Festa del Cinema di Mare, from 23 to 27 August in Castiglione della Pescaia
Luca Zingaretti, Valerio Mastandrea, and Claudia Gerini are among the guests at the 11th edition of the event directed by Giovanni Veronesi. Special awards go to Mauro Mancini and Guido Parigi
From August 25 to 30, the Festa del Cinema di Mare – Mauro Mancini Award / Guido Parigi Award returns to Castiglione della Pescaia. Directed by filmmaker Giovanni Veronesi (Read our latest interview with the screenwriter and director here), the festival has established itself, year after year, as one of the most recognizable events on Italy’s summer cultural scene.
Launched in 2016 based on an idea by film critic Claudio Carabba, the event has become one of the most eagerly anticipated cultural events of the summer in Tuscany, exploring the sea as a place of travel, memory, adventure, and identity through the language of cinema.
Giovanni Veronesi during the Festa del cinema di mare festivalGuests at the 2026 Festa del Cinema di Mare
Among the most eagerly awaited stars of the 2026 edition are Luca Zingaretti, Valerio Mastandrea, and Claudia Gerini, who will meet the public during three special evenings at the Orto del Lilli, accompanying screenings of some of the most representative films of their careers.
There will also be a spotlight on international cinema with The Sea, by Israeli director Shai Carmeli-Pollak, a film exploring the relationship between memory, family, and the sea, which will be presented on August 28, following the awards ceremony for the short film competitions.
The Program: Cinema, Music, and Art Amid the Sea and Landscape
The event will be preceded on August 23 by a special screening on the beach of the former Bagno Maristella featuring the documentary Out of the Blue by Floris Tils.
The official opening is scheduled for August 25 with the launch of the photography exhibition 10 Years of the Festa del Cinema di Mare, followed by the Cinema Italia concert, dedicated to the most famous soundtracks of Italian cinema.
Among the most evocative events is the screening of John Huston’s Moby Dick within Rodolfo Lacquaniti’s Viaggio di ritorno Museum-Garden, where cinema, contemporary art, and nature come together in a single experience.
Throughout the festival, the Italo Calvino Library will host documentaries dedicated to the sea and the environment, while the Cinema Castello will serve as the hub for evening screenings.
The Mauro Mancini Award and the Guido Parigi Award
At the heart of the event remain the Mauro Mancini Award, dedicated to the best European short films on the theme of the sea, and the Guido Parigi Award, awarded by a jury of high school students to the best short films with a journalistic focus. The Mauro Mancini Award, named after the Tuscan writer and journalist who died at sea, offers a prize of 2,500 euros, while the Guido Parigi Award, created in 2019 for the best journalistic short film and dedicated to the memory of another great journalist from La Nazione, offers a prize of 1,500 euros. These two awards, in the spirit of founder Claudio Carabba, continue to promote short films and support new generations of filmmakers.
