“12 registi per 12 città”. Italia ’90 al cinema

In  1989,  one  year  before  the  Italia  ’90  World  Cup,  the  Ministry  of  Tourism  and  En-tertainment  funded  the  film  project  “12  registi  for  12  città” with  the  aim  of  promoting the   sporting   event   through   an   artistic   narrative   that   would   bring   together   cinema   and urban   history.   Twelve   leading   Italian   directors   (Antonioni,   Bernardo   and   Giuseppe Bertolucci,   Bolognini,   Lattuada,   Lizzani,   Monicelli,   Olmi,   Pontecorvo,   Rosi,   Soldati, Wertmüller,  Zeffirelli)  were  tasked  with  writing  and  shooting  a  short  film  lasting  ap-proximately   fifteen   minutes   on   each   of   the   twelve   host   cities   of   the   tournament.   The 1989   film   project   proves   fundamental   for   the   analysis   of   many   of   the   architectural works  built  for  the  World  Cup  –  not  only  stadiums,  but  also  large-­scale  infrastructures (railway   stations,   roads,   parking   areas,   facilities   designed   to   reshape   entire   urban   ar-eas)   –   which   in   the   short   films   appear   either   still   under   construction   or   even   not   yet present  in  the  urban  fabric.  These  works  thus  represent  a  highly  valuable  body  of  study materials  that  offer  multiple  layers  of  interpretation.  They  are  not  only  useful  for  gain-ing   deeper   insight   into   the   construction   processes   of   certain   architectural   structures, but  can  also  be  considered  as  an  atlas:  a  topographic  map  of  the  places  affected  by  the World   Cup   interventions,   alongside   the   map   of   a   sort   of   “cinema-­city”   portrayed through   the   gaze   of   the   filmmakers.   Cinema,   with   its   power   to   engage   emotions   and senses,  provides  scholars  of  architectural  and  urban  history  with  new  avenues  of  inves-tigation,   complementing   and   enriching   the   perspectives   obtainable   from   traditional documentary  sources  such  as  technical  drawings  or  photographs.