“Video games represent a natural extension of the moving image typical of cinema” tell us Domenico De Gaetanodirector of National Cinema Museum of Turin which has just announced the opening of VIDEO GAME ZONE, permanent section dedicated to video games and their relationship with cinema. The area will be co-curated by De Gaetano e Fabio Violaalready co-curator of the exhibition PLAY. Videogames, art and beyond to the palace of Venaria e “guru” of the controversial practice known as gamificationin collaboration with the University of Turin.
VIDEO GAME ZONE, the gaming area of the National Cinema Museum of Turin
“I consider the Cinema Museum as an institution with two souls”explains De Gateano ad Artribune. “On the one hand it is a historical, archaeological museum that exhibits objects that tell stories, from pre-cinema, where we have a unique collection in the world, to the more contemporary cinematographic props with the ‘Movie Icons’ exhibition. On the other hand it is a contemporary art museum which has the task of investigating the ferments of the language of moving images, of studying them and putting them into museums to propose them to the public as experiences”. The VIDEO GAME ZONE exhibition itinerary includes a projection with a montage of films and TV series related to video games and stations and display cases with videos and materials from video games, their marketing and their production. Part of the exhibition will also be visible through the new online platform InTO Cinema. The National Cinema Museum has also started a video game acquisition campaign and above all of objects linked to their creation, objects which in fact have considerable museum value but which are often lost.
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Video games at the National Cinema Museum in Turin
“This permanent exhibition was born from direct negotiations with individual creators, independent teams and large AAA studios who have decided to provide all those creative materials to which it is impossible, or almost impossible, to have access.”De Gaetano tells us. “Preparatory sketches, game design documents, scripts, props, visual references that formed the starting point of games that have reached homes and changed the lives of millions of people around the world will, often for the first time in the world, be visible inside a museum contributing to an unpublished story of the videogame medium. In this first phase the selected titles will not be playable, while some of them will become playable in the future temporary exhibition. And then I would like to organize competitions between gamers using the two large screens in the Temple Hall.”
David Cage’s masterclass at the National Cinema Museum
VIDEO GAME ZONE will be inaugurated on 2nd of July with a masterclasses with free entry (subject to reservation) held by the developer David de Gruttola, aka David Cagewho will then receive the prize Star of the Mole. Cage is co-founder of the Parisian studio QuanticDreamin which he directed cinematic narrative video games such as Heavy Rain (2010) e Detroit: Become Human (2018), both part of the museum’s acquisitions. “Since their debut title Omikron: The Nomad Soul [(1999)] the interconnections with other creative industries are strong, it is no coincidence that the first work presents David Bowie and Iman as characters in the game”, underlines De Gaetano. But Cage is also a very controversial figure, known for statements such as “in my video games all the women are whores” And “at Quantic Dream we don’t play games for chicks”.
The controversies surrounding David Cage
In 2018 Le Monde, Mediapart, CanardPC published coordinated investigations into working conditions at Quantic Dream, with problems ranging from long hours to illegitimate contractual practices, from sexist and racist behavior to the dissemination of 600 offensive photomontages of employees. We ask De Gaetano what message they want to send by choosing Cage for the inauguration of VIDEO GAME ZONE. “We are aware of the criticisms that emerged in 2018 and the debate that arose from them in the international press without leading to a condemnation of the founder who reiterated, on several occasions, his personal extraneousness and an even greater attention to the improvement of quality standards of working culture”. Quantic Dream responded to journalistic investigations by suing Le Monde and Mediapart for defamation. The trials confirmed the correctness of Mediapart’s actions, while Le Monde was in one case found guilty of defamation towards Cage and his co-founder Guillaume de Fondaumière because he refused to reveal his sources and was therefore unable to demonstrate the truthfulness of what is published. We also asked for comment Syndicat des Travailleurs du Jeu Vidéo (STJV)a French union that followed and documented the trials involving Quantic Dream. “STJV is generally opposed to this type of recognition. Once again, a single individual will be rewarded for a work that is collective, erasing who actually carried out that work. Instead of rewarding these ‘personalities’ and promoting the production methods to which they force workers, we should question this way of making video games and promote the well-being of those who develop them”. Last year the Stella della Mole award was given to another very controversial figure: the actor Kevin Spaceyon trial for several sexual crimes. “The Cinema Museum had ‘balls’ [lo disse in italiano] to invite me to receive this award,” commented the actor during the masterclass he held for the occasion.
Matteo Lupetti
cinema.museitorino.it
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