Rome has always had a deep, complicated love affair with cinema — and not just because of Cinecittà, whose legacy stretches from the golden age of Italian filmmaking all the way to the international productions that still use the city’s streets, piazzas, and rooftops as their backdrop every year. Add to that a festival circuit that few European capitals can match, and you get a city that doesn’t just watch films: it lives them.

Of all the cinema events on Rome’s calendar, one stands apart — in scale, in international reach, and in sheer density of screenings, guests, and things happening all at once. That event is the Rome Film Festival, and from October 13 to 25, 2026, the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone hosts its twenty-first edition, organized by the Fondazione Cinema per Roma.

Our team, which works in this city every day and welcomes guests from all over the world, knows well how much this period transforms Rome: not just because of the red carpet, but because of that particular atmosphere that settles over the city when it recognizes itself as the protagonist of something genuinely important.

The 2026 edition is, frankly, overflowing: 150 films, a strong showing from Italian cinema alongside plenty of international titles, and many national premieres. It is not a festival in the conventional competitive sense: it has never tried to be Cannes or Venice, and that has turned out to be its strength. It chose instead a more open, more public-friendly format, and over the years it has built a loyal audience that comes not just to be seen, but to actually watch films.

The program is organized into several sections: the international competition Progressive Cinema — Visions for the World of Tomorrow, Freestyle, Grand Public, Special Screenings, Best Of 2026, and History of Cinema. A total of 55 countries are represented across the selection.

The official image of the 2026 edition pays homage to Monica Vitti, on the 95th anniversary of her birth. A reminder that this festival is as interested in memory as it is in what’s new.

Among the confirmed guests are Javier Bardem, who receives the Career Achievement Award; Jenna Ortega, in Rome for Klara and the Sun, Taika Waititi’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, with Amy Adams also in the cast; Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, who star in The Debut, the third feature from director Jesse Eisenberg; and Kim Kardashian, accompanying the world premiere of the second season opener of All’s Fair. (the festival is opening its doors to prestige television as well as film).

A list that says a lot about the festival’s approach: serious cinema alongside contemporary popular culture, without feeling the need to choose between the two.

The festival’s main hub is the Auditorium Parco della Musica, which hosts the principal screening rooms and the red carpet. However, the program spreads well beyond its main venue. Events also take place at the Casa del Cinema (naturally), the MAXXI, the Teatro Olimpico, the Teatro Palladium, the Cinema Giulio Cesare, and the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo, among many others.

In practice, this means that wherever you’re staying in central Rome, at least part of the program is within easy reach. For guests in our apartments — most of which sit in the historic center — the Auditorium is a straightforward trip: tram 2 from Piazza del Popolo reaches the Auditorium directly, or you can take bus 910 from Termini. A taxi from the centro storico takes around 15 minutes. It is, all things considered, very doable.

The official source for the full program, tickets, and updates is . Individual screenings are generally priced between €10 and €30, and many of the talks, special events, and collateral programming are free to attend, subject to availability. Check the program a few days ahead and mark what interests you — premieres and high-profile events fill up quickly, and this is one of those cases where planning ahead makes a real difference.

If your stay overlaps with any dates before October 25, be aware that the Flaminio neighborhood — home to the Auditorium — will be noticeably more animated than usual in the evenings. The red carpet brings with it a whole ecosystem of photographers, film enthusiasts, and curious onlookers that keeps the area buzzing well beyond the screenings themselves.

It is not the intensity of high summer, but it does mean that the more popular restaurants and cocktail bars in the city center will be busier than usual. Book ahead wherever you can, because  it will spare you the particular frustration of arriving at a good restaurant only to find it full of people who planned better than you did.

From Home to Rome has been welcoming guests to the heart of Rome for over ten years, and every October our team looks after visitors who time their stay around the Festa del Cinema. Thinking of visiting? Take a look at our !