The festivals, screenings, venues, and people making cinema in Venice. A guide beyond the Mostra
While Venice is a city of cinema thanks in part to the Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia, the world’s oldest film festival, founded in 1932, a much broader scene has grown in Venice, active throughout the year, encompassing independent festivals, screenings, awards, encounters, and projects dedicated to production, research, new technologies, and experimentation, confirming the presence in the city of a vibrant film production ecosystem.
We have created a guide to cinema in Venice beyond the Mostra, with dates, protagonists, and information: from Isola Edipo at the Lido to Venice Immersive on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, from ONA Film Festival at San Servolo to Cinema Galleggiante at Giudecca and BAIFF, a festival born in Burano exploring works created with artificial intelligence, to educational institutions, Venetian directors, and production companies in the lagoon.
As part of Venezia da Vivere’s commitment to telling the story of Venice’s future, we aim to make visible a Venetian geography of cinema through its protagonists, new languages, and places: islands, foundations, gardens, cultural spaces, and venues on the water.
This is an evolving project that will continue to expand with new stories and new perspectives.
Venice Immersive: Cinema Beyond the Screen
September 2–12, Lazzaretto Vecchio
Venice Immersive is the XR – Extended Reality section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia: an international project dedicated to immersive media and extended reality, featuring virtual, mixed, and augmented reality, 360° video, installations, and digital worlds. The works comprise 68 projects from twenty-six countries, alongside a rich programme of encounters, a unique opportunity to meet creators and producers from this innovative sector.
Saturday, September 5 at 7:00 PM, the special event La Laguna Parla will take place in the garden of Venice Immersive Island.
The programme takes place on the Island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, 15 minutes from the Palazzo del Cinema area, connected to Riva di Corinto (Lido) by a free shuttle service. The crossing takes approximately 3 minutes.
The project Of Woman Born by Nalini Malani takes place at Magazzini del Sale n.5, Fondamenta Zattere ai Saloni, Dorsoduro 262, at the Zattere, in Venice, with free admission without reservation, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM.
Explore the space and how to get there
To participate in Venice Immersive
Floating Cinema. Unknown Waters
August 26 – September 13, Giudecca
In the waters behind Giudecca, Cinema Galleggiante / Acque Sconosciute is underway, Microclima’s project dedicated to cinema and visual arts on the water.
The floating screen in front of Sacca Fisola transforms the lagoon into a cinematic space. Every evening: films, artworks, performances, and music. Convivio Acquatico is the event’s kitchen, curated by TOCIA! cucina e comunità, offering an on-land gathering space before reaching the floating platform via available boats.
Every evening DJ sets and live sets with No Stress Radio, curated by Diego Scaggiante, present the local artistic scene.
Isola Edipo
September 2–12, Lido di Venezia
During the same days as the Film Festival, Isola Edipo takes place, an independent festival promoted by Edipo Re in collaboration with Le Giornate degli Autori and directed by Silvia Jop. The tenth edition of Isola Edipo, Una risata vi seppellirà, centers on comedy and satire as tools for reading the present.
Every evening: talks and performances, the Edipo Re Inclusion and Sustainability Award, an official collateral recognition of the Venice International Film Festival, encounters, aperitifs, and a series of events dedicated to cocktails, dinners on the water, and street food.
Frame Her Vision
September 7, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Riva di Corinto
As part of Isola Edipo, Frame Her Vision returns for its fourth year, a roundtable dedicated to women who are contributing to defining contemporary cinema in front of and behind the camera.
Presented by Songhay Empire, the encounter brings together professionals in directing, creative leadership, writing, and production to reflect on the role of women in the future of cinema.
In Venice, the project is supported by FEMS Du Cinéma, the Venetian association engaged with issues of female presence in cinema, responsible among other things for Cinema Barchin.
The 2026 edition of Frame Her Vision takes place in the Isola Edipo space at Riva di Corinto.
To participate: RSVP to contact@framehervision.org
Updates and speakers for Frame Her Vision
Venice Production Bridge: Where Films Are Born
September 3–9, Lido di Venezia
How cinema is financed: during the festival, in the rooms of the Hotel Excelsior, producers, directors, financiers, and international platforms work on the films we will see in the coming years.
Venice Production Bridge brings together platforms, film commissions, and film industry professionals to accompany projects toward production and the market.
Venice Production Bridge 2026, Hotel Excelsior and Island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, Lido di Venezia
Lights! Camera! Impact! at the Procuratie
September 5, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
The Home of The Human Safety Net at the Procuratie hosts Lights! Camera! Impact!, an encounter dedicated to cinema as a tool for producing change.
The 2026 edition, realized with the Van Leer Foundation, addresses the theme of parenthood. Producers, directors, and screenwriters discuss the role of cinema in telling stories of inclusion and social impact.
Admission by reservation until capacity is reached.
Information and reservation for Lights! Camera! Impact!
ONA Short Film Festival at San Servolo
September 10–12, Island of San Servolo
From September 10 to 12, ONA Short Film Festival returns to the island of San Servolo, dedicated to short films that tell stories of outdoor sports, nature, and environmental awareness.
