What is Sotto le Stelle del Cinema?

Sotto le Stelle del Cinema, “under the stars of cinema”, is a free open-air film season held in Piazza Maggiore every summer. The Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, the city’s film archive, runs it with backing from the Comune di Bologna and the Emilia-Romagna region.

A big screen and rows of chairs go up in the square, and a film plays almost every night for about two months. The program leans on restored classics mixed with recent Italian and international releases. Directors and actors regularly turn up to introduce screenings, and silent films sometimes get live music.

Foreign films are shown in the original language with Italian subtitles, and some Italian films carry English subtitles, so check the listing if you do not speak Italian. The 2026 season ran from 15 June to 14 August, around 57 evenings. Details for each year go up on cinetecadibologna.it.