Cross-Fading Archives, Resurfacing Infrastructures: The Cinema Historian as Accidental Archivist and Activist

A recent Italian research project—“MMC49’76: Modes, Memories and Cultures of Film Production in Italy” (1949–1976)[1]—allocated its whole first phase to taking a census of, collecting, and organizing archival sources (Comand and Venturini 2021a). Looking back at this first research stage, the aim of this article is to reflect on the relationships between historical archival incidents or “accidents,” research infrastructures, and the role of the different archival, scientific, and corporate communities at stake. I will describe how we approached these fonds, mixing cinema history, accidental archivism, and new ways of thinking to reshape the future of historical research through its infrastructures.