Around 200 film reels, over 8,000 posters (also the result of donations made over the years by Apulian cinemas and SAC), a specialized collection of around 750 sector volumes, and even original screenplays of famous films, 157 scripts of plays theaters, a newspaper library and a film archive with 2,260 cards, a collection of 504 newsreels from 1975 to 1983 and three photo albums. These are some of the precious materials that make up the historical archive of the ABC Cinema in Bari, which will now be able to come back to new life, thanks to a project for the recovery and valorization co-financed, for the amount of 154 thousand euros, by the Ministry of Culture ( which recognized the ABC Film Library as historic), the Puglia Region and the ABC Film Culture Centre.
In the ABC Film Library, which is located in the old Filmeria, adjacent to the current cinema, historical equipment can also be found, such as the cinema projector used for the projection of 35mm films with the Dolby sound system attached, the film winder, the splicer and all technical accessories for projection.
The first audiovisual and archival documentary materials, dating from the early 1900s to 2003, which will be part of the project, have already been sent to Rome. The first intervention on the materials concerns, as explained in a note, “the safety and cataloging of the preserved assets, providing for their suitable location for the conservation and recovery of some more urgent elements to be treated at the time of the intervention and which will then be digitized for enjoyment”.
The Historical Archive of the ABC will be hosted in the spaces of the Bari Cineporto, thanks to the free loan agreement, lasting two years, recently signed by the Apulia Film Commission and ABC – Centro di Cultura Cinematografica srl and will also be made accessible through the organization of events, screenings, conferences, and the start of content sharing with dedicated platforms or through the circuit of arthouse cinemas.
Meanwhile, next Thursday, June 27, at 7:30 p.m., the historic arthouse cinema in Bari will host a first event: during the evening, which is free to enter until all available seats are taken, the public will be able to attend the screening of the first film shown at the ABC Cinema, Quant’è bello lu murire acciso by Ennio Lorenzini, from 1975 (in 1976 the director won a David di Donatello, a Nastro d’Argento and a Globo d’Oro). 10 restored minutes of the film Giovanna d’Arco (1948), which took home three Statuettes, directed by Victor Fleming and starring Ingrid Bergman, will also be shown on film. An exhibition of restored posters will also be set up in the ABC room.
