Procacciatori d’affari (1978 – 40’) by Primo Levi, directed by Massimo Scaglione
MONDAY, March 16, 2026; 6 p.m.
Studio TV 8 – via Verdi 14, Torino
RAI TECHE ARCHIVE ALIVE! 10 ANNI PRIMO LEVI presents Procacciatori d’affari (1978 – 40’) by Primo Levi, directed by Massimo Scaglione
with Pierangelo Civera, Ruggero De Daninos, Donatella Ceccarello, Renato Scarpa; introduces Roberta Mori
Admission is free, but reservations are required by writing to mediateca.torino@rai.it.
In connection with the exhibition “I mondi di Primo Levi. Una strenua chiarezza”, curated by Fabio Levi and Peppino Ortoleva, on display until May 2026 in the Exhibition Space of the Metropolitan City of Turin at Corso Inghilterra 7, on Monday, March 16, at 6 p.m., Rai Teche will screen "Procacciatori d'affari", adapted for television by Primo Levi, as part of the Rai archive series "Archive Alive".
The evening will be introduced by Roberta Mori, head of research and education at the Primo Levi International Study Center in Turin, who will offer an in-depth look at Primo Levi as a science fiction writer.
Science fiction writing is a little-known aspect of the writer's work, as is his work in television and radio adaptation. Levi links these two aspects: in fact, the television and radio stories come from his production of fantastic and satirical tales, published in the collections Storie naturali (1966, under the pseudonym Damiano Malabaila) and Vizio di forma (1971).“La bella addormentata nel frigo”, a one-act radio play broadcast in 1961 (written in 1952), later adapted for television in 1978, tells the story of a girl in hibernation who is awakened annually, anticipating bioethical issues; “Il versificatore”, two radio versions, one from 1966 directed by Massimo Scaglione and one from 1967 directed by Andrea Camilleri, later adapted for television and broadcast in 1971, is a satire on the risks of excessive use of technology, through the surprising functions of a device that composes poems on demand. And “Procacciatori d’affari”, a one-act television play broadcast in 1978. All three of Levi's science fiction adaptations were filmed at the Rai Production Center in Turin and directed by Massimo Scaglione.
The story of “Procacciatori d'affari” takes place in an unspecified and abstract location, clearly not on Earth. The story focuses on the theme of the prenatal condition and the analysis of the pros and cons of life on Earth, which the protagonist S. ultimately decides to embrace without any advantage, being born, in fact, entirely by chance.
As we will hear from Primo Levi's words in an interview preceding the screening, when asked if there was a connection between If This Is a Man and fantasy stories, between Auschwitz and speculative fiction, Levi replied: "Questo nesso esiste senz'altro: è l'uomo violentato".
Rai Teche Archive Alive! is an event that invites the public to discover Rai's vast archive.
Admission is free, but reservations are required by writing to mediateca.torino@rai.it.