Radici Festival 2026
Date of the event:
The fourth edition of the «Radici» ("Roots") festival, dedicated to identity, memory and belonging, is held in Turin from 12 to 15 November 2026 with talks, presentations, screenings and performances at the Circolo dei Lettori and other venues in the city and in Frossasco.
The «Radici» festival reaches its fourth edition from 12 to 15 November 2026 in Turin. The event, dedicated to identity, memory and belonging, is curated by Giuseppe Culicchia and was created by the Circolo dei Lettori Foundation. It is part of «Intelligenza naturale», the Circolo dei Lettori Foundation's 2026-2027 season, and receives funding from the Piedmont Region's Immigration Department [1][2].
Venues and presentation
Events take place at the Circolo dei Lettori, the Cinema Romano, the Army Officers' Club (Circolo Ufficiali dell'Esercito) and, in Frossasco, at the Regional Museum of Piedmontese Emigration Worldwide and the church of San Bernardino. The festival was presented at the Circolo dei Lettori by its director Giuseppe Culicchia and by the Piedmont Region's deputy president Maurizio Marrone [2].
Programme
On 12 November the festival opens with a lecture by Andrea Marcolongo on the relationship between classical myths and superheroes, alongside a talk by Federica Saini Fasanotti on Italian colonialism. Guests that day also include Novella Calligaris, presenting her autobiography «Pulce. La mia vita tra le onde», and Andreea Simionel, author of the novel «La ragazza d'aria» [1][2].
On 13 November the theme is artificial intelligence, with Marco Malvaldi and philosopher Filippo Santoni de Sio, alongside a screening of Alain Ughetto's animated film «Manodopera», dedicated to emigration, and a talk with Giovanni Orsina on the crisis of politics. On 14 November speakers include Eleonora Marangoni, Hauke Ritz, Mario Andreose, Stenio Solinas and John Niven, who presents his memoir «Cos'altro hai combinato, Gary». In Frossasco, Piedmontese emigration is discussed through the documentary «Oltre il Paraná» and the show «Merica!» by Paolo Tibaldi, while in the evening Domenico Quirico and Silvia Mercuriati perform «Leggere Eschilo al tempo di Trump» [1].
On the closing day, 15 November, Emanuele Ertola, Gian Luigi Beccaria, Anna Katharina Fröhlich, Maura Gancitano and director Edgar Reitz, joining by video link, are expected for a talk on the meaning of the word Heimat. The festival closes with an event dedicated to Corto Maltese with Igort and Marco Steiner. At the Cinema Romano, the «Radici di Mezzanotte» (Midnight Radici) midnight screenings return, with Stephen Frears' «My Beautiful Laundrette», Martin Scorsese's «Fuori orario» and Spike Lee's «Do The Right Thing» [1].
Previews and follow-up
The programme was preceded by several events: a concert by the Euron Ensemble at the church of San Bernardino in Frossasco on 30 October, a talk with Giovanni Lindo Ferretti at the Circolo dei Lettori on 6 November, and a photography presentation by Paola Agosti on Piedmontese emigration to Argentina, in Frossasco, on 11 November. The festival then continues on 16 December with a talk by Marina Valensise in conversation with Christian Greco [1][2].
Sources
- Al via Radici a Torino, quattro giorni tra memoria, identità e cultura — ANSA Piemonte, 11 November 2026
- Radici, il festival dell'identità coltivata, negata, ritrovata — Il Torinese, 12 November 2026