Documentary

Le città di Olivetti (Olivetti’s City )
by Sandro Pisani

2008/2009

The Adriano Olivetti Foundation sustein the production of this documentary by Sandro Pisani.

Sandro Pisani’s idea is to record a voyage across Italy, tracing the influence of Adriano Olivetti, “town planner” through the experiences of the regular people in the towns he planned. A distinctive characteristic of the documentary is the fact that it is an audio documentary, enhanced by a montage of photographs (Pisani is first and foremost a photographer). The work is carried out on two levels: that of memory, or the past, and that of the present, or what has remained. The former is represented by the search for testimonials by those who lived through that experience, gathered directly through the voices of witnesses. The second level is dedicated to narrating the present day, that which has remained, whether positive or negative, and is entrusted to the eye of the photographer-narrator, who recounts what he sees, guided by what he hears as well. The picture that emerges shows the effects of certain choices and their consequences in the everyday lives of many Italians, even hundreds of kilometers from the company headquarters in Ivrea.