BCT - Benevento national cinema and television festival

Some festivals bring entertainment to a city, while others manage to change the way a city tells its own story. The BCT — Benevento National Cinema and Television Festival belongs to this second category. Born from an idea by Antonio Frascadore, now artistic director of the event, the festival reaches its tenth edition in 2026, confirming Benevento as one of Italy’s most interesting cultural destinations linked to the audiovisual world. Over ten years, BCT has built figures that say far more than simple audience success: over 550,000 spectators, around 600 guests and industry professionals, more than 1,700 screenings, almost 1,000 premieres, 79 countries represented in the official competitions, over 600 events including talks, panels, shows and screenings, and 12 historic locations activated in the heart of the city. This is where the festival reveals its most original strength: it does not simply bring cinema and television to Benevento, but makes Benevento itself part of the story. The Roman Theatre, Piazza Roma, Piazza Santa Sofia and Piazza Federico Torre become natural stages, connecting the city’s Roman and Lombard memory with the contemporary imagination of audiovisual culture. For its tenth edition, the programme opens on July 9 at the Roman Theatre with “Anni Luce — Concert Show”, a symphonic-theatrical performance featuring Lola Ponce, the Benevento Philharmonic Orchestra and iconic soundtracks. In the following days, the festival moves across genres and generations: from Matteo Garrone to Can Yaman, from Pio and Amedeo to Raoul Bova, from Gialappa’s Band to Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, from Elio Germano to Elena Sofia Ricci, with meetings dedicated to series, comedy, popular television, essays and new digital languages. The result is a collective, accessible and deeply urban event, one that does not simply host its audience: it invites people to walk through the city, experience it at night and recognise it as a place of living culture.