Florence, November 11 – 15, 2026
Cinema La Compagnia and other venues
Streaming: Lo schermo dell’arte channel on MYmovies ONE
November 11 – 22, 2026
Free admission for Under 30s
Preview of the 19th Edition
Focus on Saodat Ismailova
An artist and filmmaker trained at Le Fresnoy, Saodat Ismailova (born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; lives and works in Paris) is the winner of the 2025 Art Basel Award. The focus program brings together four films made between 2017 and 2026, alongside a lecture by the artist.
Among the most innovative voices of her generation, Ismailova works at the intersection of cinema, sound, and visual art. Having grown up in post-Soviet Uzbekistan, she draws on her own personal history and on events from the past to reflect on the void left by the collapse of dominant political systems. Exploring collective memory, ancestral knowledge, and representations of femininity, she engages with the sociopolitical and cultural heritage of Central Asia to evoke universal themes through films and installations distinguished by their evocative imagery and hypnotic narratives.
Opening Night: Euphoria (2026) by Julian Rosefeldt. Italian premiere
A cinematic adaptation of Rosefeldt’s 24-channel video installation, Euphoria (Germany, Ukraine, Bulgaria, United States, 2026, 91’) is a hypnotic tour de force through the history of capitalism and human greed. Set in a dystopian New York—and partly filmed in Kyiv just days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine—the film features the voice of Cate Blanchett bringing to life an animated tiger as it loots a supermarket.
The film examines why capitalism still appears to have no viable alternative and continues to exert a fascination that is as powerful as it is irresistible, even for those who recognize its destructive nature. Its protagonists are all individuals marginalized within a society shaped by neoliberal ideology.
Melik Ohanian, Gala Hernández López, Yarema Malashchuk & Roman Khimei, Ali Cherri, and Motus among the authors of the films
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Italian premiere: BORDERLAND (2026) by Melik Ohanian
Inspired by Rudy Wurlitzer’s 1969 novel Flats, BORDERLAND, presented here as a single-screen version of the fourteen-act piece (2017–2024), is filmed entirely on the rooftop of a building in Brooklyn, where eighteen migrants inhabit a liminal space framed by the New York skyline. The film challenges the very notion of borders, transforming the rooftop into a true borderland.
- Italian premiere: like moths to light (2026) by Gala Hernández López
Produced with the support of the VISIO Production Fund and co-produced with Fondazione In Between Art Film and Human Company, the film combines scientific research, archival footage, and moving images to investigate how dreams have become the object of study for corporations and multinational companies. Through this inquiry, the Spanish artist reflects on the urgent need to protect our inner lives from the logic of profit.
- Italian premiere: Homecoming (2025) by Yarema Malashchuk & Roman Khimei
Commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21), Homecoming explores the emotional and physical rupture of wartime displacement through the story of a young Ukrainian who virtually returns to his hometown, using a robotic dog as his mechanical avatar.
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Italian premiere: The Sentinel (2026) by Ali Cherri
Premiering at the Critics’ Week section of the Cannes Film Festival, The Sentinel follows a young sergeant through a single night of freedom, suspended between fate and desertion. Through this story, Cherri explores the physical and psychological burdens of duty, military discipline, and trauma—recurring themes at the heart of his artistic practice.
- [ÒDIO] (2026) by Motus
Winner of the 2024 Italian Council, [ÒDIO] is a polyphonic work that weaves together multiple perspectives and testimonies on the spread of violence. The project emerged from encounters with dozens of young people of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds, who were asked questions such as: “What does hatred mean to you?” and “Do you feel you hate anyone?”. The result is a work that reflects on the rise of marginalization and discrimination, the resurgence of nationalist and racist sentiments, and the violence permeating contemporary society.
![[ÒDIO] (2026) di Motus](https://www.schermodellarte.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Still_ODIO-1024x683.jpg)
Exhibition: Scénarios et les cinq cahiers de Scénario de Jean-Luc Godard
in collaboration with Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi
A special event of Lo schermo dell’Arte 2026 is the exhibition Scénarios et les cinq cahiers de Scénario de Jean-Luc Godard, bringing together for the first time in Italy five notebooks created by Jean-Luc Godard between May 2019 and October 2021. The exhibition also presents, for the first time in Italy, the director’s final two films: Scénarios (France, Japan, 2024, 18’), completed the day before his death, and Exposé du film annonce du film “Scénario” (France, Japan, 2024, 36’), which offers an insight into the creative process of the final phase of his career.
The exhibition will be installed in the Strozzina spaces at Palazzo Strozzi and will be open to visitors throughout the festival week.
Undercurrents. Lecture-performance by Maria Iorio and Raphael Cuomo
in collaboration with Villa Romana Florenz
Produced for the 19th edition of Lo schermo dell’Arte, Undercurrents invites audiences on a journey through the materiality of water and the endless cycles of the elements. Drawing on a selection of excerpts from completed and ongoing film projects, the Swiss artist duo reflects on water as a recurring presence in their cinematic practice. From southern Italy to the Mediterranean, and on to the banks of a mountain stream, Undercurrents weaves together ecology, history, and politics, proposing a different way of relating to water—not as a resource to be exploited, but as a living force in constant motion, transformation, and regeneration.
VISIO European Programme on Artists’ Moving Images XV edition
Curated by Leonardo Bigazzi, the research, residency, and production programme is dedicated to eight Europe-based artists under the age of 35 working with moving images.
The programme received 140 applications from 53 countries confirming its growing international reach. More than half of the applications were submitted by women artists.
Selected through an open call organised in collaboration with some of Europe’s leading art academies and artist residencies, the eight participants will have the opportunity to develop an original project in dialogue with international curators and producers. Exchange and collaboration among participants and professionals will be fostered through an intensive programme of mentoring sessions, round tables, and one-to-one meetings.
VISIO Production Fund
The €35,000 production fund is organised in collaboration with the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Fondazione In Between Art Film and, from this year, MACBA – Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, with the support of Human Company. The fund will be awarded to three artists, who will work with Leonardo Bigazzi and the Lo schermo dell’Arte team to produce new works, which will premiere at the Festival in 2027. An edition of each commissioned work will enter the permanent collection of the project’s partner institutions.
Streaming
From 11 to 22 November 2026, Lo schermo dell’Arte will once again extend beyond the cinema through a dedicated online programme, with a selection of films from this year’s edition available to stream on Lo schermo dell’Arte’s permanent channel on MYmovies ONE. Launched in 2024, the channel features a curated selection of films presented in previous editions of the Festival.
Under 30 Audience
Under 30 Audience Award for Best Film and Free Admission for Audiences Under 30
With the Under 30 Audience Award for Best Film, presented as part of the Festival’s 19th edition, Lo schermo dell’Arte reaffirms its commitment to engaging younger audiences. Visitors under the age of 30 will enjoy free admission to all screenings and will be invited to play an active role in the Festival by voting for their favourite film through Lo schermo dell’Arte app.
Lo schermo dell’arte – 19th edition
directed by Silvia Lucchesi
Firenze, Cinema La Compagnia and other venues
November 11-15, 2026
Streaming: Lo schermo dell’arte channel on MYmovies ONE
November 11 – 22, 2026
Lo Schermo dell’arte is supported by Fondazione CR Firenze
and is part of the 50 giorni di cinema a Firenze programme.
With the contribution of
Comune di Firenze
Main supporter
Fondazione CR Firenze
In collaboration with
Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Fondazione In Between Art Film, MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Human Company, Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, NYU Florence, European University Institute, Villa Romana Florenz, IED Firenze, MYmovies
Sponsor
B&C Speakers, Unicoop Firenze