Documentary on Umberto Eco's Library Debuts on Sky Arte

A documentary titled 'Umberto Eco – La biblioteca del mondo' premieres on Sky Arte on Friday, February 20, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the author and semiotician's death. The film originated in 2015 when Vincenzo Trione, then director of the Italian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, asked director Davide Ferrario to create a video installation on memory with Eco. Ferrario met Eco at his Milan home, where Eco showed him his library—a private collection of over 30,000 contemporary volumes and 1,500 rare and ancient books. The documentary, made in close collaboration with the Eco family, presents the library as a living, generative space rather than a mere archive. According to the family, the collection of ancient books will go to the Biblioteca Braidense in Milan, and the modern study library to the University of Bologna, following agreements with the Ministry of Culture. The film, presented at the Festa del Cinema di Roma, aims to capture how Eco's library was a metaphor for the world and the key to understanding his ideas and inspiration, where his spirit remains intact even after death.