From November 24 to December 2, 2026, the Torino Film Festival returns for its 44th edition, organised by the Museo Nazionale del Cinema and led by artistic director Giulio Base, now in its third edition. Once again, the festival combines its original spirit of discovery with major names from international cinema, with a competition made up almost entirely of first and second features (with just one exception).
On Tuesday, November 24, from 5 p.m., Piazza Castello will turn into a little Hollywood, with the red carpet set up in front of the Teatro Regio. John Travolta, Maria de Medeiros, Stephen Frears, Mike Newell and Margarethe von Trotta will walk the carpet and later receive the Stella della Mole award on the Regio stage. The opening ceremony will be hosted by Giulio Base himself and the festival’s madrina, Ambra Angiolini.
The evening will open in the name of Marilyn Monroe, the face of this edition in the centenary of her birth and the subject of a retrospective. The Teatro Regio Torino Children’s Choir, conducted by Maestro Claudio Fenoglio, will perform I Wanna Be Loved by You a cappella. This will be followed by the opening film, November 1963 by Roland Joffé, presented as an international premiere. The film tells the story of the American president’s assassination from an unusual perspective, that of organised crime, and will be released in Italian cinemas on December 3 by Eagle Pictures.
Alongside the international stars, the programme also makes room for Turin itself, the focus of several films that explore the city, its cinema and its memory.
The Zibaldone section will host the world premieres of two documentaries. The first is Rondolino Docet by Mimmo Calopresti, a tribute to Gianni Rondolino, who in 1982 founded the Festival Internazionale Cinema Giovani, today’s Torino Film Festival. The second is Sguardi by Marco Ponti, filmed at CasaOz, where figures such as Alessandro Baricco, Jovanotti, Luciana Littizzetto and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi step away from their public roles and talk about themselves. Mario Soldati’s Piccolo Mondo Antico, starring Alida Valli and set between Lake Lugano and Turin, also returns to the big screen in a restoration by Surf Film and the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin.
Out of competition is Heysel 85 by Teodora Ana Mihai, about the tragedy at the Brussels stadium before the final between Liverpool and Juventus. Proceeds from the screening will go to the Fondazione Allegra Agnelli for cancer research.
In competition, representing Italy among the feature films, is Il Primo Giorno di Vita di Leonardo Revelli, Figlio Unico by Turin-born director Stefano Grasso, starring Francesco Gheghi, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Valerio Mastandrea. In the documentary competition is La U di Svanire by Augusto Contento, filmed largely in the province of Turin.
In the following days, more big names will arrive in Turin, including Pamela Anderson, Andy Garcia, Luc Besson, Isabelle Huppert and Fanny Ardant.
The 44th Torino Film Festival is supported by the Piedmont Region and the City of Turin, with contributions from the Ministry of Culture – Directorate-General for Cinema and Audiovisual, the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and the Fondazione CRT, while Intesa Sanpaolo and RAI back the event as the main sponsor and main media partner, respectively.
Photo credit: Flarvet studio via Wikimedia Commons
