Franco Cigarini (1924-1982) used different means of expressions, during his life, from still photography to the moving image, from poetry to sculpture. Hired as a photographer by the Reggio Emilia Municipality in 1965, Franco Cigarini soon coupled the photo-camera to a movie-camera, becoming the first “official cameraman” of the city for about two decades. Franco Cigarini’s audiovisual archive offers a remarkable contribution to the 20th Century visual memory, not only locally, and his works, as an independent filmmaker, witness his civil and political involvement.