Unique in Italy and one of the most important in the world, the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CINEMA is housed inside the Mole Antonelliana, symbol of the city of Turin. Inaugurated in July 2000, it has become one of the most visited museums in Italy, gaining wide international acclaim; a remarkable achievement for a very special museum that aims to fascinate visitors by involving them in the enchanting world of the Seventh Art.

What really makes the National Museum of Cinema unique is the invaluable asset of its collections and the peculiarity of its layout, developed spiral-wise upwards and structured over several display levels, illustrating the history of cinema by alternating spectacular and evocative posters, objects, film fragments and set-staging, covering an overall surface of about 3,200 square metres. In planning the museum layout, François Confino did not only take into account the characteristics of the building housing it, but, as he followed Antonelli’s crescendo, he overlaid different levels of perception, combining the need for rigorous scientific foundations with the need for a spectacular presentation which aimed to reproduce and play with those fascination mechanisms at the basis of cinematographic depiction.

The Museum preserves a considerable fund of rare and precious material, holding over 1,800,000 items, in many cases one-off pieces worldwide: its collections number 950,000 photographs, 530,000 posters and advertising material, 8,900 gadgets and film memorabilia, 8,950 devices and 10,850 artistic artefacts, 37,000 silent and sound films, 42,000 volumes, 138,000 brochures and magazines, 250,000 press clippings, 1,350 musical scores, 15,000 archive files, 37,700 titles in its video library and 4,800 film audio recordings.

For several years now, the National Museum of Cinema has further increased its commitment in the salvage and restoration of films which were deemed irretrievably lost. Many initiatives, organised in collaboration with prestigious institutions all over the world, thus garnered wide appreciation on the part of public and press when presented at major international film festivals. In particular, many of the implemented restorations are part of a project carried out by the National Museum of Cinema for enhancing Italian silent cinema, especially from Turin, in collaboration with the Bologna Film Archive, which has made this institution in Turin a pivotal reference within the international cinematographic panorama.

Thanks to the multitude of its scientific and divulgation activities, the National Museum of Cinema has become a hub for cultural initiatives ranking amongst the most important ones at a national and international level, carrying out breakthrough research on the conservation of materials and on the history of cinema, a vast programme featuring restorations, publishing initiatives, film showcases, meetings with film authors and protagonists and education programmes.

The National Cinema Museum has three international film festivals, Torino Film Festival, Cinemambiente Festival and Lovers Film Festival, as well as the TorinoFilmLab, the laboratory that supports talents from all over the world through training and development programs, production and distribution.