March Days for Tonino 2026, a week of poetry, film and memory

From March 15 to 22, 2026, the Days of March for Tonino returns, a week of initiatives dedicated to the figure and cultural legacy of Tonino Guerra (Santarcangelo di Romagna, 1920 - 2012), a poet and screenwriter who made a profound mark on 20th-century Italian cinema and culture. The event takes place in Romagna between Pennabilli and Santarcangelo di Romagna, involving an entire territory in an articulated program that interweaves poetry, cinema, theater and music. The 2026 edition stands out for its integration with the seventh edition of Luoghi dell’Anima, the film festival dedicated to territories, memory and landscape, understood in both its inner and physical dimensions. After the winter event, the festival returns with a preview symbolically placed on the days that mark Guerra’s birth and death, strengthening the link between the cultural program and the places that inspired the Maestro. The initiative is thus part of a broader itinerary that crosses the Marecchia Valley and that, back in December, also involved Rimini.

The official opening is set for Sunday, March 15, in Santarcangelo di Romagna. The afternoon kicks off with visits to the Tonino Guerra Museum and the poetic challenge of La S-ciupteda Poetry Slam, hosted at the Teatro Lavatoio. In the evening, the program continues with the performance Odiséa by Teatro delle Albe, a staging that is characterized by its strong evocative charge and dialogue with narrative tradition.

The next day, Monday, March 16, coincides with the poet’s birth and is dedicated to a tribute to auteur cinema. Two films related to his activity as a screenwriter are screened at the Supercinema in Santarcangelo: Nostalghia, directed by Andrej Tarkovskij, and Eternity is a Day by Theo Angelopoulos. At the same time, in Pennabilli friends of the Maestro will gather at the museum dedicated to him for a convivial moment accompanied by the screening of the documentary Tonino Guerra - Viaggio luminoso di una vita, directed by Adrio Testaguzza. On the same day, the Casa dei Mandorli will exceptionally open its doors for extraordinary guided tours.

The evening of March 16 moves to the Teatro Vittoria in Pennabilli with a concert by the Klezmerata Fiorentina, a quartet formed by soloists from the Orchestra del Maggio Fiorentino, engaged in a creative reinterpretation of the klezmer tradition under the direction of Igor Polesitsky.

After an intermission, the initiatives resume on Wednesday, March 18, with the return of the New Pennabilli Cinema, organized in collaboration with Chiocciola the Nomad’s House and hosted at the Gambrinus Cinema. On this occasion the winning film of the sixth edition of the Luoghi dell’Anima festival, Le città di pianura by Francesco Sossai, is screened. On the same day, in Santarcangelo, there is the presentation of the volume of aphorisms “Parole sospese di Tonino Guerra,” published by Pazzini Editore.

The celebrations continue on Friday, March 20, with an international musical event at the Teatro Vittoria in Pennabilli. After greetings by Jurij Norštejn, internationally renowned animation director, and Naum Kleiman, director of the Eisenstein Museum, the evening is devoted to music with a rock concert by Leonid Feodorov, soloist of Auktyon, accompanied by violinist Igor Polesitsky. In the second part of the evening, pianist Boris Petrushansky performs Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons, further expanding the cultural scope of the event.

The final weekend opens on Saturday, March 21, coinciding with World Poetry Day, and focuses on the relationship between youth and literature. The morning in Pennabilli takes place at the Poet’s Rock, where local schools participate in a moment of prayer and poetry, followed by the awarding of a contest dedicated to students.

In the afternoon, the program is divided between the two towns. In Pennabilli, as part of the Cineforum, there will be a meeting with Izumi Chiaraluce for the documentary Dacia, Vita Mia - Japanese Dialogues with Dacia Maraini, followed by the paesology show “Cedi la strada agli alberi” by Franco Arminio. At the same time, the film Blow-Up by Michelangelo Antonioni is celebrated in Santarcangelo, and in the evening writer Paolo Nori offers a story dedicated to Russian poet Anna Achmatova.

The final day, Sunday, March 22, takes place entirely in Pennabilli and features an interweaving of different languages and cultures. The morning opens with a new Cineforum event, which pairs the screening of the film Dalai Lama, the Wisdom of Happiness with a guided tour of the Orazio Museum in Tibet and the Tonino Guerra Museum.

The grand finale is entrusted to an event curated by Arte Settima, entitled The Smell of the World’s Childhood, which features a selection of contemporary short films dedicated to the themes of childhood, artistic creation and the relationship with nature. In the presence of the directors, Per Finta by Diego Fossati, Le prime volte by Giulia Cosentino and Perla Sardella, and Sbagliando s’inventa by Alice Sagrati are screened.

Closing out the event is the screening of Playing God by Matteo Burani, a stop-motion animated short film that achieved an important international recognition by entering the shortlist of the fifteen best animated shorts at the Oscars 2026, bringing Italian animated cinema back to the Academy’s attention after more than thirty years.

The initiatives dedicated to Tonino Guerra will continue beyond the main week. In fact, an additional event is scheduled for March 26 in Lugo, in the province of Ravenna, organized by the Association Casa dei Mandorli di Lora and Tonino Guerra.

The Days of March for Tonino are promoted by the Tonino Guerra Museum-Center of Studies together with the Tonino Guerra Association, the Association Casa dei Mandorli di Lora e Tonino Guerra and Chiocciola la casa del nomade, with the support of the Municipalities of Santarcangelo di Romagna and Pennabilli and FoCuS - Fondazione Culture Santarcangelo. Numerous collaborations have been activated for the realization of the events, including one with the Orazio Museum in Tibet, in a project that focuses on the Marecchia Valley as the custodian of a cultural heritage capable of dialoguing with the present and the future.

March Days for Tonino 2026, a week of poetry, film and memory

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