On Monday, November 4, Giunti Odeon will celebrate a year of successful business, having resurrected the Palazzo dello Strozzino as a cultural hub after a slump caused by Covid and streaming.
The bookstore and cinema combo now looks to the future with a spring in its step. As a line forms every morning outside its historic ashlar walls, international students, Florentines and visitors from all over Italy and around the world hunker down in the plush golden seats, making use of the free WI-FI and inspiring surroundings.
In addition to browsing the 25,000-plus titles in what used to be the cinema stalls and indulging in 9pm film screenings, often in the original language and always subtitled, Giunti Odeon appeals to all ages with book presentations (even in the Romance, Young Adult and BookTok genres), exhibitions, and film and photography courses as well as children’s workshops and a popular book club, all coordinated by artistic director Gabriele Ametrano. International authors like James Ellroy, Tracy Chevalier and Jeffrey Deaver have all sung the praises of presenting their books on the hallowed stage of the century-old cultural centre.
An interesting fact is that Giunti Odeon has fast become the cinema with the highest ticket sales in Florence and Tuscany, despite only having one showing a day. Meanwhile, it’s the bookstore that acts as the “cash cow”, exceeding all of the owner’s expectations by 20 percent.
November 4 brings a day of celebration with percussion band Bandao playing at 4.30pm in piazza Strozzi before heading indoors to the stage. Riccardo Nencini, president of Gabinetto Vieusseux and Maestro Edoardo Rosolini, coordinator at the Fiesole Music School, will announce forthcoming partnerships with Giunti Odeon, followed by a lecture (in Italian) on the joy of writing by crime writer Marco Malvaldi. A free showing of Giuseppe Bertolucci’s Berlinguer ti voglio bene will take place at 9pm. As a thank-you from the owners, the Giunti publishing company, everyone who visits GO on November 4 will receive a free book.
