My project examines the documentary film production in Italy in the late 1940s and 1950s about modernization, including programs of reconstruction and welfare, the establishment of a democratic regime, the industrialization of rural areas, and the spread of mass production, urbanization, and economic development of the Southern regions. I investigate the ways in which documentary films educated Italian viewers to the practices of a democratic, capitalist, and welfare society, while showcasing Italy’s recovery and transition from Fascism to democracy to the international audiences of Western Europe and the United States.