Archive · Chronicle · Memory Anteprima Turin, Italia
TORINOMIA
en

Museo Nazionale del Cinema

Cinema museum in the Mole Antonelliana since 2000, born from the collection of Maria Adriana Prolo begun in 1941; it organises the Torino Film Festival.

La home page di museocinema.it, 25 settembre 2026
The home page of museocinema.it on 25 September 2026

The Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin has been housed since 2000 in the Mole Antonelliana and is run by the Fondazione Maria Adriana Prolo, named after the scholar whose collection gave rise to it[1]. Its route runs vertically inside Alessandro Antonelli's building, up to the panoramic temple at 85 metres[2], and MuseoTorino has for some years ranked it among Italy's most visited museum sites[3].

From private collection to national museum

It all begins in 1941, when Maria Adriana Prolo starts her collection of cinema material[1]. In 1953 the institution joins the Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film (FIAF), the international network of film archives, and in 1958 it opens to the public in the rooms of Palazzo Chiablese, next to the Palazzo Reale; in 1960 the library named after Mario Gromo, a founding member and president of the museum, is created[1]. In 1965 it receives official recognition as the national film museum, from the ministries of Public Education and the Interior[1]. In 1985 the museum is closed to the public for safety reasons[1].

The link with the Mole predates the current layout: according to Focus, the Prolo collection was kept in the building's basement during the Second World War bombings and moved to the second floor in 1946[4]. The Mole, for that matter, had already housed another museum, the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento Italiano, from 1908 to the 1930s[3].

The foundation and the reopening in the Mole

Maria Adriana Prolo dies on 20 February 1991[1]. The following year the Fondazione Maria Adriana Prolo – Museo Nazionale del Cinema is established, with the support of the Piedmont Region, the City of Turin, the Province of Turin, the Cassa di Risparmio di Torino and the museum's association[1]. The Cinema Massimo, the screen the foundation still runs today, had meanwhile opened in 1989[1].

On 20 July 2000 the museum reopens to the public at its new home in the Mole Antonelliana[1]. The route follows the building's floors: on level +5, the archaeology of cinema, divided into eight thematic areas; on +10, the Aula del Tempio with its spiral ramp, devoted to temporary exhibitions; on +15, the machine of cinema; on +18, the poster gallery[2]. Higher up, visitors climb into the dome on foot or take the panoramic lift, which reaches the little temple's terrace at 85 metres[2]; the glass cabin, Focus notes, crosses the Aula del Tempio and reaches the top in 59 seconds[4]. In the following years the Bibliomediateca Mario Gromo in via Matilde Serao (2008), the CineVR virtual-reality space (2020) and the Video Game Zone (2024) were added[1].

The collections

The holdings exceed 3,250,000 items: about 2,500,000 photographs, 540,000 posters and advertising materials, 34,100 films on film stock and 53,000 on other media, 66,250 books, 19,500 documents and archive files, 14,000 objects of cinema archaeology and 12,500 pieces of equipment, as well as magazines, records and memorabilia[5]. The sections include the film archive, photo archive, sound archive, video archive and video games[5].

The historical archive brings together more than a hundred collections and gathers screenplays, letters, contracts and notes from production companies, directors, actors and technicians of the silent and sound eras[6]. Many relate to the period when Turin was a film-producing city: the Itala Film collection and the Giovanni Pastrone collection, with material on Cabiria (1914), the Società Anonima Ambrosio collection and that of the Società Anonima Stefano Pittaluga, active in distribution between the 1920s and 1930s; alongside these, the screenplays of Giuseppe De Santis, including Riso amaro (1949)[6]. Among the most recognisable objects are the scarf, hat and drawings of Federico Fellini, to whom the museum devoted, in 2020 at the Cinema Massimo, a season marking the centenary of his birth[7]. From the museum's website one can reach the online ticket office for the collections, temporary exhibitions, panoramic lift and climb to the dome, the programme of the Cinema Massimo and the festivals, and the Bibliomediateca, the archive, the film archive and the online collections[8].

