CIAQ
Film Award: Cinema Returns Home
An Inheritance That Lives On: L'Aquila, A City in Cinema We cannot look to the future without honouring the roots that have made L'Aquila a beacon for film art. Between the 1980s and 1990s, our city was the epicentre of a utopia that became reality: “L'Aquila a city in cinema”. Under the visionary guidance of Gabriele Lucci and the “La Lanterna Magica” Film Institute, the festival brought the cream of world cinema to the heart of Abruzzo.
Those were the years when masters like Michel Piccoli, Ettore Scola e Nestor Almendros They walked our streets, engaging in dialogue with students and citizens. The cinema was not just an event, but a “system” that breathed with the city. That legacy of passion, which saw auteur screenings fill the Cinema Imperiale and the piazzas, is the seed from which CIAQ - L'Aquila Film Award 2026 is reborn today.
Today, CIAQ – L’Aquila Film Award 2026 – takes up that baton with a simple yet powerful idea: bringing cinema back to the pulsing heart of L'Aquila. We want to recreate that magic that transforms the city into a grand open-air stage, where the stories on the screen become conversations between people once again.
In an age of solitary and domestic viewing, CIAQ chooses to reaffirm cinema as Collective rite. Watching a film under the stars, surrounded by the architectural beauty of our historic city centre, means restoring art to its public and social dimension. The piazza ceases to be a mere backdrop and becomes a place for meeting, discussion and participation.
The Return to the Squares: A Shared Ritual
Our Vision: Between History and Innovation
CIAQ – L’Aquila Film Award 2026 – is a project that inhabits urban space, weaving together the memory of places with the force of contemporary imagery. Our formula is a constant dialogue between accessibility and quality:
Cinema in the Squares: Outdoor screenings to engage the community and make culture an accessible asset for everyone, under the sky of L'Aquila.
Excellence in Palaces Historic venues such as Palazzo Ciccozzi open their doors for high-quality technical screenings and close encounters with authors and directors.
An International Look Through competitions dedicated to feature films and short films, we explore new languages in world cinema, seeking stories that speak to the present.
Towards 2026: A New Light As the city prepares to celebrate L'Aquila Italian Capital of Culture 2026, CIAQ aims to be a cornerstone of this rebirth. We are not just a festival, but an act of love for a territory that has always known how to view the world through the lens of a camera.
CIAQ – The Aquila Film Award 2026 – is a project in development, born from listening to the community and the desire to dream again. Because, as our history shows, L'Aquila is more than just a city of cinema, but a city that è Cinema.
What are we doing Our festival spans three days of international programming, built on a clear structure that enhances both artistic competition and cultural exploration.:
Film Competitions: Competitive sections dedicated to feature films, short films, and international works, with particular attention to new talents and contemporary languages..
Meetings and Dialogues: Moments of direct discussion with authors and directors to delve deeper into the themes and visions of the works presented..
Widespread Culture A hybrid format combining the magic of open-air screenings under the stars with the technical quality of historic venues like Palazzo Ciccozzi.
A local project
CIAQ – L’Aquila Film Prize 2026 – is not an event imposed from above, but a project under construction that arises from listening to the territory and the desire to collaborate with institutions, professionals and citizens. We are part of the vision to L'Aquila Italian Capital of Culture 2026, working to build an event that becomes a cornerstone of our community's cultural identity.
The festival is made possible thanks to the collaboration of specialist organisations such as:
SimonFilm: Film production company responsible for organising the festival.
Independent Space Partner providing the historic Palazzo Ciccozzi headquarters.
LGF: IT company dedicated to the communication and digital structure of the event.