Exhibition in Bologna: the great posters of arthouse cinema
On display in Bologna are posters restored by SacWebphoto: twelve masterpieces of Italian cinema printed on canvas, combining history and visual art.
There is a precise moment, upon entering the Salaborsa Library, when everything stops.
Your gaze rises almost by chance, drawn to something that is not just graphics, not just memory. It is living painting.
Twelve Italian vintage movie posters, hung along the first-floor balcony, take your mind and heart back in time.
They do not look like simple posters. They look like paintings.
It really happened, during the 39th edition of the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival.
One visitor, then another, then dozens of people with their noses turned upward.
Enchanted gazes, pointing fingers, someone whispering:
“But... they weren't like that. You remember them differently too, right?”
They were right. Because those posters are not mass-produced copies, but behind each of these works is a digital restoration of the original, carefully restored and printed on canvas on request, with materials chosen to enhance the texture of the color, the brushstrokes, the light.
The posters were provided by SacWebphoto, which, together with the Cineteca di Bologna, is carrying out a project to restore value and visibility to the great Italian school of poster painters.
Posters as works of art
The exhibition will remain on display at Salaborsa until December 15, 2025.
Each poster selected for the exhibition at Salaborsa tells a piece of Italian cinema history: from Riso Amaro to La ragazza con la pistola, passing through Colazione da Tiffany and Guardie e ladri. In this context, the canvas prints reproduce not only the image, but also the living matter of the original illustration: the brushstrokes, the chiaroscuro, the grain of the ink.
In the suspended atmosphere of the library, the colors come to life, and the natural light enhances the faces and details. There is no need for digital effects: the quality of the work, the power of the painting, and the collective memory are enough.
A project with the Bologna Film Library to preserve the Italian school of cinema painters
This initiative is the result of a collaboration between SacWebphoto and the Bologna Film Library, with the aim of preserving and promoting the heritage of Italian poster artists, the undisputed protagonists of visual communication in cinema between the 1940s and 1970s.
Through meticulous high-definition digitization, color restoration, and printing on canvas or photographic paper, SacWebphoto is helping to create a unique digital archive: tens of thousands of vintage posters, billboards, and posters, available to collectors, enthusiasts, and professionals in the field.
To decorate, collect and relive great cinema
The canvas prints provided by SacWebphoto are not only designed for exhibitions: they are also available to order for private or professional use. Each copy is a unique piece, ideal for decorating cultural spaces, creative studios, screening rooms or personal homes.
For those who love vintage cinema, Italian design and film graphics as an art form, our collection represents an opportunity to collect emotions, pass down visual memories and bring the timeless beauty of restored posters into homes.
Under the poster ... a painting. Under the picture... a memory.
