Abstract

The COVID pandemic had a huge impact on the Italian film industry. This article aims to provide a critical chronicle of the events that happened from March 2020 to the present, in order to understand and discuss the decisions undertaken by the many stakeholders of the film value chain. In doing so, the article devotes particular attention to film distribution and to the dilemma between waiting to re-open theaters and the direct-to-stream solution. The final section provides suggestions for the post-pandemic period, wishing for greater flexibility in managing film distribution/circulation, and more cooperation between traditional stakeholders and VOD platforms.