In terms of methodology, a plurality of approaches has been adopted. While on the one hand, archival research proved fundamental, on the other, oral history has made it possible to fill the gaps created by the paucity of documentation that often afflicts the memory of women’s work. The availability of archival sources permitted investigation of the roles of women who carried out very varied activities, principally the production manager Mara Blasetti, the photojournalist and documentary maker Cecilia Mangini and the screenwriter Suso Cecchi d’Amico. In parallel, other archives were explored including those of Anna Gruber, assistant director and script supervisor, Isa Bartalini, assistant and casting director, and Vania Protti Traxler, founder, together with her husband, of the distribution company Academy Pictures.

The archives of film personalities like Alessandro Blasetti and Vittorio De Sica proved extremely useful, as did the institutional resources held at the Archivio Centrale dello Stato and the Chamber of Commerce in Rome. Iconographic sources and collections of press reviews provided further material for investigation.

The aim of the project is to create new resources for the use of scholars interested in the history of the Italian film industry, favouring a gendered approach, with the intention of stimulating alternative narratives in this field.

The research focused on studying and making available online the archives of three key historical figures: Mara Blasetti, Cecilia Mangini and Suso Cecchi d’Amico. Thirty-eight female professionals born between the 1930s and the 1990s were interviewed who, by recounting their varied activities in the production chain of yesterday and today, have made an important contribution to the redefinition of film historiography. 
The video testimonies published to date broaden the field of investigation, registering the plurality of voices of a professional female universe that – in the face of limitations and prejudices – has resisted, thanks to its ability to offer original and indispensable contributions.
In addition, to give visibility to the historical personalities mentioned above, and a number of other figures, an exhibition dedicated to the crucial nature of their contribution has been created.

If, on the one hand, the tools provided on this website have been designed primarily for the scientific community, on the other hand, the form adopted to convey these contents has been developed in the belief that cinema in all its declinations is a transversal and inclusive cultural expression, which goes beyond borders and genres. Even non-specialist users who are passionate about cinema will be able to find in it interesting materials and stimuli.