Four previously unpublished letters preserved in the Historical Archives of Contemporary Arts (ASAC) of the Venice Biennale reveal a little-known chapter in the relationship between the University of Pisa and the Venice International Film Festival during the 1960s. The correspondence, dated August 1963, was discovered and studied by Giacomo Rosini, Adjunct Professor of Business Administration at the University of Pisa, as part of his research into the artistic and managerial history of the Venice Biennale. His work has been published in the volume Biennale College ASAC – “Scrivere di Cinema”, dedicated to the history of the Venice International Film Festival.
The four letters document the exchange between Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti, the art historian and critic who at the time directed the Institute of Art History at the University of Pisa, and Luigi Chiarini, Director of the Venice International Film Festival and, from 1961, holder of the Chair of Film History and Criticism at the University of Pisa. Their correspondence reveals a shared commitment to promoting cinema as an art form and extending the Festival’s cultural activities beyond Venice.
The letters also reveal plans to bring some of the Biennale’s retrospectives to Tuscany with the aim of promoting film culture across the region. Among the initiatives discussed was a retrospective devoted to Soviet cinema, which was subsequently presented as part of the Festival dei Popoli in Florence a few months later.
“The correspondence from August 1963 documents Ragghianti’s and Chiarini’s attempt to extend the cultural reach of the Venice International Film Festival and promote the dissemination of film culture,” explains Giacomo Rosini. “The collaboration that developed at the University of Pisa contributed to the planning of initiatives aimed at audiences across Tuscany, particularly in Pisa and Florence.”
The letters also offer a glimpse into the cinematic landscape of the period. In one of them, Ragghianti asks Chiarini to give “favourable consideration” to Storie sulla sabbia (Stories on the Sand), the debut film by Riccardo Fellini, brother of Federico Fellini and an actor in I vitelloni. The film was subsequently selected for the First Feature Competition of the 1963 Venice International Film Festival, dedicated to debut directors.
The correspondence forms part of a particularly significant period in the history of the University of Pisa. It was during those years that Luigi Chiarini established Italy’s first university course in Film History and Criticism. The dialogue between Chiarini and Ragghianti, which also developed within the University’s academic environment, highlights the role played by Pisa in shaping critical reflection on cinema as an art form and in promoting initiatives aimed at fostering film culture.
Giacomo Rosini is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pisa. In 2024–2025, he was an Alfred D. Chandler Travel Research Fellow at Harvard Business School, where he conducted research on the film industry through the Alfred D. Chandler Travel Fellowship. In 2025, he was also selected as a participant in Berlinale Talents by the Berlin International Film Festival, joining the list of young film industry professionals chosen by the festival.
