On the occasion of the 2021–2024 graduation ceremony at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, the newly graduated students addressed Minister Giuli with a letter, which we reproduce here.
Good evening,
We are happy to be here celebrating, together with our families, our teachers, but above all our fellow students, the end of a journey that has been as unique as it has been demanding. However, we would like to use this space not only for words of thanks, but also as a rare and necessary opportunity to share reflections on what has been, concerns about the present and, if possible, visions for the future.
Two years ago, there was a sit-in during which, for the first time in a long while, we tried to take centre stage within our own school. No longer mere users of a service, but members of an institution we look upon with pride and admiration – a benchmark for Italian cinema and beyond.
Almost a year after the end of our academic journey, we return here to collect our diplomas and ask ourselves whether we are finding a Centro Sperimentale in better shape than we left it – and unfortunately, the answer is no. We handed over a school in crisis and now find it even more fragile.
Tuition fees keep rising, scholarships are lower and never guaranteed, and as a result, access is increasingly reserved for the few.
That’s why today, as school leavers, we cannot simply turn a blind eye.
As we enter the world of work, we’ve realised that what happened inside this school bears a worrying resemblance to what’s happening outside.
Outside, just like in here, culture is increasingly being subordinated to profit.
In recent years, small-scale productions have been sacrificed and experimentation sidelined, hindering the emergence of new perspectives.
And this crisis doesn’t affect only cinema.
Theatres, artistic residencies, and local companies are among the first to pay the price of a policy that measures everything in terms of performance.
We live in the paradox of a country that loves to celebrate culture, yet systematically humiliates, underfunds, and destabilises those who build that culture every day.
Let’s say it clearly: this cultural policy has no vision. It has only a budget.
And a budget is not an idea.
To those who look at us from the outside with suspicion — thinking that funds allocated to culture are the privilege of an elite — we say that’s not true.
Yes, there is indeed an elite within this industry that must be dismantled, but there are also many workers.
We are workers. Even when we’re paid only in visibility.
Even when we’re celebrated as “promising young talents”, despite being thirty years old with a CV full of odd jobs, underpaid collaborations, and roles that don’t exist in contracts but fill our days – and often our nights.
We are part of the invisible workforce that keeps the system running.
The role of institutions should not be to reward those who already have, but rather to support those who are just starting out — to guarantee space, mistakes, and opportunities.
Because culture is not a market — it is an intangible good.
The value of art lies in its ability to transform us, to make us think together, and to inhabit the world differently. That is why we believe that fleeting profit should not be favoured over a work that endures over time.
“To judge a film by its box office is like judging a church by the number of candles sold.”
And if today, in this conversation, we have to take on the role of idealists, we accept it. But we are not naive.
We want to build a different industry—one that includes rather than excludes, and that promotes diversity instead of always rewarding the same people.
And we address you directly, Minister Giuli, with respect and candour:
Your presence today only makes sense if you truly listen to us.
We are not seeking a publicity stunt, nor symbolic recognition.
We want a genuine discussion, one that is not played out at the expense of those most vulnerable in the system.
We are not asking for protection. We ask for listening, space, clear rules, and opportunities. We ask that culture be not only memory, but also the future.
We are artists. But also craftsmen.
We are dreamers. But also workers.
And we still stubbornly believe that culture is a common good.
Thank you
