Memorie di Carta – The docufilm that tells the story and soul of the Fabriano Paper Mills
'Memorie di Carta' ('Paper Memories') is the new documentary dedicated to the history of the Fabriano Paper Mills and their community—an intense narrative that weaves together personal memories, living testimonies, and industrial heritage. Premiered at the headquarters of the Fondazione Fedrigoni Fabriano, inside the historic spaces of the Cartiere Miliani, the film received overwhelming acclaim, winning over the audience with the power of its imagery and the depth of its perspective.
Directed by Francesca Muci, written with Federica Tudisco, and produced by Alfa Multimedia (Silvia Innocenzi and Giovanni Saulini), the documentary was created with the support of the Marche Region PR-FESR 2021–2027, Fondazione Marche Cultura, and the Marche Film Commission.
It is a work that goes beyond retracing the key moments in the history of the Cartiere Miliani: it brings to light the human, social, and cultural value of a craft rooted in the Middle Ages—one that gave rise, right in Fabriano, to one of the earliest industrial systems dedicated to papermaking in Italy.
The director describes the documentary as “a tribute to the collective memory preserved within these walls,” capable of showing how an Italian enterprise became a global icon through a balance of artisanal passion, industrial vision, and generational continuity.
The Fondazione Fedrigoni Fabriano played a significant role in the making of the film, offering its headquarters—the historical heart of the paper mills—and its archival heritage, which includes over 500 linear meters of documents, a vast collection of Fabriano papers dating back to 1267, and more than 10,000 historical tools used in papermaking.
Following the success of its previews, 'Memorie di Carta' has been selected for major national and international film festivals.
The film has also been chosen for the Frame Italia section of the Sguardi Altrove International Women’s Film Festival, where it received a Special Mention from the Jury of the National Union of Italian Film Journalists (SNGCI).
The jury praised the film for its “intimate and multilayered narrative, in which paper becomes a resilient space of identity, history, and recognition,” highlighting the role of the women papermakers in shaping a unique artisanal knowledge found nowhere else in the world."
The journey of ?Memorie di Carta' continues: the documentary is making its way through festivals and cultural events, carrying far and wide the voices of the people who built Fabriano’s papermaking tradition, and contributing to the international dissemination of the historical heritage safeguarded by the Foundation.
Photos courtesy of the Marche Film Commission.
