativo di pellicole che hanno goduto del finanziamento, il libro fa il punto sull’assistenza pubblica al nostro cinema descrivendone meccanismi di finanziamento e ricadute economiche e culturali.

Though Italy has a rich history of legislation financing Italian cinema, this has provoked countless controversies and attempts at reform, with the most recent currently underway. The efficiency and effects of public funding today are the object of this volume. It interrogates the modes of direct and indirect support, and reveals the subjects, practices and mechanisms that regulate the movement of public money to producers and filmmakers, as well as the cultural relevance of “State cinema” – more than a third of Italy’s annual production. The chapters offer analyses of contemporary funding practices and their shortcomings and of the central function of Italian TV producers in the co-production and distribution of “cultural interest” films; a social network analysis of the filmmakers involved and their relationships; and a critical catalogue of the symbolic forms in the products that emerge on the market. This is followed by an afterword on the possibilities of the forthcoming law.

Keywords: Cultural Economics, Italian Cinema, Film Industry, Film Policy, Public Funding, Film Broadcasting

JEL Classification: Z11