Il regista / The Director

Born in Pistoia in1909 (†1996), gets a certificate at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence and joins the futurist movement, then he graduates at Turin Polytechnic in 1934. His fondness for swimming leads him to experiment the under-water shots, mak- ing up Allenamento Collegiale in the Turin Stadio Comunale swimming pool about the water polo team “Torino nuoto”, whose he is technical manager. In the wartime, as naval officer, he is given the task to shoot from the Istituto Luce. In 1939 he has started working for TV, shooting, till 1941, 600 hours experimental footage at the EIAR in Rome and Milan. In 1944 he joins the Comitato Toscano di Li- berazione Nazionale and founds the Radio Department. In 1946 founds the Vi.de.S., afterwards sold to Franco Cristaldi and, in the same year, takes over the direction of the Turin branch of “Settimana Incom”, stay- ing on until 1956. In 1948 he assembles a submarine holder made of cadmium plated brass, for the cine camera Vidamo by Zeiss, nowadays kept at National Museum of Cinema of Turin. In 1952 he designs the under-water lighting system of Professor Auguste Piccard’s bath- yscaphe, Trieste, and he is the first to bring a cine camera Cameflex and a recorder Nagra more than 1.000 metres under the sea of Ischia. In the same year he assembles a steel holder for the Ascania 35 mm for the shooting of I sette dell’Orsa Maggiore. Afterwards he keeps on improving his underwater holders till Kinemar, his most advanced project, and goes on working as submarine camera operator in Mizar, Siluri Umani, I raggi mortali del Dott. Mabuse. In 1957 he carries out a co-production with the RAI: Avventure sopra e sotto i mari, followed by Uomini sotto il mare and Oriz- zonti sconosciuti. Among the other under- water shots we can remember: Negli abissi marini con Piccard, Un miliardario sotto il mare with Jacques Mayol, and the col- laboration with Bruno Vailati for the series I sette Mari and L’enciclopedia del Mare, and several reportages related to various archaeological expeditions, as, in 1965, the research of the Dutch galleon Van Lyden sunk in 1628. Living in Turin, Victor De Santis closely col- laborates with CineFiat, developing a crea- tive and original style within the industrial cinema.