Behind the Scenes of Italian Cinema
The following text is a shortened and stylistically adapted summary of an extensive interview that appeared in Liane Ströbel’s article “Zwischen Nostalgie und Neupositionierung: Chiara Sbarigia und der Wandel der italienischen Audiovisionslandschaft (Between Nostalgia and Repositioning: Chiara Sbarigia and the Transformation of the Italian Audiovisual Landscape),” published in Zibaldone. Zeitschrift für italienische Kultur der Gegenwart (Journal for Contemporary Italian Culture), issue 80, 2026, pages 137–141.
When people talk about Italian cinema, names like Fellini, Visconti, and Rossellini come up immediately, inextricably linked to the myth of Cinecittà and unforgettable images of neorealism. It is an impressive legacy, yet one that for decades coexisted with institutional inertia, a sluggish digital transition, and the perpetual tension between tradition and modernity. To understand why the industry has gained such international visibility in recent years, you have to look behind the scenes. This is where Chiara Sbarigia comes in.
Sbarigia, who studied literature at La Sapienza, joined what was then APT (now APA: Associazione Produttori Audiovisivi) in 1994. For three decades, she professionalized its structures, built robust networks, and solidified the relationship between producers and policymakers. She served as general manager for twenty years before becoming president in 2023. Her work went far beyond administration: she bridged economic strategy with cultural sensitivity, shaping the narrative of what Italian audiovisual media can be in the 21st century.
Her appointment in 2021 as president of Cinecittà S.p.A. was much more than a routine administrative shift. The institution is a unique blend of myth and infrastructure, memory and challenge. Under her leadership, Cinecittà stopped looking backward: she internationalized operations, strengthened heritage preservation, and opened up spaces for episodic production. Sbarigia sought to balance heritage with institutional transformation, carefully avoiding any “all-or-nothing” mentality.
On June 30, 2025, she stepped down from that post, but not into retirement. Her energy is now focused on the Fondazione Maximo, conceived as a platform for the future. The Premio Maximo, tied to the Italian Global Series Festival in Riccione, was established as the counterpart to the historic David di Donatello. While the David honors cinema, the Maximo grants television series the symbolic and industrial weight they deserve today. For Sbarigia, an award isn’t just a trophy; it’s an instrument of cultural policy. Making series visible fundamentally changes production realities.
Her approach to internationalization isn’t about watering down local flavor, it’s about amplifying it. Titles like My Brilliant Friend, Inspector Montalbano, Medici, and the new Sandokan (2025) prove that local authenticity is the ultimate export asset. “Authenticity is the real currency on the international market,” she emphasizes. That is why she champions collaborations with showrunners and foreign co-producers: to expand reach without ever losing identity.
Another core priority is supporting young talent. Together with the Ministry of Culture, she initiated the Youth Ambassadors program, which brings emerging filmmakers to Berlin, Cannes, and Venice. It’s not just about networking; it’s about fostering cultural dialogue and renewing European alliances. Even when navigating debates around artificial intelligence, she remains pragmatic: neither blindly enthusiastic nor apocalyptically dismissive, she focuses on the constant question of how AI can be used to enhance human creativity rather than replace it.
What defines Sbarigia is her discretion. She doesn’t chase the limelight, yet she leaves a lasting mark: she thinks more like a cultural strategist than a bureaucrat. Where others see threats, she sees opportunity. She builds bridges, from the past to the present, from the national to the European, and from the analog to the digital.
Bridging Heritage and Future: Chiara Sbarigia’s Strategic Vision for European Audiovisual Media.
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