PROCESSO POLITICO 1971-2024
Around an experimental film by Francesco Leonetti and Arnaldo Pomodoro
October 21, 2025, 4:00 PM
Università IULM, sala dei 146
Film screening of the newly restored edition of Processo politico (1971) and roundtable discussion with Filippo Pennacchio (IULM University), Paolo Giovannetti (IULM University), Guido Formigoni (IULM University), Gianni Canova (IULM University), Federico Giani (Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation), Jennifer Malvezzi (University of Parma), Mirco Santi (Home Movies Foundation – National Family Film Archive)
In 1971, the collective of the journal “Che fare” — directed by Francesco Leonetti and Arnaldo Pomodoro — produced the film Processo politico, with the aim of analyzing the socio-political context of the 1969–1970 biennium in Italy, denouncing the death of the anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli, which occurred at the Milan Police Headquarters during an interrogation following the Piazza Fontana bombing, and documenting the defamation trial brought by Commissioner Luigi Calabresi against the weekly newspaper “Lotta Continua,” which had publicly accused him of being responsible for Pinelli’s death.
Combining genres and temporal perspectives, documentary and fiction, the film reflects the cultural and linguistic experimentalism characteristic of “Che fare”, and stands as a significant example of that “militant cinema” which, between the 1960s and 1970s, became an important tool of counter-information.
In 2024, on the occasion of the centenary of Leonetti’s birth, the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation promoted the restoration and digitization of the film. The work on the original reels, carried out by the Home Movies Foundation – National Family Film Archive, now returns to public view a valuable testimony to that intense season of cultural and political engagement.
On Tuesday, October 21, 2025, at 4:00 PM, the restored edition will be presented at IULM University in a public event organized in collaboration with the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation and the Home Movies Foundation. The screening will be followed by a roundtable discussion to reflect on and discuss the film and the restoration of the original reels. Participants will include: Filippo Pennacchio, Paolo Giovannetti, Guido Formigoni, and Gianni Canova (IULM), Federico Giani (Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation), Jennifer Malvezzi (University of Parma), and Mirco Santi (Home Movies Foundation).
Full ticket €8 / Reduced ticket €5 / Free entry for under 26s, teachers, members of the Foundation, Peggy Guggenheim Collection members, and ICOM members.
Info and access details
When: October 21, 2025, 4:00 PM
Where: Università IULM, Sala dei 146
The event is open to the public. Admission is free until all seats are filled.
Under the patronage of
