PerSo – Perugia Social Film Festival 2026, Italy

• September 24, 2026
  Event date:
• October 4, 2026
  Event end:

What to expect in 2026

PerSo – Perugia Social Film Festival returns to Perugia for its 12th edition from September 24 to October 4, 2026. The festival is dedicated to international documentary cinema, with a strong focus on social issues, contemporary life, memory, inclusion, human rights and innovative forms of storytelling. The 2026 edition is built around the theme “La memoria e la speranza” (“Memory and Hope”), reflecting the festival’s interest in connecting historical experiences with current social realities.

The festival programme combines international documentary competitions with special screenings, retrospectives, conversations, environmental cinema, Umbrian productions, virtual reality and experimental audiovisual work. A particularly important element of the 2026 edition is the focus on Claude Lanzmann and his landmark documentary Shoah. The programme includes both Shoah and Je n’avais que le néant – Shoah par Lanzmann, creating an extensive exploration of Lanzmann’s work and the role of documentary cinema in preserving historical memory.

The 2026 edition also commemorates major cultural anniversaries. The programme marks the centenary of Dario Fo’s birth and the 70th anniversary of Andrea Pazienza’s birth. Other sections highlight the work of producer Carlo Cresto-Dina and contemporary approaches to documentary filmmaking.

Admission to the festival is officially free, making it possible for audiences to attend a wide range of screenings and cultural activities without a general admission charge. Visitors should nevertheless check the individual programme information for any reservation or capacity requirements attached to particular events.

Festival dates

PerSo – Perugia Social Film Festival 2026 takes place from September 24 to October 4, 2026, in Perugia, Umbria, Italy. The 12th edition covers 11 calendar days and brings together competitive screenings, special events, retrospectives, discussions and experimental audiovisual projects.

The opening programme begins on September 24 with the Altri sguardi section. Other programme strands take place throughout the festival period, including Ecovisioni, Perugia nel cinema and the Carlo Cresto-Dina retrospective.

The Altri sguardi programme runs from September 24 to October 1, while Ecovisioni is scheduled for September 25. Perugia nel cinema has events on September 26, September 27 and October 2. The Carlo Cresto-Dina retrospective runs from September 30 to October 3.

The wider Fuori di PerSO programme extends beyond the main festival dates, with activities continuing through October 11.

Visiting this event? Don’t miss out on these amazing activities and local experiences while you’re here.

Venues & festival locations

PerSo uses a network of cinemas and cultural spaces around Perugia, particularly in and around the historic centre. The 2026 programme includes confirmed events at Cinema Méliès, Cinema Zenith, Numero Zero and the Ex Chiesa di Santa Maria della Misericordia.

Cinema Méliès at Via della Viola 1 is one of the important screening locations for the 2026 edition. The venue hosts competition films as well as special events connected with the festival’s tributes and retrospectives.

The Ex Chiesa di Santa Maria della Misericordia at Via Oberdan 54 is used for the special presentation of Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah. Its installation format allows visitors to enter and leave during the presentation rather than treating the work as a conventional cinema screening.

Numero Zero at Via Benedetto Bonfigli 4/6 also forms part of the festival environment. This inclusive restaurant and cultural space hosts discussions and events connected with the programme.

Cinema Zenith is another important location, hosting competition screenings including Como tú me ves. Because films are distributed among different venues, visitors should check the individual film pages and daily programme before travelling to a screening.

Full programme

The PerSo 2026 programme is organised into several competitive and non-competitive sections. The central competition is the PerSo Award, which focuses on international medium- and feature-length documentaries.

The published PerSo Award selection includes:

• Redlight to Limelight
• La nostra isola è il mondo intero
• Una cosa vicina
• Torneranno i lupi
• Para hacer una película solo hace falta un arma
• Je n’avais que le néant – Shoah par Lanzmann
• Los cruces
• Endless Cookie
• Como tú me ves
• A Fox Under a Pink Moon

The PerSo Short Award presents an international selection of documentary shorts. Titles include Milano Infetta, The New Advocate, Altrimenti inventa, Les imatges arribaren a temps, Il Salotto, Baisanos, Pedro Tomás explica el mundo, The Recce, Left Behind, Bambine Mie, J’ai eu une idée évidente et j’attends qu’elle revienne and Photosynthesis.

