The 2026 edition of “Cinema & Storia” has drawn to a close. This free training and professional development course for secondary school teachers, titled “Cittadine! Pagine di storia delle donne, una storia di tutti” – Pages of Women’s History, a History for Everyone – brought together 260 teachers from across Italy this year. Curated by the Pirelli Foundation and Fondazione ISEC, and now in its fourteenth edition, the programme intersperses historical topics with film screenings. These are presented and commented on by Cineteca di Bologna in six online sessions, and participants are given a guided tour of the Pirelli Foundation.
From the shifting boundary between private and public life to the stories of women entrepreneurs and key figures in twentieth-century publishing, to the hard-won achievement of women’s suffrage and the experience of war and the Resistance, “Cittadine!” has gone beyond themes of women’s history for it has also shone a light on a vital chapter of Italy’s national identity.
Each session opened with “Tales from the Archive,” a brief reflection on the historical treasures safeguarded by the Pirelli Foundation. Through a selection of documents linked to this year’s theme – photographs, company publications from Pirelli magazine to Fatti e Notizie, sketches, and advertising materials – a corporate narrative emerged that is, ultimately, also a story of women.
“Private and Public Life: Domestic Work, Consumption, Technologies” marked the opening stage of the course. It was led by the design historian Raimonda Riccini, who traced how, in the twentieth century, the home, the family, and women themselves were at the centre of a quiet yet profound revolution, with new rights and evolving customs. The session was accompanied by a screening of Nilde Iotti – Il tempo delle donne by Peter Marcias, a documentary that reconstructs the life of a woman who shattered taboos and helped drive the emancipation of Italian civil society.
Adriana Castagnoli – a historian, economist, and editorialist for Il Sole 24 Ore – retraced the evolution of female entrepreneurship in the modern era. She charted a path from the nineteenth century to the present day, highlighting moments of rupture and transformation in Italy and abroad. Among the figures discussed was Alice Guy, the focus of a selection of short films curated by the Cineteca di Bologna. A true pioneer of cinema – as a producer, entrepreneur, and director of La Fée aux choux (1896) – she made history by creating the first fictional film.
The presence of women in the world of books and reading – in all the many professional roles they have occupied, often behind the scenes – was the main theme of the lecture by Irene Piazzoni, professor of Contemporary History at the University of Milan. Translators, collaborators, consultants, editors, publishers, and authors all came into focus. Among them was Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post, whose story is told in the film The Post. The first woman to lead such a prestigious newspaper, in 1971 she chose to publish the vast national scandal surrounding the Vietnam War, risking both her company and her freedom.
The landmark date of 2 June 1946 was examined in a talk by Patrizia Gabrielli, professor of Contemporary History and Gender History. It marked the culmination of women’s suffrage and the birth of a democratic vision of citizenship based on participation, responsibility, and the consolidation of political and social rights. The session concluded with a screening of Divorce Italian Style, a biting critique of honour killings – then tolerated under Italian law – starring Marcello Mastroianni, in a film that won the Oscar for Best Screenplay.
The fifth session, led by Dianella Gagliani, associate professor of Contemporary History at the University of Bologna, examined how war – despite its immense suffering – also became a moment of awakening for many women, offering them a chance to claim new rights. Also the Italian Resistance emerged as a crucial step towards a renewed form of citizenship for women. The elegant black-and-white animation of Persepolis led the participants through the life of Marjane Satrapi: twenty years of history seen through the eyes of a young Iranian girl growing up, discovering her family’s past, witnessing revolution and then a war, suffering and, ultimately, leaving her country.
The participants were then invited to explore the profound transformations in industrial labour over time through a visit to the Pirelli Foundation. From the emergence of women in the late nineteenth century to the First World War – when the number of women in the workforce rose sharply – through to the post-war years, when factory work increasingly became a pathway to independence and emancipation for many young women.
The course ended with a session entitled “From Screen to History: Women in Cinema”, led by Anna Masecchia, associate professor of Cinema, Photography, Radio, Television and Digital Media at the University of Florence, and Simone Fratini of Schermi e Lavagne, the educational department of the Cineteca di Bologna. During this final stage, it was explained how, right from the outset, cinema played a vital role in shaping the social imagination around women, depicting the roles, tensions, and transformations across the twentieth century. By revisiting iconic characters and a wide range of cinematic styles, the session brought into focus the enduring tension between private and public life, between social expectations and personal desires.
