APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN FOR THE FOURTEENTH EDITION OF ITALY’S OPEN-AIR FILM PERFORMANCE EVENT
For the first time in the event’s history, the selected finalists will perform on stage: a special closing evening on 4 December at the Teatro San Girolamo, in collaboration with the Teatro del Giglio Giacomo Puccini.
Lucca Film Festival is pleased to announce that applications are now open for Lucca Effetto Cinema 2026, the fourteenth edition of the open-air film performance event that transforms the medieval streets of Lucca into a living, breathing film set.
The event takes place on Saturday, 26 September 2026, and is organised in collaboration with the Comune di Lucca and the Camera di Commercio Toscana Nord-Ovest.
Since its first edition, Lucca Effetto Cinema has invited theatre companies, solo performers, dance groups and local businesses to bring cinema into the city’s public spaces — not on a screen, but in the streets, courtyards and shop windows of Lucca’s historic centre. Audiences encounter live performances at every turn: five to ten minutes of theatre, dance and spectacle drawn from the history of film, staged without warning in the middle of an ordinary Saturday afternoon.
The Event
On 26 September 2026, the historic centre of Lucca will be divided into thematic zones, each dedicated to a specific film genre: horror, thriller, animation, musical, comedy, drama, war, science fiction, fantasy and western. Companies and performers are assigned a genre and select a film — at least fifteen years old — as the inspiration for their performance. Public venues, restaurants, hotels and shops in the historic centre are also invited to take part, transforming their spaces in keeping with their assigned genre and chosen film.
Audiences are encouraged to attend in costume, becoming part of the spectacle themselves. The result is an event that belongs as much to the city as it does to the performers — a shared, unrepeatable afternoon in which Lucca becomes cinema.
About Lucca Film Festival
Lucca Film Festival is one of Tuscany’s most established cultural institutions, with a reputation built over more than two decades of programming that has brought internationally acclaimed figures to the city — among them Oliver Stone, David Lynch, Paolo Sorrentino and Willem Dafoe. Lucca Effetto Cinema is the festival’s most popular and participatory event, and sits at the heart of the main festival week, which runs from 26 September to 4 October 2026.
New for 2026: A Closing Evening at the Teatro San Girolamo
This year’s edition introduces a significant development in the history of the event. For the first time, the finalists selected by the jury will be invited to perform again on stage at the Teatro San Girolamo in Lucca on Thursday, 4 December 2026. The evening is organised in collaboration with the Teatro del Giglio Giacomo Puccini — one of Italy’s historic opera and theatre houses, located in the heart of Lucca — and is free and open to the public.
The selection of finalists will be made by a jury composed of upper secondary school students, chosen through a dedicated process developed by Lucca Film Festival and the Teatro del Giglio Giacomo Puccini. The evening will include performances by the selected finalists, a repeat of the winning performance from the 26 September jury award, and a full programme of dedicated prizes
Awards
A professional jury — composed of film and theatre experts and institutional representatives — will evaluate the performances on 26 September. The awards, including the Best Performance Prize (€500) and the Best Set Design Prize, will be presented on Saturday, 3 October 2026. The best public venue for originality of display or audience engagement will receive a prize consisting of eco-sustainable tableware.
At the 4 December closing evening, additional awards will be presented: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematographic Faithfulness, Best Audience Interaction, the Audience Award (voted on the evening itself), genre-specific prizes for each represented category, and bespoke awards created by the jury individually for each finalist company — with titles and citations written specifically for that performance.
How to Apply
Applications are open to theatre companies, solo performers, dance groups and amateur performing arts associations from across Italy, as well as to public venues, shops and hotels located in the historic centre of Lucca. Participation is free of charge.
To apply, send the following to direzioneeventi@luccafilmfestival.it by 25 August 2026:
- Name of company or performer and contact details.
- Description of the proposed performance (max 600 characters).
- Preferred film and genre.
- A presentation video (showreel, recording or self-tape, max 5 minutes), or alternatively photographs and sketches — contact the organisation to arrange the most suitable format.
- A representative photograph of the company or performer.
- A short biography (max 400 characters).
Accepted applicants will receive the full event regulations from the artistic direction, to be signed prior to participation.
Public venues wishing to participate should write to direzioneeventi@luccafilmfestival.it by 25 August 2026 to express their interest. Each venue will either collaborate with an assigned company or propose an autonomous display, subject to validation by the artistic direction.
