As Film Festival 2026 at Casa del Cinema, November 14 and 15, 2026

The As Film Festival 2026, the 14th edition, takes place on Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15, 2026 at Casa del Cinema in Villa Borghese, Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1 (00197 Rome), in Sala Cinecittà, with free admission while seats last. Organized by the association Not Equal, it is the first film festival curated by a mostly neurodivergent staff: it presents Italian, international and animated short films and, on Sunday, November 15 from 17:00, the screening and awards of the shorts in the 42HRS contest, made in 42 hours. At Casa del Cinema free events require a coupon, handed out starting 30 minutes before the start. The pedestrian entrance is from Piazzale del Brasile. Metro line A stops at Spagna, Barberini and Flaminio, and on public holidays, in addition to bus lines 61, 89, 160, 490, 495, 590 and C3, the 120F and 150F also run. The program is published on the official website asfilmfestival.org.

Language: a performance based on dance, music or visual acts; no English version is announced, any spoken parts are in Italian.

A weekend of short films, two intense days, a 118-seat theater and an idea with no equivalent in Italy: a real film festival, with competitions, juries and awards, made largely by people on the autism spectrum. The As Film Festival is not a festival about autism, as its organizers are keen to point out, but a film festival, the same as the others and yet different. It reaches its 14th edition after difficult months, and announced it anyway, with a determination that in our view deserves a full house.

The As Film Festival 2026 at a glance

The As Film Festival 2026 is the 14th edition of the international short film festival organized by the association Not Equal, and it is held on November 14 and 15, 2026 in Sala Cinecittà at Casa del Cinema.

A neurodiverse festival

The festival presents itself as the first international festival of film and visual arts conceived and produced by a neurodiverse staff, meaning one made up of neurotypical and neurodivergent people. Casa del Cinema describes it as the first film festival curated by a mostly neurodivergent staff.

Free admission

As at every edition, admission is free while seats last. At Casa del Cinema free events work with a coupon you pick up at the box office starting 30 minutes before the start, and once a screening has begun you can't enter the theater.

Two days

In recent editions Saturday was devoted mainly to the short film competitions and the section on neurodivergence, Sunday to the 42HRS contest. The 2026 rules confirm that the 42HRS shorts will be screened and awarded on Sunday, November 15, starting at 17:00.

A dedicated edition

The staff announced that the 14th edition will be dedicated to Marco, one of its longtime members, who died in 2026 and is remembered in a long text by the artistic director on the festival website. It is an edition born, in the organizers' own words, with the will to be the best of all.

The sections of the As Film Festival

The As Film Festival has three competitive sections, Punti di vista, Points of View and Animation Now!, and a showcase devoted to neurodivergence, Ragionevolmente Differenti.

Punti di vista

This is the open-theme section devoted to Italian short films. In 2025 it gave the award for best Italian short film to Amina by Serena Tondo, for portraying a lesser-known aspect of Afghan culture tied to the condition of women.

Points of View

This is the competition for international short films. In 2025 it included works from Denmark, Spain, Turkey, Poland, Georgia and Lithuania, among them Free Words: A Poet from Gaza by Abdullah Harun İlhan and Quarter by Maja Górczak.

Animation Now!

This is the competition for animated shorts from all over the world, with no limits of technique, from traditional drawing to stop motion to computer graphics, or of genre. In 2025 the titles came from Brazil, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan, Slovakia, Portugal, Belgium, Spain and Italy.

Ragionevolmente Differenti

This is the themed showcase that portrays neurodivergence through film and audiovisual work. In 2025 it opened the festival on Saturday at 15:00 with Tito by the Spanish director Javier Celay, The Birth of a Mall Goth by the British director Samantha Locock and Spray Bottle by the American director Jenna Kanell.

The 42HRS contest: a short film in 42 hours

The 42HRS is the As Film Festival contest for crews of filmmakers, launched in 2018: the finalist crews have 42 hours to shoot and edit an original short film, which is screened and awarded at Casa del Cinema.

The 2026 rules

Participation is free and applications closed at 24:00 on Thursday, October 22, 2026. Each crew must have at least three members and submit a showreel. The artistic direction picks 10 finalist crews, who compete for the jury award and an audience award.

The countdown

The contest starts at 15:00 on Friday, November 13, when the crews receive via streaming the instructions and any required elements, such as lines of dialogue, characters, settings or genres. The finished shorts must be delivered by hand to Casa del Cinema by 13:00 on Sunday, November 15.

