Conceptualized by Lucia Borgonzoni, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Culture, and organized and produced by Archivio Luce Cinecittà, it will open on July 2 at 6:30 PM as the pre-opening event of the international Italian Global Series festival dedicated to serialized storytelling, which will begin in Rimini on July 3.

This is an exhibition of historical and anthropological importance, highlighting the central role of women in the birth and development of the film industry. The exhibition continues its path of bringing attention to forgotten female figures in film history, restoring visibility to the women who made a decisive contribution to the emergence and development of cinematic language.

After its first stop in Rome and its presentation at the Lincoln Center in New York—dedicated to thirty key figures—the Rimini edition presents a selection from inVisibili, focusing on thirteen protagonists. These are fundamental yet still little-known figures that the public is invited to discover through archival materials, photographs, period magazines, documents, scripts, and rediscovered film reels.

Among the women featured in the exhibition are Elvira Notari, considered the first Italian female film director; Francesca Bertini; Adriana Costamagna; Frieda Klug; Nilde Baracchi; Paola Pezzaglia Greco; Elettra Raggio; Maria Roasio; Daisy Sylvan; Esterina Zuccarone; Elvira Giallanella; Charlotte Reiniger; and Annie Vivanti. These actresses, directors, producers, screenwriters, entrepreneurs, and authors contributed decisively, between the late 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century, to the creation of the film industry and to the development of the language of the seventh art.

“This exhibition was created with the precise aim of giving voice back to the women who, at the dawn of the film industry, accompanied and shaped its path with vision, talent, and determination,” declares Lucia Borgonzoni, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Culture. “For too long, however, the historical narrative of those years has almost erased their presence. The research conducted on period documents prior to the installation made it possible to bring extraordinary stories back to light and to return to collective memory a precious, entirely female chapter of our past, which had remained too long at the margins.”

“inVisible. Women Pioneers of Cinema” is a cultural project that restores due recognition to a generation of women who helped found the language of modern cinema. The selection presented in Rimini offers an intense and representative perspective on this heritage of stories, creating a dialogue between the origins of cinema and new forms of contemporary audiovisual storytelling. Within the context of the Italian Global Series, this initiative further enriches the cultural offering of the Rimini summer and brings these essential pioneers back to the center of Italian and international film history.