La Cinematheque francaise recently ended its three-month tribute to Orson Welles in Paris, and now the National Cinema Museum in Turin is gearing up for its own exhibition, which will run from March 31 to October 5, 2026.
The Italian exhibit will feature materials from the museum’s own Welles collection and will have a significant interactive and educational component, focusing on the museum’s relationship with Italian cinema, according to Cinnecity News, the official daily online magazine operated by Cinecittà S.p.A., the Italian state-owned company managing the historic Cinecittà Studios in Rome.
The announcement was made by Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino president Enzo Ghigo and director Carlo Chatrian, who outlined the initiatives planned for 2026, particularly the launch of the garden’s executive project and the opening of the Museum Store in February.
It was not until 2018 when most Wellesians learned of the overlooked collection in Turin.
Massimiliano Studer, co-founder of Forma Cinema, and Alessandro Aniballi, co-founder of Quinlan.it, uncovered papers related to The Other Side of the Wind, F For Fake, The Trial, The Deep, The Immortal Story and Don Quixote, as well as unrealized movies such as Brittle Glory, Because of Cats and Soldier, Soldier. The archive also contains correspondence related to Welles’ appearances in The VIPs, The Man Who Came to Dinner and Treasure Island.
The National Cinema Museum, then chaired by Paolo Bertetto, acquired the papers with little fanfare at an auction in 1995. Turin archivist Carla Ceresa sorted through the materials, arranged them in categories and completed a detailed inventory in 1998.
There are 44 archival folders containing Welles material including correspondence between Welles and longtime secretary Ann Rogers and letters from his third wife, Italian countess Paola Mori.
The Turin museum’s overall collection is vast, with more than 3.25 million objects (films, photos, posters, books, etc.) across all cinema history themes.
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