CTR+cinema Exhibition – History of Computers on and off the screen

CTR+cinema Exhibition – History of Computers on and off the screen

The European Society for Computer Preservation, hosted by the Municipality of Val Mara, is pleased to announce the new exhibition CTRL+Cinema. The History of Computers On and Off the Screen, which will be inaugurated on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at 3:00 PM and will remain open until Sunday, October 19, 2025.

The exhibition will be open on weekends from 11 AM to 5 PM and on weekdays by appointment, with the possibility to participate in guided tours and side events.

This is not just a computer exhibition: it is a journey through films and history. The objects on display are not mere electronic machines, but symbols of an era in which the future was imagined, feared, and celebrated on the big screen.

The exhibition aims to revive for the public the wonder of discovery, the nostalgia of memories, and the curiosity for the stories that have intertwined cinema and technology.

The exhibition seeks to preserve the cultural memory of machines that have made history, but not only that: it becomes an opportunity to create a dialogue between generations, where the memories of those who saw them in action intertwine with the discoveries of the younger ones. It restores the magic of technology, capable of appearing both concrete and imaginary, and invites reflection on how cinema has often anticipated the major themes of our present.

Among the works on display

Olivetti Programma 101 (1965), The First Man on the Moon (1969)

In 1969, Neil Armstrong set the first human foot on our satellite, fulfilling President Kennedy's dream. Behind this extraordinary achievement was also the Olivetti Programma 101 (1965), one of the first desktop computers in history, used by NASA engineers for calculations during the Apollo missions. A compact machine, without a monitor but equipped with an integrated printer, which, with its magnetostrictive memory, represented a true technological revolution.

Commodore PET 2001 featured in the film Jobs (2013)

The biographical film directed by Joshua Michael Stern and starring Ashton Kutcher tells the story of Steve Jobs from the 1970s up to the invention of the iPod. In one of the key scenes, at the West Coast Computer Fair in 1977, Jobs presents the Apple II alongside its main competitors: the Commodore PET 2001 and the Tandy TRS-80.

The Commodore PET 2001, on display at the exhibition, was the first “all-in-one” home computer in history, integrating monitor, keyboard, and cassette recorder. Together with the Apple II and the Tandy TRS-80, it forms the “triad” of the first personal computers ever produced in series. This model, with its “chiclet” rubber keys and pioneering solutions, paved the way for the home computer market that would dominate the 1980s.

The exhibition promises to evoke different emotions: nostalgia for those who remember the films and machines that marked an era; wonder for the younger ones discovering a new aesthetic and technology; curiosity thanks to anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories; connection between cinema, technology, and society.

CTRL+Cinema is not just a return to the past, but a journey into the future we had imagined.

Guided tours by appointment by contacting +41 (0)79 5739843 or writing to CTRLCinema@esocop.org.