The 2026 edition of “Cinema & Storia” has drawn to a close. This free training and professional development course for secondary school teachers, titled “Cittadine! Pagine di storia delle donne, una storia di tutti” – Pages of Women’s History, a History for Everyone – brought together 260 teachers from across Italy this year. Curated by the Pirelli Foundation and Fondazione ISEC, and now in its fourteenth edition, the programme intersperses historical topics with film screenings. These are presented and commented on by Cineteca di Bologna in six online sessions, and participants are given a guided tour of the Pirelli Foundation.
From the shifting boundary between private and public life to the stories of women entrepreneurs and key figures in twentieth-century publishing, to the hard-won achievement of women’s suffrage and the experience of war and the Resistance, “Cittadine!” has gone beyond themes of women’s history for it has also shone a light on a vital chapter of Italy’s national identity.
Each session opened with “Tales from the Archive,” a brief reflection on the historical treasures safeguarded by the Pirelli Foundation. Through a selection of documents linked to this year’s theme – photographs, company publications from Pirelli magazine to Fatti e Notizie, sketches, and advertising materials – a corporate narrative emerged that is, ultimately, also a story of women.
“Private and Public Life: Domestic Work, Consumption, Technologies” marked the opening stage of the course. It was led by the design historian Raimonda Riccini, who traced how, in the twentieth century, the home, the family, and women themselves were at the centre of a quiet yet profound revolution, with new rights and evolving customs. The session was accompanied by a screening of Nilde Iotti – Il tempo delle donne by Peter Marcias, a documentary that reconstructs the life of a woman who shattered taboos and helped drive the emancipation of Italian civil society.
Adriana Castagnoli – a historian, economist, and editorialist for Il Sole 24 Ore – retraced the evolution of female entrepreneurship in the modern era. She charted a path from the nineteenth century to the present day, highlighting moments of rupture and transformation in Italy and abroad. Among the figures discussed was Alice Guy, the focus of a selection of short films curated by the Cineteca di Bologna. A true pioneer of cinema – as a producer, entrepreneur, and director of La Fée aux choux (1896) – she made history by creating the first fictional film.
The presence of women in the world of books and reading – in all the many professional roles they have occupied, often behind the scenes – was the main theme of the lecture by Irene Piazzoni, professor of Contemporary History at the University of Milan. Translators, collaborators, consultants, editors, publishers, and authors all came into focus. Among them was Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post, whose story is told in the film The Post. The first woman to lead such a prestigious newspaper, in 1971 she chose to publish the vast national scandal surrounding the Vietnam War, risking both her company and her freedom.
The landmark date of 2 June 1946 was examined in a talk by Patrizia Gabrielli, professor of Contemporary History and Gender History. It marked the culmination of women’s suffrage and the birth of a democratic vision of citizenship based on participation, responsibility, and the consolidation of political and social rights. The session concluded with a screening of Divorce Italian Style, a biting critique of honour killings – then tolerated under Italian law – starring Marcello Mastroianni, in a film that won the Oscar for Best Screenplay.
The fifth session, led by Dianella Gagliani, associate professor of Contemporary History at the University of Bologna, examined how war – despite its immense suffering – also became a moment of awakening for many women, offering them a chance to claim new rights. Also the Italian Resistance emerged as a crucial step towards a renewed form of citizenship for women. The elegant black-and-white animation of Persepolis led the participants through the life of Marjane Satrapi: twenty years of history seen through the eyes of a young Iranian girl growing up, discovering her family’s past, witnessing revolution and then a war, suffering and, ultimately, leaving her country.
The participants were then invited to explore the profound transformations in industrial labour over time through a visit to the Pirelli Foundation. From the emergence of women in the late nineteenth century to the First World War – when the number of women in the workforce rose sharply – through to the post-war years, when factory work increasingly became a pathway to independence and emancipation for many young women.
The course ended with a session entitled “From Screen to History: Women in Cinema”, led by Anna Masecchia, associate professor of Cinema, Photography, Radio, Television and Digital Media at the University of Florence, and Simone Fratini of Schermi e Lavagne, the educational department of the Cineteca di Bologna. During this final stage, it was explained how, right from the outset, cinema played a vital role in shaping the social imagination around women, depicting the roles, tensions, and transformations across the twentieth century. By revisiting iconic characters and a wide range of cinematic styles, the session brought into focus the enduring tension between private and public life, between social expectations and personal desires.
