The 37th edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato festival has come to an end and we can rightly say that the art of cinema is not dead. With a 12% increase in spectators across the festival venues – almost always sold out – and approximately 5,000 festival pass holders prevailing from 51 countries worldwide, Il Cinema Ritrovato and the Cineteca di Bologna bring to a close another special edition of the festival. On the ninth day, the final screening to see out the festival was David Lynch’s A Straight Story, shown on Piazza Maggiore’s big screen. A post-festival programme of restored classics will be shown in the coming days in Piazza Maggiore, including the poster film of the festival Quién sabe? on Tuesday 4th July at 9.45 pm.

An edition that counted 120,000 spectators, 470 films divided into 290 screenings hosted in seven cinemas across the city (specifically 50,000 admissions in the cinemas). Naturally the largest screen in Piazza Maggiore welcomed streams of spectators; Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound opened the first night, continuing with Luchino Visconti’s Bellissima to the weekend screenings of The Dreamers and Lynch. Bad weather did try to impede the festival’s open air schedule, however the show must go on and 1,200 spectators watched Ernst Lubitsch’s Lady Windermere’s Fan, accompanied by the Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra at the Auditorium Manzoni.

The icon of photography Nan Goldin was left speechless at the screenings in Piazza Maggiore: “Last night in the Piazza, the fact that 6.000 people, sat silently in the middle of the night, watching a movie without using their phones, without talking… I ‘ve never seen anything like that! And I have to give credit to the film festival and to the audience. Thank you so much for that experience”.

In addition to the screenings, events and talks, Il Cinema Ritrovato saw numerous international guests become a part of the festival, including Joe Dante, Wim Wenders, Ruben Östlund, Thelma Schoonmaker, and several others, as well as impromptu visits from the likes of Matt Dillon, Costa-Gavras, and Christian Mungiu.

An edition like no other, in a city that has become a capital of film and consequently film lovers. In the words of Thelma Schoonmaker: “This is a festival for people who really love cinema”.