by MK
LuceLabCinecittà and the Italian National Association of Film Authors (ANAC) have announced a new scenography training program set to launch in Gorizia, Italy, on October 6, 2025. The initiative, titled “Dalla Matita al Ciak” (From Pencil to Clapperboard), was unveiled during a press conference at the Italian Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival.
The program coincides with Gorizia’s designation—alongside Nova Gorica in Slovenia—as the first-ever cross-border European Capital of Culture. The lab will bring expertise from Rome’s renowned Cinecittà studios to the northeastern Italian city, underscoring the area’s growing role in film and audiovisual production.
The 350-hour course will train 18 aspiring set designers in both the artistic and technical aspects of scenography. It will be led by director and set designer Beppe Gaudino, with instruction from eight prominent figures in the Italian scenography scene.
Participants will study the visual language of cinema, from spatial and lighting composition to the relationship between real locations and reconstructed sets. The program is designed to equip students with practical skills for entry into the film industry, particularly in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, where film production has expanded in recent years.
The initiative is part of a broader collaboration between LuceLabCinecittà, ANAC, and the GO! 2025 cultural initiative. It is supported by regional film and audiovisual institutions, training centers, and local production companies.
Speakers at the announcement included Lucia Borgonzoni, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture with responsibility for cinema, and Chiara Sbarigia, president of Cinecittà. ANAC president Francesco Ranieri Martinotti, who also conceived and coordinated the project, moderated the event.
Gorizia, Borgonzoni noted, “is a border city in the best sense of the word— a place of exchange, of encounter, of multiple identities. It is deeply European and deserves national support for all it has to offer.”
