Cinema Uffizi

“The most beautiful cinema in the world, designed by Giorgio Vasari” is how any headline should run for Apriti Cinema.

No further comment; the easiest of pieces to write.

The organizers are going to loathe me for saying this, but so exciting is the thought of seeing a film in the piazza of the Uffizi that movie goers really couldn’t give two hoots about what’s showing. But since this is a superlative summer in superlative Florence, the playbill is almost as stimulating as the setting with a bel cinematographic tasting tour, picking and choosing from the city’s finest film festivals.

Clapping the clapperboard alongside Florence mayor Dario Nardella, Uffizi director Eike Schmidt was visibly moved on Vasari’s behalf. How the Arezzo-born architect’s heart would have leapt, seeing his courtyard serving its purpose as a public space more than 400 years on, with people even packing into the side loggias!

Roll the cameras! Ok, the lights stay on, but the bluish light from the projection just adds to the magic of the “U” of the Uffizi.

Apriti Cinema!
Piazzale degli Uffizi, Florence
Catch movies nightly at 10pm until July 19
All films are shown in original language with Italian subtitles
Full program here.