The out-of-competition programme includes Cutting Through Rocks, SHOAH, Paz ’77, Aria di Golpe, L’ultima neve di primavera and Indietro così!

Other strands include Ecovisioni, dedicated to environmental subjects, Spazio Umbria, which highlights Umbrian cinema, a VR section and a new AI-focused programme featuring short films created using generative artificial intelligence.

Featured films & premieres

The international PerSo Award competition is the main opportunity to discover contemporary documentary cinema from different countries. The selected films address a variety of social, personal, political, environmental and cultural subjects through different documentary approaches.

La nostra isola è il mondo intero, directed by Claudio Di Mambro, Luca Mandrile and Umberto Migliaccio, is an Italian documentary with a running time of 116 minutes. It is scheduled at Cinema Méliès on September 30 at 9:30 p.m., with another screening on October 2 at 3:30 p.m.

Como tú me ves, by M Sin Título, is an 82-minute documentary from Mexico and Argentina. The film follows a decade-long personal transformation and examines questions relating to body, identity and gender expression. It is scheduled at Cinema Zenith on September 26 at 9:15 p.m. and again on September 27 at 4:30 p.m.

Je n’avais que le néant – Shoah par Lanzmann provides a direct connection to the festival’s major memory-focused programme. The film examines the creation and significance of Lanzmann’s Shoah and forms part of the PerSo Award competition.

Among the short films, Baisanos by Andrés Khamis Giacoman and Francisca Khamis Giacoman explores Chilean and Palestinian identities through the supporters of Club Deportivo Palestino. The 14-minute film is scheduled at Cinema Méliès on September 29 at 5:45 p.m.

Directors, actors & guests

PerSo places considerable importance on encounters between filmmakers, cultural professionals and audiences. Directors and guests participate in discussions and accompanying events connected with selected films and special programmes.

The 2026 special programme includes director Stefano Mordini and journalist Luca Raffaelli in connection with the Andrea Pazienza tribute. Their participation accompanies the presentation of Paz ’77.

The Dario Fo centenary event features Mattea Fo, president of the Fondazione Dario Fo e Franca Rame, together with Stefano Bertea, director of the Fo Rame archives. Their participation provides additional historical and cultural context for the special screening of Aria di Golpe.

The festival’s artistic direction is led by Giovanni Piperno and Luca Ferretti. The programming team also includes Alessandro Aniballi, Ivan Frenguelli and Alice Catucci, while specialist team members oversee the VR and AI sections and the festival’s student and inmate juries.

Screening schedule

The PerSo screening schedule is spread across several venues and includes repeat showings of selected films. This format allows visitors to create their own festival itinerary and attend competition films alongside retrospectives, special events and alternative programme sections.

Como tú me ves has screenings at Cinema Zenith on September 26 and September 27. La nostra isola è il mondo intero is presented twice at Cinema Méliès on September 30 and October 2.

The short-film programme is also distributed across individual sessions. Baisanos is scheduled for September 29, while Les imatges arribaren a temps and Pedro Tomás explica el mundo are included in the September 30 programme at Cinema Méliès.

The presentation of Shoah follows a different schedule because it is conceived as an audiovisual installation. Its various parts are presented over several days between September 29 and October 4, allowing visitors to experience the work in a more flexible format.

The official programme should be consulted before each visit because screening times, venue assignments and individual event arrangements can change.

Ticket types & accreditation

PerSo 2026 is officially presented as a free-entry festival. General festival admission is therefore $0, rather than being divided into conventional paid ticket categories.

The free-admission format covers the festival’s general public programme, including its documentary screenings and cultural activities. Individual events may nevertheless have capacity limits or specific attendance procedures.

Visitors who want professional, media or other forms of accreditation should contact the festival secretariat directly. Accreditation arrangements can differ from ordinary public admission and may depend on professional status or the nature of the requested access.

