Starting from a selection of videos of Italian post-war newsreels, preserved and offered to us by Archivio Istituto Luce, the video reflects on the paradox of media narratives related to the theme of 'bad weather' in the history of Italy.

Based on reports from Settimana Incom, Il picnic è stato rinviato per via del maltempo sheds light on the paradox of communication about bad weather, especially after the recent climatic events. Mainstream narratives often have a very dramatic tone of voice but use a basic, sparse communication style that provides no actual information other than the mere news report and lacks any assumption of responsibility, such as would be implied by the term "climate crisis".

Like a digital interface, archival windows open on a screen while a voice comments on events from today and yesterday: these are words written by journalist Antonio Cederna in several articles published between 1972 and 1988. What was referred to as 'bad weather' back then should today be called "climate crisis". However, it seems that little progress has been made.

This video is being presented at the 17th edition of Archivio Aperto (2024) in Bologna, in the out-of-competition screening 'Lezioni d'Archivio – INCOMbenze' on October 25th.