Broadcasting Human–Animal Friendship: RAI Television’s I nostri amici and Early Italian Ecodocumentaries

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article outlines the ambivalent position occupied by documentary cinema in the representation of Italian landscapes, and introduces the role played by television documentaries in popularising nascent environmental discourse in the 1960s. Never fully disentangled from the legacy of the picturesque aesthetic dominating visual representations of Italy since the eighteenth century, and often constrained by the limitations of institutional sponsorship, film documentaries provided both the mainstream and alternative discourses on the country’s modernisation and environmental health. Multi-episode inchieste produced by RAI television in the 1960s renovated the documentary form and contributed to the nation-building discourse that was central to the public television mission, but also provided a space for reflection on the downside of modernisation. The case study focuses on the series I nostri amici: Inchiesta sulla fauna in Italia (Palombelli, Prola, Prosperi 1963). Reconciling the timeless notion of Italy’s sacred beauty and modern utilitarian ideas about natural resources, this documentary encourages viewers to enjoy nature in new ways. Salvaging endangered ecosystems from oblivion, denouncing the most destructive practices, and showing humane ways to relate to animals, I nostri amici educates viewers to an environmentally conscious appreciation of Italian landscapes.