Two hundred years after the birth of Carlo Collodi, New York pays tribute to the author of The Adventures of Pinocchio with a special program dedicated to the many lives of the most famous puppet of Italian literature.
“The Carlo Collodi Legacy” is the subtitle of the second part of “Spotlight: Italy on Screen Today New York – Journey between Carlo Collodi and the Oscar Campaign”, project conceived and directed artistically by Loredana Commonara, which leads to New York a path dedicated to the cultural heritage of Collodi and the extraordinary ability of Pinocchio to cross generations, languages and borders.
From 7 to 10 September 2026, the initiative brings together cinema, animation, illustration, literature and academic research, involving important cultural and university institutions in New York.
The project began in November 2025, with the support of the Oscar de La Grazia campaign by Paolo Sorrentino, in the presence of Toni Servillo. In December of the same year he continued with Familia di Francesco Costabile, in the presence of the director, and under the clouds of Gianfranco Rosi, also present at the projection.
The three initiatives were attended by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and Golden Globe voters, creating important opportunities for meeting and confrontation between contemporary Italian cinema and the protagonists of the American premier season.
From this first path dedicated to contemporary Italian cinema and its presence in the international context of the Oscars, the project now opens to one of the founding figures of Italian culture: Carlo Collodi.
Born in Florence in 1826, Carlo Collodi gave life with The Adventures of Pinocchio to one of the most famous and reinterpreted Italian works in the world. Pinocchio is a universal figure, capable of crossing epochs and cultures and of continuing to speak to new generations through cinema, art and literature.
Bringing this universe to New York means creating a dialogue between Italian culture and one of the most international cultural realities in the world.
“Celebrating the bicentenary of Carlo Collodi in New York means bringing a deep part of our cultural identity into a city that has always been able to transform stories into universal heritage. Pinocchio was born in Italy, but now belongs to the world: every generation rediscovers it and every artist returns a new voice. With The Carlo Collodi Legacy we want to tell this extraordinary ability of Italian culture to dialogue with the present without losing the connection with its roots. After the path dedicated to the Oscar campaign, we wanted to continue our journey to New York with Collodi, putting together cinema, art, university and memory.
I sincerely thank all artists, directors, scholars, academics who have chosen to participate in this project and share their work and experience. A special thanks to all the cultural realities that have given their support, It is thanks to this network of collaborations that we can bring to New York an important piece of Italian culture and continue to build a live dialogue between Italy and the United States.”
The journey into the world of Collodi will start on September 8, in the space of SullaLuna NYC Bookstore, with an evening dedicated to the different interpretations of Pinocchio through animation cinema and illustration. The puppet and whale by Roberto Catani and Pinocchio by Beatrice Pucci will be presented. The projections will be followed by a meeting with the public and a session of questions and answers. To introduce the evening will be Vanessa Roghi, historical and author and Tiro to Segno Visiting Fellow in Italian American Studies at New York University.
The program will continue on September 9 at the Auditorium of the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò of New York University, where scholars and representatives of the institutions will discuss in the panel “The Many Lives of Pinocchio – The many lives of Pinocchio”. The meeting will be attended by Larry Wolff, Julius Silver Professor of European History at New York University; Perri Klass, Professor of Journalism and Pediatrics NYU; David Forgacs, Zerilli Marimò Professor of Contemporary Italian Studies; NYU; and Silvia Giulia Ghia, Councillor for Culture, Educational and Youth Policies and Sport of the 1st Town Hall of Rome.
The panel will be coordinated and moderated by Vanessa Roghi, NYU.
The meeting will be an opportunity to explore the longevity of Pinocchio as an international cultural phenomenon, analyzing the many interpretations and the continuous return to contemporary imagination.
The route will end on September 10 at the Quad Cinema in Manhattan, with a double cinema event that will ideally compare two of the most important Italian reinterpretations of the work of Collodi: Pinocchio by Matteo Garrone, and The Adventures of Pinocchio by Luigi Comencini.
The Pinocchio by Garrone, with Federico Ielapi as Pinocchio, Roberto Benigni as Geppetto, Marine Vacth as the Turkish-haired fairy, Gigi Proietti as Mangiafuoco, Rocco Papaleo as Gatto and Massimo Ceccherini in the role of Fox, proposes a visual and deeply personal interpretation of the Collodi world.
Matteo Garrone will offer his contribution to the evening through a video dedicated to the presentation of his Pinocchio, sharing with the New York public his own look on the rereading of the masterpiece of Collodi.
To follow will be presented The adventures of Pinocchio by Luigi Comencini, with Andrea Balestri in the role of Pinocchio, Nino Manfredi in the role of Geppetto, Gina Lollobrigida in the role of the Turkish Fairy, Franco Franchi in the role of the Cat, Ciccio Ingrassia in the role of the Fox, Vittorio De Sica in the role of the Judge and Lionel Stander in the role of Mangiafuoco.
For the occasion will be presented the film version of the screenplay with subtitles in English, allowing the international public to rediscover one of the most famous adaptations of the work of Collodi. The screenplay, written by Luigi Comencini with Suso Cecchi D’Amico, has deeply marked the Italian imagination since its first airing in 1972.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the public with Giancarlo Lombardi, Professor of Italian at the College of Staten Island & The Graduate Center, CUNY, and Morena Corradi, Associate Professor of Italian at Queens College and The Graduate Center, CUNY.
A special contribution to the project will be that of Francesca Comencini, who wanted to share with the public of the big apple a video dedicated to the presentation of the work of the father, offering a personal testimony on the film and the connection with the cinema of Luigi Comencini.
Francesca Comencini and Matteo Garrone will be so ideally present at the evening, through two personal contributions that put in dialogue two generations of Italian cinema and two different interpretations of the same masterpiece.
The comparison between the films of Luigi Comencini and Matteo Garrone represents one of the central moments of the festival: two eras, two artistic sensibilities and two different cinematic languages meet through the same character.
The Pinocchio of Comencini, deeply rooted in the Italian collective memory, dialogues with that of Garrone, born from a contemporary look and a new cinema vision of the world of Collodi.
With The Carlo Collodi Legacy, it expands its path and consolidates the desire to create in New York a space of dialogue and discussion dedicated to the Italian film and art culture.
From the Oscar season to Carlo Collodi, the project relates contemporary Italian cinema with one of its most universal literary heritage. Pinocchio thus becomes the meeting point between past and present, between Italy and the United States, between literature, cinema, art and research.
The project is realized thanks to the contribution of the General Direction Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture, with the support of the Consulate General of Italy in New York and the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò of New York University, in collaboration with SullaLuna NYC Bookstore, with the patronage of the Carlo Collodi Foundation and the National Committee for the celebrations of the bicentenary of the birth of Carlo Collodi.
L’articolo Pinocchio and Collodi return to live on the big screen, in New York proviene da IlNewyorkese.
