Il Cinema della Normale

The Cinema della Normale launched in 2017 as part of the Scuola Normale Superiore’s Third Mission activities, to enhance Piazza dei Cavalieri as a venue for promoting and disseminating culture.

Organised in collaboration with the Cineclub Arsenale, the programme has featured, from the outset, themed series of film screenings, introduced by SNS researchers and scholars from other institutions in Pisa, as well as by film professionals. The free screenings have attracted hundreds of local residents, students from Pisa’s universities, and tourists, helping restore the square’s original role as a place for people to meet, socialise, and share experiences of culture.

Alongside this open-air summer programme, a second series was subsequently launched at the Cineclub Arsenale itself, entitled Soundtrack. Viaggio tra le note del cinema (A Journey through the Music of Cinema), focusing on film scores and the use of classical music in film. All the films in both editions of this series were introduced by Carlo Boccadoro, Artistic Director of I Concerti della Normale.

Since 2023, the collaboration between the Scuola Normale Superiore and the Cineclub has been further consolidated and expanded, with a programme of screenings held at the Cineclub Arsenale during the winter and spring months.