In “Istruzioni per l’uso. Festival cinematografici, formazione e pratiche educative”, Trieste, 23 January 2024.

This paper represents the initial phase of a project aimed at reconstructing the history of one of Italy’s most prominent (anti)film festivals. In particular, the objective is to analyse the reception of the various editions of the exhibition by critics, as well as the reception of the films, conferences and other activities associated with it. Given the dearth of existing studies on the subject, the volume La mostra internazionale del cinema libero 1960-1980 (edited by Vittorio Boarini and Pietro Bonfiglioli in 1981) represents a notable contribution. However, for the period between the early 1960s and the second half of the 1970s, the various articles published in both specialised and non-specialised magazines constitute the primary source.