Festival, members and governance

The foundation organises the Torino Film Festival, CinemAmbiente, the Lovers Film Festival and TorinoFilmLab[1]. Its founding members are the Piedmont Region, the City of Turin, the Compagnia di San Paolo, the Fondazione CRT, the Associazione Museo Nazionale del Cinema and GTT; the management committee is chaired by Enzo Ghigo and the direction is entrusted to Carlo Chatrian[1]. The museum also awards its own prize, the Stella della Mole: on 23 September 2026 it was given at the Cinema Massimo to South Korean director Bong Joon Ho, «for his contribution to contemporary cinema», at an evening that included a masterclass led by Chatrian[9].

Visitors and projects

In 2024 the museum recorded over 818,000 visits, the record of its history, and in the first seven months of 2026 admissions grew by about 8% over the previous year; around 90,000 students visit every year[10]. On peak days the number exceeds 3,000 people, with peaks around 3,800, while the Mole can hold about 600 at a time[10]. For this reason a reorganisation of access is being planned, with separate entry and exit flows, wider use of the gardens and work on the underground spaces, to bring capacity up to 900 visitors; building work is expected to begin in 2028[10].

From 19 November 2026 to 31 January 2028 the Aula del Tempio will host the exhibition T. rex vs. T. rex. Da fossili a icone del cinema [T. rex vs. T. rex. From fossils to film icons], curated by Gianni Canova and Stefano Boni with Giaime Alonge: two tyrannosaur skeletons with genuine fossil remains from the United States, about ten metres long, mounted facing each other on a platform around the panoramic lift[11].

«T. rex vs. T. rex does not just tell the story of dinosaurs: it also tells the story of how we have imagined them»

Gianni Canova, curator of the exhibition, 2026

The curator's words, reported by ANSA, sum up the exhibition's approach: cinema as a machine that has given shape to what no one had ever seen[11].

The Stella della Mole for Bong Joon Ho (23 September 2026)

On 23 September 2026 the Museo Nazionale del Cinema awards the Stella della Mole to South Korean director Bong Joon Ho, Oscar winner for «Parasite» (2019), Palme d'Or at Cannes and the first non-English-language film to win the Best Picture Oscar. The ceremony is preceded at the Cinema Massimo by a masterclass led by the Museum's director, Carlo Chatrian, followed by a screening of «Parasite» introduced by the director; the event also opens a complete retrospective of his feature films, running at the Cinema Massimo until 30 September. Bong Joon Ho recalls his bond with the city, where in 2003 the Torino Film Festival had awarded «Memories of Murder» the audience award and the award for best screenplay.

New positioning and visual identity (October 2026)

On 8 October 2026 the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin presented a new positioning, with a renewed visual identity and website and the manifesto «Noi viviamo il cinema» [We live cinema], to tell the story of the whole range of venues and activities that it includes besides the Mole Antonelliana.12

Chronology

  • — The Museo Nazionale del Cinema at the Mole Antonelliana hosts the exhibition "T. rex vs. T. rex", devoted to the dinosaur in cinema. → TorinoClick la Repubblica Torino
  • — The Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin presents a new positioning, with a renewed visual identity and website and the manifesto «Noi viviamo il cinema», to tell the story of the whole range of venues and activities that it includes besides the Mole Antonelliana. Quotidiano Piemontese ANSA Piemonte

Related articles: Alessandro Antonelli, Mole Antonelliana, New positioning of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino (October 2026), Presentazione del rebranding del Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino, Torino Film Festival

Pages linking here

Sources

  1. Museo Nazionale del Cinema
  2. Museo Nazionale del Cinema
  3. MuseoTorino
  4. Focus
  5. Museo Nazionale del Cinema
  6. Museo Nazionale del Cinema
  7. Mole24 — 5 September 2020
  8. Museo Nazionale del Cinema
  9. Mole24 — 16 September 2026
  10. Mole24 — 11 August 2026
  11. ANSA Piemonte — 18 September 2026
  12. ANSA Piemonte — 21 September 2026
  13. Quotidiano Piemontese — 21 September 2026
  14. Quotidiano Piemontese — 8 October 2026
  15. ANSA Piemonte — 8 October 2026

Report a mistake.