Industry & professional access

The festival provides opportunities for documentary filmmakers, producers, students, critics, cultural professionals and audiences to meet through screenings, discussions and educational activities.

Professional engagement is particularly relevant to the competition programme, where international documentary works are presented alongside conversations and discussions. PerSo also connects professional cinema activity with educational and community initiatives.

The festival works with schools and universities and supports student juries. It also organises activities at Perugia-Capanne prison, where participants can take part in cinema-related activities and jury programmes.

A discussion on Italian documentary cinema is scheduled for October 3 at Numero Zero. Luca Mosso and Giulio Sangiorgio are scheduled to discuss developments in Italian documentary cinema from 2000 to 2025.

Professional visitors seeking accreditation or further information should contact segreteria@persofilmfestival.it.

Red carpet & special events

PerSo is primarily a documentary and cultural film festival, so its special events are centred on filmmakers, historical subjects, discussions and screenings rather than conventional celebrity red-carpet appearances.

One of the most significant events of the 2026 edition is the presentation of Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah. The 542-minute documentary is presented as an audiovisual installation at the Ex Chiesa di Santa Maria della Misericordia. The format allows visitors to enter and leave during the presentation.

The Dario Fo centenary programme presents Aria di Golpe at Cinema Méliès on October 1 at 7 p.m. Mattea Fo and Stefano Bertea are scheduled to participate in the event.

The Andrea Pazienza tribute takes place under the title PAZ 70. It includes Paz ’77, directed by Stefano Mordini, with the director and journalist Luca Raffaelli scheduled to participate. The event takes place at Cinema Méliès on October 3 at 4 p.m.

Festival rules

The PerSo Award competition is open to documentaries of any nationality and language with a minimum running time of 30 minutes. According to the festival regulations, eligible films must have been completed after January 1, 2024, or must not have been publicly screened before that date.

The festival gives priority to films receiving their world, international or European premieres. Italian premiere status is also an important consideration in the selection process.

The PerSo Short Award is intended for documentary films shorter than 30 minutes. The same production-date conditions apply, with preference given to films receiving significant premiere status.

The competition includes several jury awards. The PerSo Award for the best feature-length documentary carries a prize of approximately $2,900, while the university students’ jury prize is approximately $1,160 and the audience prize is approximately $580.

The short-film competition includes prizes of approximately $580 for the best short, the PerSo Short Jail Award and the school students’ jury prize. These amounts relate to competition awards and are not visitor ticket prices.

How to get there

Perugia is located in central Italy and is the capital of Umbria. The city can be reached by train, road and air, with onward connections available from larger Italian transport hubs.

Visitors travelling by train can arrive in Perugia and continue toward the historic centre using local public transport. Because many festival venues are centrally located, travellers staying in the old town can often reach screenings on foot.

Perugia San Francesco d’Assisi Airport provides the nearest airport option for visitors travelling by air. Travellers can also consider larger airports in central Italy and continue to Perugia by rail, bus, car or other regional transport.

Visitors driving to the festival should take account of restricted traffic zones in the historic centre. Parking outside the central pedestrian areas and continuing by public transport or on foot can be more practical.

Public transport & parking

Public transport is useful for moving between Perugia’s different districts and reaching the historic centre. The city has the Minimetrò system, urban buses and other local transport options.

The central historic area contains pedestrian streets and restricted traffic zones, so visitors should not assume that they can drive directly to every festival venue.

Parking facilities are available around the central area, although availability and access conditions can vary. Visitors travelling by car should use designated public parking and check current traffic restrictions before entering the historic centre.

The festival’s multiple venues mean that walking can also be an efficient option once visitors reach central Perugia. Comfortable footwear is useful because parts of the historic city are steep and contain uneven streets.

Accommodation areas

The historic centre is a practical base for festival visitors who want to stay close to cinemas, cultural venues and restaurants. Areas around Corso Vannucci, Piazza IV Novembre and the surrounding streets provide convenient access to the city’s central attractions.

