Filoteo Alberini facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Filoteo Alberini
Born	(1865-03-14)14 March 1865 Orte, Lazio Italy
Died	12 April 1937(1937-04-12) (aged 72) Rome, Lazio Italy
Occupation	Inventor director
Years active	1904–1911

Filoteo Alberini was an Italian inventor and movie director. He was one of the very first people to help create cinema as we know it today. He was born on March 14, 1865, and passed away on April 12, 1937.

Filoteo Alberini: A Cinema Pioneer

Early Life and Big Ideas

Filoteo Alberini was born in Orte, a town in Italy. He started working as a handyman in his hometown. After serving in the military as an engineer, he got a job at the Military Geographical Institute in Florence.

In 1894, he was inspired by Thomas Edison's kinetoscope. This was a special machine where you could look through a lens to see short moving pictures. Alberini decided to invent his own machine called the "kinetograph." This device could both record (shoot) and show (project) moving images. The cool thing was that many people could watch the images at the same time!

Alberini actually built his kinetograph one year before the famous Lumière brothers invented their "cinématograph." However, due to some paperwork delays, Alberini's patent (a special document that protects an invention) was officially given to him in 1895. This was the same year the Lumière brothers showed their first film, Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory. Still, many people, including The New York Times, recognize Filoteo Alberini as an important inventor of early motion picture devices.

Bringing Movies to Italy

Filoteo Alberini didn't just invent machines; he also helped bring movies to the public. In 1899, he opened Italy's very first movie theater in Florence. A few years later, in 1904, he opened 'Cinema Moderno' in Rome, which was the first movie theater in that city.

He loved his new invention and this new art form so much that in 1904, Alberini and his friend Dante Santoni started a company. It was first called the Alberini and Santoni First Italian Manufacturing Company. Later, in 1906, it was renamed Cines. This company was based in Rome and became very important in early Italian cinema.

Making Films and New Inventions

In 1905, Filoteo Alberini directed a film called La presa di Roma (The Capture of Rome). This movie was quite long for its time, about 250 meters of film! Most films back then were only about 60 meters long. It cost 500 lire to make.

The film showed seven different scenes from the capture of Rome. This event happened on September 20, 1870, and was the final step in uniting Italy into one country. The scenes included:

• 1. The battle of Ponte Milvio
• 2. The pontifical general Hermann Kanzler saying no to giving up
• 3. The arrival of the Bersaglieri (Italian soldiers)
• 4. The breaking of the wall at Porta Pia
• 5. The Bersaglieri entering the City
• 6. Pope Pius IX giving up, with a white flag shown on St. Peter's Basilica
• 7. The Italian troops celebrating

Alberini also created other cool inventions. One was the 'cinepanoramic,' a special lens system that made the image on screen wider. It was like an early version of today's Vistavision wide-screen movies. He also invented the 'cineclock,' a round film disk with many pictures that could be viewed manually. Another invention was a device for cameras that helped with sequential shooting, which is like taking many pictures quickly in a row. He passed away in Rome.

Selected Filmography

Here are some of the films Filoteo Alberini worked on:

Director

• La Malia dell'oro (1905)
• Un Colloquio disturbato (1905)
• Ginnastica moderna (1905)
• La Presa di Roma (1905)
• Nell'assenza dei padroni (1905)
• Vendetta di suonatori (1906)
• Pierrot innamorato (1906)
• La Merca del bestiame nell'agro romano (1906)
• Concorso ippico (1906)
• La Cascata delle Marmore presso Terni (1906)
• L'Albero di Natale (1906)
• Visita dei reali di Grecia a Roma (1906)
• Inaugurazione dell'Esposizione di Catania (1907)

Cinematographer

• La presa di Roma (1905)
• Tom Butler (1906)
• Pranzo provvidenziale (1906)
• La pila elettrica (1906)
• La gitana (1906)
• Dopo un veglione (1906)
• Cuore e patria (1906)
• La confessione per telefono (1906)
• Nozze tragiche (1906)
• Il dessert di Lulù (1906)
• Il ratto di una sposa in bicicletta (1906)
• Le ore di una mondana (1906)
• Il pompiere di servizio (1906)
• Onore rusticano (1906)
• Otello (1906)
• Triste giovinezza (1907)
• Povera madre! (1909)
• Don Carlos (1909)
• Messalina (1910)
• Dramma alla frontiera (1910)

Producer

• Raffaello e la Fornarina (1907)
• Siegfried (1909)
• Il piccolo garibaldino (1909)
• Parsifal (1909)
• Lo stretto di Messina (1909)
• Brutus (1911)