Micro Salon Italia 2016

The fourth edition of Micro Salon Italia was an absolute success – simply by evaluating it from the point of view of the number of attendees, who packed the house on Saturday from morning to close. The quality of the show displayed by the exhibitors was impressive. It was possible to experiment in loco with all the state-of-the art technology. There was a great effort put in by the companies to display their best. Russian arms, camera trucks, cranes were widely presented right at the entrance, with LED lighting, cameras, lenses, rigs, soft boxes and the whole lot needed for a shoot shown inside the Italian event. The AIC, its president Daniele Nannuzzi, and his team lead by Simone must be proud of the results.

Alongside the show there was a good sense of “comradery” that is always appreciated by the exhibitors who look not only for business opportunities but who are also always willing to make new acquaintances and distribute business cards with great pride in their equipment and company that they working for.

The Micro Salon Italia is, at the moment, the great yearly-event of the AIC. After financial collapse, following from an internal robbery, the Italian society is now recovering from the ashes and is now getting slowly back on track. It is not only that the society is now breathing better economically but also that it is now back in a good spirits and willing to open its doors wider than ever to new members and to promote even more the art of cinematography. Authorship rights are the main goal of the society as they are indeed of IMAGO too.

The presentation of IMAGO to Italian cinematographers, and aspiring DPs, was a key aspect at the show. Luciano Tovoli AIC presented, to a packed audience in the huge room, the historical grounds of the creation of IMAGO, and this was followed by the president Paul René Roestad FNF with a compilation of the activities of the federation. Tony Costa AIC presented the website and Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC closed the panel by presenting and justifying the reasons that cinematographers to deserve to be recognised as a co-authors of films.

The Micro Salon was held this year for the first time at the premises of the film school (Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia), not far from the legendary Cinecittá Studios. The location is diverse, which permits easy visits to all booths in different environments, giving a good contrast from area to area. Outside, and particularly on Saturday, the sun was shining beautifully, giving a nice impression of the arrival of springtime.

In the school, displayed on the walls of the corridors, were a number of B&W pictures taken during the great period of Italian cinema. In the centre where there is a well and a garden there was an exhibition about Pier Paolo Passolini behind the stage.

Overall, this was a great success for those who made the effort to attend the show. We did immensely!

Report by Tony Costa AIC / IMAGO