Right from its inception, Italian public television produced documentaries with a pedagogical intent to educate the populace. These early documentaries examined important social issues by comparing rural and industrialized regions of Italy and the phenomenon of emigration. Later documentaries provided geographical descriptions of regions and inquiries into religious, sociological, and folkloric traditions. One such early documentary from 1955 documented a bus trip across Sardinia in which writers interviewed locals, providing a valuable record of a territory that has since changed profoundly. Subsequent documentaries on Sardinia described religious traditions and habits that persisted in inner areas supported by sheep herding. Overall, these historical-geographical documentaries provide a valuable record of regions and ways of life

1. HISTORICAL
GEOGRAPHICAL
DOCUMENTARY IN RAI

History, inquiries, images of a country
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.

2. Documentary as a source of
knowledge
Right from the start public television began
broadcasting documentaries with a
pedagogical intent, in a developing country
but with a high rate of illiteracy. In the
following years RAI produced documentaries
divided in episodes which examined in depth
important social themes, such as the
contrasts between the rural world of the
South and the industrialized world of
Northern Italy, the phenomenon of
emigration, and also the description of old
costumes and traditions which were
disappearing. Whatever the method of
making the documentary (didactic, social,
propagandistic, informative), the importance
for researchers of the images, interviews,
landscapes, visual and sound documentation
of ancient traditions remains unchanged.
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.

3. Geographical description as
a starting point for the
survey on the territory

In most cases the documentaries, after a
brief description of the actual territory,
become an inquiry about religious,
sociologic and folkloric traditions, like in
«Ritratti di città».
During the 50s and 60s those
documentaries were also the most
effective method to give to the audience
positive news about decisions of
government in charge. In any case, the
images are a precious testimony of an
Italy that no longer exists, even when the
audio commentary is a bit too emphatic.
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.

4. Sardinia in 1955

One of the oldest documents in our archive is
Travel in Sardinia. In this documentary a group
of famous Italian writers and intellectuals,
including the poets Giuseppe Ungaretti, Carlo
Bo, Giorgio Caproni and others, made a bus
trip across the island, realizing interviews with
the locals, who were often uncomfortable in
front of the cameras. In addition to the high
cultural level content, even if realized in a
simple way with informative intent, the images
are a precious testimony of a territory that
today has profoundly changed.
VIAGGIO IN SARDEGNA
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.

5. Sardinia in 1969: the research
continues
Sardinia is the subject of the production of
various documentaries that describe or
analyze places, habits, religious traditions
that remain stubbornly active, especially in
the inner parts of the island, supported
mainly by sheep farming. In Dentro la
Sardegna the autor Giuseppe Lisi analyzes
Ollollai’s pastoral community. Ollollai is a
small village in the centre of Sardinia. In
these frames we can see the preparation of
the shepherd's saddlebag. The man is
leaving his home for the long period of the
pasture, that will keep him away from home,
from his mother and wife.
http://www.teche.rai.it/1969/02/dentro-la-
sardegna-uninchiesta-i-pastori-della-
comunita-di-ollolai/
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.

6. A special bread
The shepherd's saddlebag is a recurring
theme. In the episode dedicated to
Sardinia of the documentary by Guido
Piovene "QUESTA NOSTRA ITALIA",
shepherds show the Carasau bread,
special biscuit bread prepared by women
in order to last long periods. The bread is
put into the oven and when it swells it is
promptly removed from it and divided in
two parts. Both parts are then put back
into the oven to be toasted again.
QUESTA NOSTRA ITALIA
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.

7. Journey to South of Italy
One important example of historical
geographical documentary is the series
Viaggio nel Sud, aired in the 50s, in which
the author Virgilio Sabel makes a long,
investigative journey to places, traditions
and daily life in southern Italy, often in
contrast with the North of Italy, which was
rapidly heading towards a definitive
industrial and economic expansion.
But yet, in the town of Battipaglia there
was already a flourishing craft industry of
tobacco.
VIAGGIO NEL SUD BATTIPAGLIA
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.

8. Ancient tecnique of fishing in
Calabria
In this documentary about Calabria in
1961 we find an important testimony of
the ancient technique of fishing the
swordfish.
CALABRIA D'OGGI
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.

9. Elderly artisans talk about
their work in Piedmont
In relatively more recent years we can
find extremely interesting documents,
such as the documentary cycle on the
Canavese region, in Piedmont,
Ethnological researchs about Canavese,
1980. The documentary, in several
episodes, was realized by self taught
ethomusicologist Amerigo Vigliermo. In
this sequences Vigliermo interviews some
old artisans about their work, and we can
see how artisan broom is made.
http://www.teche.rai.it/1980/05/la-ricerca-
etnologica-nel-canavese-gli-antichi-
mestieri-artigianali/
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.

10. Religious traditions in a
Museum: the Santa Rosalia’s
procession
There are documentaries realized in an
unusual way.
In this one about Pitré Museum of
popular traditions ,1983, sequences about
traditional objects and artifacts are
combined with related sequences taken
from everyday life, such as the slaughter
of tuna and the procession of Santa
Rosalia in Caltanissetta.
MUSEO PITRE' E SANTA ROSALIA
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.

11. Many Thanks
Ettore Pacetti ettore.pacetti@rai.it
Daniela Floris daniela.floris@rai.it
FIAT IFTA World Conference 2019 Dubrovnik. Historical-geographical Documentary at Italian TV by Daniela Floris.