The requirements

The short films must run between 3 and 6 minutes, plus one minute of end credits at most, with a resolution no lower than 1080p. Images, animations and visual effects must be made within the 42 hours, and existing music is allowed only with the rights.

The award

A jury of professionals gives the ASFF42hrs2026 award of 1,000 euros gross to the best short film, plus any awards for artistic and technical categories. The screening and awards ceremony take place on Sunday, November 15 from 17:00, with at least one representative of each crew present.

Not Equal, the association that organizes the festival

Not Equal is a cultural association that since 2008 has organized events and workshops based on using film as a tool for non-formal education and social connection for young people with autism, and since 2013 has organized the As Film Festival.

The kids' film club

It all began in 2008 with the kids' film club, a theory and practice workshop that uses film as a tool for socialization and inclusion for young people on the autism spectrum. The Italian National Youth Agency listed it among the good practices of the European program Youth in Action 2007-2013.

The recognitions

For the As Film Festival the association received the medal of the President of the Italian Republic and the high patronage of the European Parliament. In 2017 it was among the winners of the Migrarti call of the Ministry of Culture with the series Così lontano così vicino, storie di migranti.

T57, the autism-friendly center

In 2018, thanks to the Cosa Vuoi Fare da Giovane call of the Italian National Youth Agency, Not Equal opened T57 in Rome, at Via Tripolitania 57, the first autism-friendly cultural center. That same year it launched the film literacy project AS Film Festival School with middle and high schools in Lazio.

Recent years

In 2021 and 2023 the association won the Vitamina G call of the Lazio Region to map autism-friendly settings, and in 2022 and 2024 the Progetti Territoriali call of the Piano Cinema e Immagini per le Scuole. Since 2024 it has also worked in short film distribution and collaborates on audiovisual productions.

The project: the right to take part in culture

The As Film Festival grows out of a principle of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone's right to take part in cultural life and to enjoy the arts, set out in Article 27 and reaffirmed by the Faro Convention, signed by Italy on February 27, 2013.

Not a festival about autism

The festival defines itself as a cultural project unique of its kind: not a festival about autism, but a real film festival, made largely by people with autism. The goal is to promote quality cinema, contribute to a culture of neurodiversity and let those who organize it feel like an active part of the country's social and cultural life.

The same as the others, but different

The festival's tagline sums up the idea: a festival the same as the others, but different. The same in its structure, with competitions, juries and awards, different in who builds it.

Who has supported it

Over the years the festival has had the support of institutions such as the Lazio Region, since 2016, and the Ministry of Culture, since 2020, as well as the Italian National Youth Agency, the Fondazione MAXXI, which hosted it in its auditorium, and the Federazione italiana dei circoli del cinema. Since 2015 it has received the patronage of RAI several times, and Rai Movie was its main media partner for years.

A difficult 2026

In September 2026 the staff described complicated months on the website: the loss of a friend, exclusion from the rankings for the regional support won in previous years, a cyberattack on the website and social media profiles. And it announced that the 2026 edition will go ahead anyway.

Recent editions in numbers

In 2025 the As Film Festival received 710 short film submissions and selected 43, while in 2024 there had been 803 submissions and 41 selected.

2025

The 13th edition took place on Saturday, November 15 and Sunday, November 16, 2025 at Casa del Cinema. On Saturday, in Sala Cinecittà, the Ragionevolmente Differenti showcase and the blocks of the Italian competition followed one another from 15:00, and Sunday was devoted to the eighth edition of the 42HRS, won by Dopo la rivoluzione by the crew Povera Gente.

2024

In 2024, at the end of the Saturday awards, the festival organized a special screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which sold out. That same year ASFF OnTheRoad returned, the traveling version of the festival with partner associations and organizations.

The photographs

The images of recent editions, by Irene Della Casa, are published on the festival website: Sala Cinecittà, the foyer, the talks, the festival T-shirts, the photocall.

Casa del Cinema, home of the As Film Festival

Casa del Cinema is at Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1, inside Villa Borghese and near Via Veneto, in the Casina delle Rose building, restored and opened on September 18, 2004. Our page on Casa del Cinema in Villa Borghese covers its program.

Sala Cinecittà

The festival uses Sala Cinecittà, the largest of the venue's three theaters, with 118 seats. The others are Sala Fellini, with 64 seats, and Sala Gian Maria Volonté, with 46, and in summer there is also the open-air Teatro Ettore Scola, with 300 seats.

