From the Small Screen to the Big Screen: The Super8's Distribution of Sandokan TV series

‘From the small screen to the big screen’ proclaims the advertising text of the Super8’s of a television series distributed in 1979 by the German company Piccolo Film, emphasizing the novelty and the potential of format. The film is Sandokan, an Italian miniseries from 1976 directed by Sergio Solli...

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Main Author: Nicole Braida
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Milano University Press 2025-02-01
Series:Cinéma & Cie
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Online Access:https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/cinemaetcie/article/view/19977
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author Nicole Braida
author_facet Nicole Braida
author_sort Nicole Braida
collection DOAJ
description ‘From the small screen to the big screen’ proclaims the advertising text of the Super8’s of a television series distributed in 1979 by the German company Piccolo Film, emphasizing the novelty and the potential of format. The film is Sandokan, an Italian miniseries from 1976 directed by Sergio Sollima and starring the Indian actor Kabir Bedi as the exotic protagonist of Salgari’s famous adventure. This contribution maps the European and global success of the series and its media format’s history, focusing in particular on Super8’s distribution. It retraces Super8 ‘reduction prints’ in different languages by relying on film catalogues from the seventies and on sources gathered from platforms such as Imdb and Ebay (where collectors trade Super8) and interviews to ex-employees and owners of former Super8’s distribution companies in Italy and Germany. The paper considers the geographical circulation of Sandokan’s Super8 editions to investigate Sandokan’s figure beyond its literary origins. Super8’s history shows an unexplored relation between media broadcasting and past practices of home viewing beyond the theatrical realm. Sandokan’s Super8 circulation can be regarded as part of larger phenomenon of consumer culture, where reduction prints become a synecdoche to a larger cultural myth.
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spelling doaj-art-d14f311d205f4882a9daf3de675297892025-02-10T15:42:07ZengMilano University PressCinéma & Cie2036-461X2025-02-01244310.54103/2036-461X/19977From the Small Screen to the Big Screen: The Super8's Distribution of Sandokan TV seriesNicole Braida0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9446-6762Independent Scholar ‘From the small screen to the big screen’ proclaims the advertising text of the Super8’s of a television series distributed in 1979 by the German company Piccolo Film, emphasizing the novelty and the potential of format. The film is Sandokan, an Italian miniseries from 1976 directed by Sergio Sollima and starring the Indian actor Kabir Bedi as the exotic protagonist of Salgari’s famous adventure. This contribution maps the European and global success of the series and its media format’s history, focusing in particular on Super8’s distribution. It retraces Super8 ‘reduction prints’ in different languages by relying on film catalogues from the seventies and on sources gathered from platforms such as Imdb and Ebay (where collectors trade Super8) and interviews to ex-employees and owners of former Super8’s distribution companies in Italy and Germany. The paper considers the geographical circulation of Sandokan’s Super8 editions to investigate Sandokan’s figure beyond its literary origins. Super8’s history shows an unexplored relation between media broadcasting and past practices of home viewing beyond the theatrical realm. Sandokan’s Super8 circulation can be regarded as part of larger phenomenon of consumer culture, where reduction prints become a synecdoche to a larger cultural myth. https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/cinemaetcie/article/view/19977Super8SandokanSergio SollimaReduction printsTv series
spellingShingle Nicole Braida
From the Small Screen to the Big Screen: The Super8's Distribution of Sandokan TV series
Cinéma & Cie
Super8
Sandokan
Sergio Sollima
Reduction prints
Tv series
title From the Small Screen to the Big Screen: The Super8's Distribution of Sandokan TV series
title_full From the Small Screen to the Big Screen: The Super8's Distribution of Sandokan TV series
title_fullStr From the Small Screen to the Big Screen: The Super8's Distribution of Sandokan TV series
title_full_unstemmed From the Small Screen to the Big Screen: The Super8's Distribution of Sandokan TV series
title_short From the Small Screen to the Big Screen: The Super8's Distribution of Sandokan TV series
title_sort from the small screen to the big screen the super8 s distribution of sandokan tv series
topic Super8
Sandokan
Sergio Sollima
Reduction prints
Tv series
url https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/cinemaetcie/article/view/19977
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