Screenings and encounters bring together directors, athletes, photographers, and audiences around stories exploring the relationship between people, landscape, and environment.
Tickets for ONA Short Film Festival
Cinema Under the Stars at Giardino Gabrielli
Until September 10, Hotel Gabrielli
Giardino Gabrielli hosts an open-air cinema series dedicated to Venice and the stories of Hotel Gabrielli, on the Riva degli Schiavoni.
The screenings also traverse the hotel’s cultural memory, which over time has welcomed writers, intellectuals, and directors, from Franz Kafka and Sigmund Freud to Wim Wenders.
To participate, contact the concierge of Hotel Gabrielli.
Belonging. Inhabiting Freedom
September 28, October 6 and 19
Between September and October, FEMS Du Cinéma curates Belonging. Inhabiting Freedom, a film series in three events dedicated to gender identity, migration, rights, and self-determination.
The screenings are accompanied by the presence in the theatre of directors, activists, and experts, creating moments of encounter and dialogue with the audience.
BAIFF: Cinema Created with Artificial Intelligence
October 13–17, Fondazione Querini Stampalia
From October 13 to 17, BAIFF – Burano Artificial Intelligence Film Festival returns, a festival born in Burano and dedicated to cinematic works created with the aid of artificial intelligence.
The festival observes the entry of generative tools into writing, image production, animation, sound, and post-production.
The competition admits works in which artificial intelligence has been used for at least 25% of the creative process. Alongside the screenings, encounters and debates are scheduled on the relationship between cinema, art, technology, and new visual languages.
Founded in 2023, BAIFF is inspired by the figure of Giuseppe Toselli, Bepi Suà, a film operator who projected films and cartoons in the campiello in front of his house for the inhabitants of Burano.
Cinema in Venice Throughout the Year
Throughout the year, festivals, screenings, and projects create opportunities for encounter among audiences, students, directors, associations, and professionals. In spring, the Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival brings to Venice short films made by students and young authors from film schools around the world, with a programme distributed across various locations in the city.
In summer, cinema returns to the water with Cinema Barch-in and Cinema Galleggiante. The two projects were born in 2020 and gave rise to the Cinema in Laguna network, which among other activities organizes the InLaguna Film Festival.
Quarta Parete is a collective of students and cinema enthusiasts who organize film events and festivals as opportunities for encounter and debate for the city. One of the most interesting is Stop e-Motion Days, the first Italian festival entirely dedicated to stop-motion animation.
Venice Film Week, a festival held every year in August at the Casa del Cinema and outdoors in Campo San Polo, continues online until September 15 with a selection of experimental films in their original language with English subtitles.
Making Cinema in Venice: Directors, Production Companies, Projects
Then there is a cinema that originates directly from the city and the lagoon, through directors and production companies working in the territory.
Boreana, by Emanuel Toffolo and Jordan Carraro, is an award-winning documentary that tells the most authentic and least touristic soul of Burano and the Northern Lagoon. Boreana is available for streaming on the film platform ZaLab View.
Venetian director Giovanni Pellegrini has dedicated several works to the city and its relationship with water, produced by Ginko Film, a film and audiovisual production company of which he is co-founder. La città delle sirene begins with the acqua alta of November 2019; Lagunaria, produced in 2022, imagines Venice from a distant future, questioning the city, the lagoon, and the possibility of continuing to inhabit it.
Venice is home to Kublai Film, a production company active in feature films and documentaries. From October 4, 2026 to April 20, 2027, Kublai Film brings to Italian cinemas I Grandi Maestri, a series of film events dedicated to five protagonists of art, cinema, and literature: Caravaggio, Werner Herzog, Frida Kahlo, Michael Ende, and the dialogue between Turner and Constable. The films will be screened in their original version with Italian subtitles. Cinemas and programming will be announced on the Kublai Film website.
A Film School at San Servolo
Since 2023, Venice has hosted a branch of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia on the island of San Servolo. The CSC Immersive & Performing Arts hub is dedicated to immersive technologies, Extended Reality, and new narrative forms.
International workshops and master classes involve actors, directors, screenwriters, and producers, connecting film education, immersive arts, and technological experimentation.
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Island of San Servolo
The Venice Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia 2026
September 2–12, Lido di Venezia
Read the Caffè with Venezia da Vivere at the Film Festival.
Read The guide by Venezia da Vivere to the films, with the programme and protagonists of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia.
Read Venice Production Bridge 2026: how cinema is financed.
Veneziacinema: Cinema Told Every Day
Veneziacinema is a Venetian web project by Pietro Gallina dedicated to stories and current affairs of cinema in Venice, with which Venezia da Vivere has been collaborating for several years.
On the occasion of the Mostra, Venezia Cinema in pillole also returns, a podcast launched in 2025. The voice of Danilo Maggi tells the story of the Festival through brief daily episodes with curiosities, films, and information about what is happening at the Lido.
The podcast is available free on Spotify and on the Veneziacinema website.
Article by Laura Scarpa. Images by Rossana Viola, Igor Serdyukov.
