ATTIMI SOSPESI is a storytelling project and promotion of the history and memories of the city of Cassino.
The suspended moments recounted are those linked to the rescue of artworks and lives marked by the tragic events that took place between September 1943 and May 1944.
The lives of those who experienced those moments are suspended, snapshots of the moments of those who, among that frenzy, rescued the works of art preserved in the Abbey of Montecassino before the bombing of 15 February 1944.
A story with multiple voices through a live show, an interactive and immersive tour that starts from the Atelier and moves through the city to the Abbey of Montecassino.
Diaries, essays, texts, newspaper articles, memoirs, photos, videos, interviews. Numerous materials have been collected, gathered and selected.
The material that ATTIMI SOSPESI brings to life is still pulsating and it gives visitors the opportunity to maintain the living memory of those moments and those months.
The history of Cassino leads us to simultaneously consider all the cities that, even today, are razed to the ground by the war, where cultural and social heritage is buried under the rubble and, perhaps, lost forever.
ATTIMI SOSPESI becomes a door of memory, a journey to experiencing memories, interpreting the present and acting on the future.
The project funded by the Lazio Region with the European Social Fund – European Programming 2014-2020, is curated by Broadcast Digital Service and aCrm Net, in collaboration with the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio – Department of Literature and Philosophy and Hubstract – Made For Art.

ATTIMI SOSPESI Atelier

The project is based on extensive research carried out at specialised libraries, archives and cultural institutes, both public and private.
The search for documentary materials, of a bibliographic, archival, literary, photographic and audiovisual nature, which involved a demanding preliminary reconnaissance, was followed by the analysis of the collected documentation and the cataloguing of the same, in order to select the scientific material that was most relevant to the project’s objectives.
Narrative texts have also been prepared (both in short and in extended form) according to the didactic-scientific aims of the project and based on the different target audiences to whom it is directed.

The research was preparatory and supported the work of conceiving the storytelling project and promoting the history and memories of the city of Cassino.
The immersive and interactive layout project developed for the space inside the Atelier includes the following types of experiences:
ROOM A > Interactive experience with a touchscreen table: women’s, men’s and children’s memories of suspended moments come to life and intertwine with the pages of Cassino’s history marked by the tragic events that took place between September 1943 and May 1944.


ROOM B > Immersive video projection to experience, together with the main protagonists, the decisive moments in the history of the rescue of the works kept in Montecassino.>
ROOM C > Virtual visit with immersive reconstruction of the places that have been destroyed by the war.>
From inside the Atelier the visit continues outside, in the city of Cassino, in search of the traces of the lost city:
> App Attimi Sospesi. Starting from the Atelier, the user can reach 5 points of interest related to the monuments destroyed forever in the war. The user can view the multimedia contents in virtual reality directly on the app on their mobile device via the cardboard delivered at the atelier.
The entire tour is accessible in 5 languages, and is inclusive of people with various disabilities in the design of spaces and the use of proximity sensors for visually impaired people.

Frammenti Show

Written and directed by Emilia Martinelli
With Tiziana Scrocca, Marina Consoli
Digital scenery by Luigi Vetrani and Daniela Cono
Costumes by Annamaria Porcelli
Light design by David Barittoni
Video mixing by Stefano Fiori and Daniela Cono
Scientific coordination: Ivana Bruno (Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale – Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia) in collaboration with Benedetto Di Fazio. Research: Tamara Baris, Alessandra Chiarlitti (Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale – Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia)
Cassino between September 1943 and May 1944. Months of fire, death and devastation on the Gustav line; the Germans above, the Americans below. Cassino tells its story, because at least one word remains among the rubble. And so every narrative is testimony of all that has been. Each story is a fragment of a memory that must be preserved. Every life is a work of art.
Storytelling, dance and videomapping intertwine in a war scenario that fragments a community, the social, historical and cultural heritage of a city, a country.

Attimi Sospesi Video Projection

Directed by Stefano Fiori
With Sandro Calabrese, Giovanni Bonacci, Stefano Onofri, Francesco Pompilio
Screenplay by Emilia Martinelli
Actor coaching by Emilia Martinelli
Sound: Claudio Bagni
Editing: Stefano Fiori
Subtitiling: Mario Tabassi
Producer: Silvia Belleggia
Scientific coordination: Ivana Bruno (Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale – Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia) in collaboration with Benedetto Di Fazio. Research: Tamara Baris, Alessandra Chiarlitti (Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale – Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia)

During the Second World War, the Abbey of Montecassino was identified as one of the places to preserve from German looting and bombs as part of the Italian cultural heritage. In October 1943 this certainty faltered: the Abbey could also be hit by the Allied bombing.
The video leads the viewer into this gripping and painful story through the words, gestures and gaze of the protagonists.
Crucial moments and tormented decisions which made it possible to save much of this treasure and to be able to return it to the Italian and world community after the war.