Fellini Museum, Rimini

The city of Rimini, a popular seaside resort in Northern Italy, has dedicated a distributed museum to Federico Fellini, one of the greatest film directors of all time.

Cover image: Castel Sismondo, one of the three venues of the Fellini Museum; photo: Ufficio Stampa Comune di Rimini

Fellini won four Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film with La Strada (1954), Nights of Cabiria (1957), 81⁄2 (1963), and Amarcord (1874), and received the Lifetime Achievement Honorary Award in 1993.

Opened to the public on August 19, 2021, the Fellini Museum is a cinema museum that presents the work of the Italian director – born in Rimini on January 20, 1920 – through over five hours of clips presented in an immersive and interactive permanent exhibition. Along with videos, the exhibition also features documents, drawings, scene clothes by Danilo Donati, props, photographs, and notebooks belonging to composer Nino Rota, who created many film scores for Fellini.

The Fellini Museum occupies three locations in the historic center of Rimini, Castel Sismondo, a 15th-century fortress designed also by Filippo Brunelleschi; Palazzo del Fulgor, an 18th -century building, home to the legendary cinema immortalized in Amarcord and now arranged after a design by three-time Academy Awards winner, Dante Ferretti; and Piazza Malatesta, a large urban space with open-air performance areas, art installations, a water mirror, and a large circular bench that, like the one in the final scenes of 8½, is a tribute to life, solidarity, and socialization.

Video clips from La Dolce Vita projected on the facade of the Galli Theater in Piazza Malatesta; photo: Ufficio Stampa Comune di Rimini.

A bird’s eye view of Castel Sismondo, the main venue of the Fellini Museum.

Two permanent exhibition rooms of the Fellini Museum at Castel Sismondo; photos Lorenzo Burlando.

A gallery dedicated to Fellini’s wife, actress Giulietta Masina; photo Lorenzo Burlando.

Rooms with props and video clip from “La Dolce Vita”; photos Lorenzo Burlando.

Scene clothes by Danilo Donati for the famous “liturgical fashion show” in the film “Roma” (1972); photo Lorenzo Burlando.

One of the galleries of the Fellini Museum at Palazzo del Fulgor; photo Lorenzo Burlando.

A clip from “La Dolce Vita” featuring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg; Piazza Malatesta, Rimini.