The Rediscovered Poster

To find, restore and make available to everyone the many masterpieces created for cinema by the great Italian Poster Painters.

The collaboration between the Cineteca di Bologna e Movie.it was created to preserve and promote the artistic heritage of Italian film posters through this project. The artists behind these works were extraordinarily talented figures who shaped the visual language of cinema in Italy from the 1920s to the 1990s. They created countless masterpieces, many of which became cultural icons in their own right. Together, these posters represent a distinct and independent art form.

An artistic legacy to safeguard

For decades, these movie posters and "locandine" (Italian small format) adorned streets and squares across Italy. They tell not only the story of cinema, but also the evolution of the country’s aesthetic taste and painting techniques. The artwork was painted by hand by the poster artists and then reproduced for printing, often in large formats. Prints of these masterpieces, long forgotten and almost impossible to find, have been recovered from the archives of SAC and from numerous private collections.

The Digital Rebirth of a Heritage

This was followed by meticulous high-resolution digitisation and professional colour restoration have created a digital archive unique in its kind: the great majority of its images come from professional photography of original period prints, often in large formats. This makes it possible to offer high-quality reproductions on demand in a wide range of sizes, including large formats. The result is a truly one of a kind digital archive, offering easy access to tens of thousands of vintage Italian locandine, film posters, and movie artwork, available in a wide range of formats and print options. This remarkable digital collection is open to everyone from collectors, enthusiasts, researchers, industry professionals, and museum curators to, above all, anyone with a passion for art.

Each image undergoes a professional restoration process to recover the original colours and remove every imperfection. Missing areas are carefully reconstructed using advanced techniques that preserve the artistic integrity of the original work. The final result can surpass the quality of the period print itself, as the poster paper and printing technology of the time were unable to fully reproduce the richness of the colours and the sharpness of the original details.

An artistic heritage revived

For lovers of classic cinema , or simply of the beauty of this art form, this project offers an extraordinary opportunity to discover and acquire these painted masterpieces. They are more than mere reproductions: they are pieces of Italian cultural history, bearing witness to a unique era in which commercial art evolved into an artistic movement of recognised value.

The Cineteca di Bologna, with its extensive experience in preserving film heritage, contributes its extensive experience in the preservation and promotion of film heritage. The project also brings together advanced technological expertise in digitisation and distribution.

Because behind every movie poster lies a work of art and sometimes, an unforgettable memory.

The works reproduced on this page come from original period prints, recovered, photographed and digitally restored by Movie.it.