Villa Medici Film Festival 2026

The Villa Medici Film Festival returns for its sixth edition with over forty screenings in theaters and outdoors, at the intersection of cinema and contemporary art. This year's program includes numerous meetings with directors, artists, and critics.

The 2026 edition is dedicated to the memory of Lili Hinstin (1977-2026), a leading figure in the world of cinema, programmer and artistic director of festivals, who began her career at Villa Medici as a film programmer from 2005 to 2010, before contributing to the birth of the festival, of which she was a member of the selection and organizational committee until her passing.

This year, the festival offers over forty screenings on three screens, including an outdoor screen installed in front of the historic façade of Villa Medici, offering a unique experience under the Capital's sky. Between via Veneto and Piazza di Spagna, Villa Medici, the Festival celebrates the moving images with auteur films, essays, fiction, documentaries, short films, medium-length films, and feature films that embrace a wide variety of narratives.

The event is divided into three sections: the international competition, which presents twelve recent films of all genres and lengths; the Focus program, dedicated to auteur works outside of competition, with "white cards" screenings reserved for jury members and exclusive meetings with directors; and finally, the grand evenings in the Piazzale, which host open-air screenings of previews and restored classics.

This year's jury brings together three distinguished voices from different backgrounds: Franco-Iranian actress, producer, and director Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Italian artist Rosa Barba, and Romanian director Radu Jude. They will award the two prizes: the Villa Medici Award for Best Film and the Special Jury Prize. These prizes, worth €5,000 and €3,000 respectively, also offer filmmakers the opportunity to participate in a residency at the institution. Alongside the jury, the festival welcomes a community of authors and film buffs to Villa Medici, gathered to foster a collective reflection on cinema and its evolution.

Link to the program: villamedici.it/it/programme/festival-di-film-2026/

Photo: official poster of the event