The Renzo Renzi library

A Centre for Cinema Studies

The driving force for study at the Bologna Cineteca, the Renzo Renzi Library is dedicated to research and the conservation of documents and archival collections linked to film and photography. Created with the aim of documenting the history, theoretical evolution and technique of cinema, the library also encourages awareness of film as an artistic and cultural phenomenon. It is named after someone who decided over three decades ago that the cinema industry should have its very own public hall of knowledge. Renzo Renzi was one of the founders of Bologna’s Cinema Commission, out of which was created the Cineteca, and his support for the project took on concrete form when he donated a large share of his own books to the nascent library.

The Library in Numbers

A few figures paint the picture: around 38,000 volumes, 1,100 Italian and foreign magazines and journals from the age of silent film to the present day, 18,000 examples of audiovisual media, 200,000 film posters and over 1,500,000 photographs. Numbers that reveal how the Renzo Renzi Library has over the years become one of the primary centres for film documentation in the world, thanks to important acquisitions and donations of significant archival collections. The library’s evolving development has been made possible by a continuous growth in standing, allowing the Cineteca to strengthen relationships with producers, distributors, directors and actors in Italy and abroad, as well as stills photographers, film critics, cinema historians and collectors.

A Historic Memory Captured in All Its Variety

A collection characterized by immense variety: today, in addition to the photography and graphics archives, the library in Via Azzo Gardino 65/B also houses the Charlie Chaplin Archive and the Pier Paolo Pasolini Research Centre and Archive, two priceless legacies which have helped define the Cineteca’s history. And while these two archives open up international horizons, they are complemented by a corresponding focus on preserving local memory, with the acquisition and promotion of photographic collections.

Renzo Renzi library's director: Anna Fiaccarini
anna.fiaccarini@comune.bologna.it
(+39) 0512195300