Via della Viola and the surrounding area can also be useful for visitors attending events at Cinema Méliès. The areas around Via Oberdan and Corso Cavour provide additional accommodation options within or close to the historic centre.

Visitors seeking a quieter stay can choose accommodation outside the immediate old town and use public transport to reach the festival. Staying near a Minimetrò station can be particularly convenient for travellers who prefer easier transport connections.

Because the festival takes place over several days and Perugia can attract visitors during the autumn season, booking accommodation in advance is advisable.

Food & dining

Perugia offers a wide selection of Umbrian restaurants, cafés, bakeries and casual food venues. Visitors staying in the historic centre can easily combine festival screenings with meals around Corso Vannucci, Piazza IV Novembre and nearby streets.

Traditional Umbrian cuisine provides plenty of options for visitors interested in regional food. Local restaurants offer opportunities to experience dishes and ingredients associated with the wider Umbrian culinary tradition.

Food also forms part of the PerSo community environment through venues such as Numero Zero at Via Benedetto Bonfigli 4/6. The inclusive restaurant is incorporated into the festival programme and hosts cultural activities and discussions.

Festival visitors can therefore combine documentary screenings with meals and evening activities without needing to travel far from the central festival area.

Accessibility

Inclusion is an important part of PerSo’s wider mission. The festival works with different communities through educational activities, student programmes and initiatives involving participants at Perugia-Capanne prison.

Accessibility can vary between individual venues because the programme takes place in cinemas, cultural spaces and historic buildings with different physical characteristics.

Visitors with mobility, hearing, visual or other accessibility requirements should contact the festival secretariat before attending. The organisers can provide information about the specific venue, screening and access arrangements.

The official festival contact email is segreteria@persofilmfestival.it.

Best screenings to attend

The PerSo Award competition is central to the 2026 edition and provides an opportunity to discover international documentary cinema across a variety of subjects and filmmaking styles.

The Shoah programme is particularly significant within the festival’s memory theme. Visitors interested in documentary history can combine Je n’avais que le néant – Shoah par Lanzmann with the extended Shoah installation.

The special events devoted to Dario Fo and Andrea Pazienza provide another way to experience the festival beyond the main competition. Aria di Golpe and Paz ’77 connect cinema with Italian cultural history and include accompanying guests and discussions.

Visitors interested in experimental cinema should look at the VR and AI programmes. The 2026 AI section is especially notable because it introduces short films made with generative AI tools and examines their relationship with reality and social themes.

Those interested in Italian documentary cinema can also follow Spazio Umbria, the Carlo Cresto-Dina retrospective and the October 3 discussion on Italian documentary cinema.

Previous year’s highlights

The 2025 edition was the 11th edition of PerSo and took place from September 26 to October 8, 2025. It continued the festival’s focus on documentary cinema, social subjects, community participation and inclusion.

The 2025 programme included the PerSo Award competition, the PerSo Short Award, out-of-competition screenings, Spazio Umbria and VR programming. The festival also presented a retrospective dedicated to Nicolas Philibert, a programme examining Perugia in cinema and an homage to filmmaker Daniele Segre.

The 2025 edition used a network of central Perugia venues, including Cinema Postmodernissimo, Cinema Méliès, Cinema Zenith and Numero Zero. This multi-venue structure remains an important characteristic of the festival.

One of the films presented in 2025 was Kickoff, directed by Roser Corella and Stefano Obino. The documentary was presented as an Italian premiere and followed a women’s football initiative in Kyrgyzstan.

Official tickets & accreditation

PerSo – Perugia Social Film Festival 2026 is officially advertised as a free-entry event. General festival admission is therefore $0, with no standard paid festival ticket price currently required.

Visitors should check the official programme for the individual screening timetable, venue information and any reservation requirements. Some events may have limited capacity even though the festival itself is free.

Professional visitors, filmmakers, media representatives and other industry participants should contact the festival secretariat for accreditation information. The official contact email for enquiries is segreteria@persofilmfestival.it.

The official festival website should be checked before travelling for the latest programme, screening times, accreditation instructions and any updates affecting individual events.

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