The festival comes to life from July 30th to August 2nd 2026, once again transforming the squares of the most charming villages of the Maremma into a fascinating stage under the stars.

Five days dedicated to the seventh art, featuring encounters and discoveries, where emerging international cinema takes center stage in a magical atmosphere in the squares of San Martino Sul Fiora, Saturnia, Montemerano, and, for the festival’s final evening, the evocative Terme di Saturnia spa. Two competitive sections dedicated to short and feature films will be featured, alongside special events involving various local municipalities, maintaining the itinerant nature that has always characterized the festival.

The 2026 edition of the Saturnia Film Festival will pay tribute to  Anna Magnani , an absolute icon of Italian and international cinema, on the seventieth anniversary of her Oscar win for  Daniel Mann ‘s  The Rose Tattoo   (1956), which established her as the first Italian actress in the history of the Academy Awards to win the statuette for Best Actress. Her talent and legacy will also be celebrated with the festival’s official image, designed by  Davide Pompili  and inspired by her. The tribute will continue with a screening of  Anna  by and with  Monica Guerritore , an intimate and powerful story dedicated to the actress’s life and artistic journey.  Monica Guerritore , director as well as star of the film, will also be the guest of honor on Friday, July 31st for the screening of her film. Rounding out the Feature Film Competition are two films that were protagonists of the last film and festival season:  Le città di pianura  by  Francesco Sossai , an instant cult of this year’s Italian cinema and winner of the latest David di Donatello awards, a road trip story across the Veneto plains starring three unlikely outsiders, and  Il rapimento di Arabella by  Carolina Cavalli , a road movie that sees the unexpected encounter between a young woman trapped by her regrets and a little girl determined to escape from it all, in a delicate and surprising tale about the desire to change the past.
 

The ninth edition of the Saturnia Film Festival once again offers a Short Film Competition dedicated to the best short films from around the world, divided into three sections: Italy, International, and Animation.

Among the international titles in competition:  Choice  by  Marko Crnogoroski , the story of a woman forced to face the brutal reality when a new law bans scheduled abortion;  Normal  by  Lara Panah-Izadi , in which a hypersensitive man is forced to confront the violence of his own emotions;  Rhubarb Rhubarb  by  Kate McMullen , which centers on a family who runs a prosperous rhubarb farm in Yorkshire.
Among the Italian titles: the dystopian  Arborea  by  Letizia Zatti , in which the vegetation has mysteriously stopped reproducing and a scientist monitors the sound frequencies of an oak tree until one day she hears a new sound;  Arca  by  Lorenzo Quagliozzi , in which a group of Hollywood filmmakers fight to preserve cinema from the end of history;  Extra Time  by  Matteo Memè , in which a scooter trip allows a father and son to finally address their complex relationship.
For animation:  Mud  by  Caterina Salvadori  and  Mariasole Brusa,  in which the “mud” of the title is told from a poetic, creative, and material perspective;  Retirement Plan  by  John Kelly , Best Animated Film at the 2026 Oscars, in which the protagonist Ray daydreams about his future in retirement;  Rukeli  by  Alessandro Rak , a story dedicated to  Johann Wilhelm Trollmann , who became middleweight champion in Nazi Germany, the first Sinto, or “Gypsy,” to win this title in world boxing. The  Sguardi di donne section returns again this year,  created in collaboration with  Mujeres nel Cinema and the Olympia de Gouges Association,  with three short films directed by women and focusing on women’s issues:  Gente per bene  by  Irene Girotti , in which the protagonist Luna, a middle-class student, tries to help Alina, a Ukrainian woman in Italy without a residence permit;  The Word Love Non Existed  by  Eva Dematté,  in which the director follows the daily life of her grandfather, imagining that his recently deceased grandmother is with him;  Hidden Points  by  Beatrice Baldacci in which a seventy-five-year-old woman finds the strength to regain her freedom in her encounter with a young seamstress, trapped in a life of control.