| Summary: | Despite the popularity of Italian cinema among broader audiences, the extent of its impact on cinemagoers in small countries has not been subject to a close study. This article presents an overview of the reception of Italian cinema in Chile in the 1950s and 1960s, showing some of the transnational connections embedded in its circulation. It focuses on the particularities of Italian cinema reception in Chile, as well as its similarities to other global cases of the period, analysing the way in which film fan magazines and audiences assessed its 'quality' and identity, stars, and film directors. Thus it shows how local and transnational structural conditions of production, distribution, and exhibition were articulated with spectators' own experiences and affective relationship to cinema. The article proposes to rethink the categories in which we analyse Italian cinema and local cinemagoing, unveiling the importance of Italian cinema for Chilean film culture beyond 'popular' and 'art' cinema distinctions.
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