I televisionari (2010)

'I televisionari' [literally 'the Televisionairies'] delves back into the extraordinary history of the birth of 'free TV' in Italy, i.e. the first ever private TV stations. They challenged the monopolistic grip that the state has had on broadcasting since 1954. We have put together the final pieces of a complex but exciting jigsaw puzzle. This was a magnificent period that is now in jeopardy. Year after year we see it inexorably wiped from our memories as its leading protagonists disappear. We will hear these protagonists tell the fascinating stories that accompanied this incredible journey. This documentary will try to give viewers a vivid picture of this colourful reality to give them back a taste of that bygone era. To do that, we will try to recover films, photographs and equipment used at that time and then abandoned on some dusty shelf or jealously kept by some keen aficionado. We will rediscover those unlikely places where these first TV programmes were made, such as living rooms, wine cellars and garages. These were the places where sheer enthusiasm, which has long since disappeared, made up for the lack of money.