The foyer and the spaces

The foyer of Casa del Cinema is where people meet between one screening and the next. The venue also has Salotto Suso, the Sergio Amidei and Cesare Zavattini exhibition spaces, Terrazza Anna Magnani, a study room and the bar and restaurant.

The management

Since 2023 Casa del Cinema has been run by Fondazione Cinema per Roma, with artistic director Paola Malanga. The idea for the venue came from Felice Laudadio, who directed it until 2011, followed by Caterina D'Amico and Giorgio Gosetti.

From dairy to cinema

The building was Villa Manfroni Bernini, bought by the Borghese family in 1833 and restored by Luigi Canina as a restaurant. After 1849 it was a stable and dairy, in the 1930s the luxury restaurant Casina delle Rose, in the Dolce Vita years the dance hall La Lucciola. Abandoned from 1976, it has been restored since 2001.

A curious fact about As Film Festival 2026 at Casa del Cinema, November 14 and 15, 2026

The best curious fact is about a man's shoulder bag. Over the years the festival staff interviewed actors and filmmakers such as Sermonti, Piccioni, Ferrario, Haber, Marchioni and Falaschi for its web TV, and with Haber, Marchioni and Falaschi took part in a real film, Quanto basta. In the remembrance published by the artistic director in September 2026, he recounts that on set the costume designer asked Marco, one of the festival's young people, to take off his shoulder bag, because the main character wore an identical one. The staff knew that detail had been borrowed from him, like many of the stories told in the film. It's an anecdote that says better than any introduction what this festival is: people who live cinema as protagonists, not as extras.

The second curious fact is in its origins. The festival grew out of a film club started in 2008 for a small group of young people, at the wish of some of their mothers. After a trip to Turin for the Cinemautismo series came the idea of a festival all their own. The first edition was in 2013. Third curious fact: the 42HRS requires the crews to deliver their shorts by hand to Casa del Cinema by 13:00 on Sunday, a few hours before the screening. Anyone in the theater at 17:00 sees films finished literally that morning.

Something nobody tells you about As Film Festival 2026 at Casa del Cinema, November 14 and 15, 2026

What few people know is that the festival has a single theater, the 118-seat Sala Cinecittà, and that some screenings have sold out in the past: in 2024 the tickets for the Saturday night Rocky Horror Picture Show ran out before the evening. With free admission managed by coupons, which Casa del Cinema hands out starting 30 minutes before the start, anyone who arrives late for the 42HRS awards risks being left out. Our tip is to get to the box office well ahead of time, especially on Sunday afternoon.

A second thing rarely mentioned: the 42HRS is open to anyone with a crew of at least three people and a showreel to show, and participation is free. Applications for 2026 closed on October 22, so anyone thinking of taking part in the future can come this year as a spectator and see how it works. Third thing: in 2026 the festival goes ahead without the regional support it had received for years, as the staff itself has explained. A large audience in the theater is the most concrete way to support it.

My tip for visiting As Film Festival 2026 at Casa del Cinema, November 14 and 15, 2026

My tip is to go on Sunday afternoon, for the screening and awards of the 42HRS from 17:00. It's the liveliest moment of the festival: 10 short films made in 42 hours, crews in the theater, a jury of professionals, an audience award. After an hour and a half of shorts shot over the weekend you leave with a precise idea of how creative cinema can be when it has little time and few resources.

If time allows, my tip is to come back on Saturday too for the competitions: the Ragionevolmente Differenti showcase, which opened the day at 15:00 in recent editions, is the thematic heart of the festival and the section in which film portrays neurodivergence. In our view, seeing those films in a theater run by neurodivergent people changes your point of view more than any conference. Finally, if you come with teenagers, check the program for any shorts restricted to adults, flagged by Casa del Cinema.

How to get to Casa del Cinema

You can reach Casa del Cinema on metro line A at Spagna, Barberini and Flaminio and on bus lines 61, 89, 160, 490, 495, 590 and C3, plus the 120F and 150F on public holidays. The pedestrian entrance is from Piazzale del Brasile.

By metro

From Spagna station you walk up toward Porta Pinciana: it's the shortest route. From Barberini you walk up Via Veneto. From Flaminio you enter the park from Piazzale Flaminio.

