Italy’s National Film Museum Reveals Ambitious Restyling Plans Costing Up to $36 Million

Italy’s National Film Museum has revealed ambitious restyling and renovation plans set to change the future of the museum. The revamp will focus on two main areas: the renewal of the facilities and a partial reshaping of the visitors’ experience. The plan’s estimated costs are in the region of €30 million-€35 million ($31 million-$36 million).

The plans include, among other things, the creation of new exhibition spaces (most of the underground areas currently hosting storage spaces will be made accessible to visitors); the extensive presence of new VR, AR and Metaverse content, some of which will be managed through dedicated control rooms; the reshaping of exhibition spaces on floor 15, 18 and 25; the reopening of the Mole’s nearby garden, set to host a cafeteria and a new ticket office; along with several adjustments to make the historical Mole more energy-efficient and to regulate temperature.

“We aim to showcase the latest 20 years of history of cinema and its tech developments in a broader perspective, including the Netflix TV series and large mainstream productions such as the ‘Harry Potter’ saga, ‘Squid Game’ and the ‘Marvel’ flicks,” the museum’s director Domenico De Gaetano told Variety. We met him with president Enzo Ghigo during the Torino Film Festival.

De Gaetano disclosed that a technical team including both staff members and external advisors has drafted the plans’ guidelines. The group will co-operate with an international scientific committee, made up of academics, scholars and museum directors, and a “young-orientated advisory board,” whose activities will focus on making the Museum more attractive to younger generations.

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Next week, Ghigo and De Gaetano will meet the Turin region’s Members of Parliament to illustrate their plans: “The goal is to have a national bill coming into force which could grant the Museum €2 million each year [$2.06 million] for 10 years. Even though this [bill] wouldn’t cover all the costs, it would pave the way to collect more funds by involving other bodies and backers.”

De Gaetano also touched on the museum’s recent Dario Argento-focused exhibition, currently open to visitors until Jan. 16, 2023: “It traces back all his career and films through his voice recordings, photographs, posters, sketches and props, including Carlo Rambaldi’s infamous puppet head of ‘Deep Red.’ We focused on his artistic approach and elements of his oeuvre such as the lights, the props, the set design, his work with actors, so that they can be appreciated by connoisseurs and those who don’t know him yet.”