By bus

The festival is held on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday the 120F and 150F also run, and for the trip home at night there are the night buses N1 and N25. The ATAC journey planner shows the lines in service.

On foot

From Piazza del Popolo you walk up to the Pincio and cross Villa Borghese. From Via Veneto you pass Porta Pinciana and the entrance is a few minutes away.

By car

Parking around Villa Borghese on weekends is very difficult. Public transport or a taxi is a better choice.

Admission and theater rules

At the As Film Festival 2026 admission is free while seats last: at Casa del Cinema you pick up the coupon at the box office, open every day from 10:00 to 22:00, starting 30 minutes before each event.

The box office

Casa del Cinema answers at 06 40401604, from 12:00 to 22:00, and at casadelcinema@romacinemafest.org. For the festival, information is on the website asfilmfestival.org.

In the theater

You can't enter once a screening has begun, phones must be switched off and audio and video recording is prohibited. Screenings are usually in the original language with subtitles, and for international shorts the subtitle language is indicated by the festival.

Villa Borghese on the festival weekend

Casa del Cinema is inside Villa Borghese, the 80-hectare park bought by the State in 1901 and opened by the City in 1903. The page on Villa Borghese tells its history.

In the morning

The festival starts in the afternoon, so you can spend the morning at Galleria Borghese, by reservation, or at the park's smaller museums, the Museo Pietro Canonica and the Museo Carlo Bilotti.

With young people

The Bioparco and Casina di Raffaello are a few minutes away: for a family, a morning in the park and the afternoon at the festival make a full Sunday.

Where to eat

At Casa del Cinema there's the Bar Ristorante Cast, Cine Bistrot: every day from 18:30 to 21:30 anyone who shows a ticket for a screening gets 20% off the aperitivo.

The Cine Bistrot

The bistro is run by Food Service, in renovated rooms. With a university ID the discount on food and drinks is 20%, with the MIC Card 10%. Between the afternoon session and the awards it's the most convenient spot.

Outside the park

Beyond Porta Pinciana, toward Via Veneto and the Ludovisi district, you'll find bars and restaurants for dinner after the Sunday awards.

Accessibility and hospitality

Casa del Cinema states that it guarantees accessibility for people with disabilities. For paid screenings it offers a free ticket for anyone accompanying a person with a disability who cannot walk and a 20% discount for the person with a disability.

A festival built for everyone

The As Film Festival is organized by an association that since 2018 has run the first autism-friendly cultural center in Rome and has worked on mapping autism-friendly settings. For specific hospitality needs it's best to write to the staff through the festival website before the day.

For free screenings

For the festival, which is free, the rule of the coupon picked up at the box office applies. Anyone who needs a particular seat in the theater would do well to show up when distribution begins.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

In the world of short film festivals people know the As Film Festival has existed for more than 10 years. It's less often remembered that it was also hosted by the Fondazione MAXXI in the auditorium of the museum on Via Guido Reni, and that for years it had the patronage of RAI, with Rai Movie as main media partner and with media partners such as Rai Cinema, Rai Cultura, Repubblica.it, Cinecittà News and Fred. A festival born from a film club has built, year after year, a network of institutional support that few events of its size can claim.

There's a second fact known to insiders and rarely mentioned outside. In 2024, at its 12th edition, the festival won the Cinepromozione call of the Lazio Region for the ninth year in a row. In 2026, for the first time, the regional support did not come, as the staff has explained. The festival chose to go ahead anyway. The third fact concerns the competitions: 710 shorts submitted in 2025 and 803 in 2024 mean the festival is known and respected among filmmakers, in Italy and abroad, well beyond its 118-seat theater.

The right photo to take at As Film Festival 2026 at Casa del Cinema, November 14 and 15, 2026

The right photo is of the photocall and the foyer, the space where, as the images of past editions by Irene Della Casa show, the festival comes together: the conversations between one screening and the next, the interviews, the staff T-shirts. On Sunday, after the 42HRS awards, the photo of the 10 crews with the audience is the one that lasts. If you photograph people, always do it with their consent, especially at a festival where the sensitivity of the organizers is part of the project.

In the theater, during screenings, the Casa del Cinema rules prohibit any recording and anti-piracy checks are in place. Outside, the second image is the pale facade of the old Casina delle Rose with the sign of Largo Marcello Mastroianni, in the early November afternoon, before the light fades. The third, if you arrive on foot, is along the leaf-covered paths of Villa Borghese: the road to the festival is already worth the walk.

Some important events that happened here in history

The history of Casa del Cinema begins in 1833, when the Borghese princes buy Villa Manfroni Bernini near Porta Pinciana, and Luigi Canina restores it as a restaurant. In 1849 the battle between the defenders of the Roman Republic and the French troops damages it, and the building becomes a stable and dairy. In 1901 the State buys Villa Borghese and in 1903 hands it over to the City. In the 1930s the luxury restaurant Casina delle Rose opens, in the Dolce Vita years the dance hall La Lucciola, and in 1976 the abandonment begins. In 2001 the restoration starts and on September 18, 2004 Walter Veltroni opens Casa del Cinema. In 2023 management passes to Fondazione Cinema per Roma.

For the festival the dates are different. In 2008 Not Equal starts the kids' film club, in 2013 the As Film Festival is born, from 2015 comes the patronage of RAI, from 2016 the support of the Lazio Region, and in 2018 the 42HRS and the T57 center on Via Tripolitania are born. In November 2024 and November 2025 the festival brings its shorts to Sala Cinecittà at Casa del Cinema. On November 14 and 15, 2026 the 14th edition, dedicated to Marco, is held here.

Who has passed through As Film Festival 2026 at Casa del Cinema, November 14 and 15, 2026

First of all, the young men and women who make it have passed through the As Film Festival: the 2025 staff included the artistic and organizational direction of Giuseppe Cacace, with Cristina Scognamillo, Marco Bolsi, Glauco Almonte and Elisa Costacurta, the technical direction of Paolo Patarca, the curators Marco Manservigi, Serena Santori, Nicola Chiodi, Adriano Bordoni, Erica Omallini and Luca Battaglia, the illustrations by Sonia Crispo and the photographs by Irene Della Casa and Marco Bartolomucci. In front of the cameras of the festival's web TV came Sermonti, Piccioni, Ferrario, Haber, Marchioni and Falaschi. On screen, hundreds of directors have passed through, including in 2025 Serena Tondo, Javier Celay, Samantha Locock and Jenna Kanell.

Casa del Cinema, for its part, has seen the people who wanted and directed it: Felice Laudadio, Walter Veltroni, Caterina D'Amico, Giorgio Gosetti and today Paola Malanga, and its spaces bear the names of Fellini, Gian Maria Volonté, Ettore Scola, Sergio Amidei, Cesare Zavattini and Anna Magnani, with Marcello Mastroianni on the square in front of the entrance. In autumn 2026 it hosted the Rom-E conference, the Ukrainian-Polish Film Festival, the Euro Balkan Film Festival and the Muestra de Cine Mexicano. On November 14 and 15 the 10 crews of the 42HRS and the audience of the As Film Festival arrive.

Mid-November in Rome

The As Film Festival 2026 falls on the second weekend of November, a quiet period for the city, between the autumn film series and the start of the holidays.

The weather

In mid-November the days are short and often rainy. If you reach Casa del Cinema through the park, bring an umbrella. On the way out, after the awards, the route toward Porta Pinciana is the best lit.

A weekend of cinema

The As Film Festival closes the autumn sequence of international film series at Casa del Cinema, after the Ukrainian-Polish Film Festival, the Euro Balkan Film Festival and the Muestra de Cine Mexicano.

Frequently asked questions about the As Film Festival

When does the As Film Festival 2026 take place?

The As Film Festival 2026, the 14th edition, takes place on Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15, 2026 in Sala Cinecittà at Casa del Cinema in Villa Borghese. The screening and awards of the 42HRS contest are scheduled for Sunday, November 15 from 17:00.

Is admission to the As Film Festival free?

Yes, admission to the As Film Festival is free while seats last. At Casa del Cinema the coupon for free events is picked up at the box office starting 30 minutes before the start of each event.

What is the As Film Festival?

The As Film Festival is the first international film festival curated by a mostly neurodivergent staff, organized by the association Not Equal since 2013. It is not a festival about autism but a short film festival, with Italian, international and animation competitions.

What is the 42HRS?

The 42HRS is the As Film Festival contest in which 10 finalist crews have 42 hours to make a short film of 3 to 6 minutes. In 2026 the contest starts on Friday, November 13 at 15:00, and the jury award is worth 1,000 euros gross.

How do you take part in the 42HRS 2026?

Participation in the 42HRS 2026 of the As Film Festival was free: you filled out the form on the festival website by 24:00 on October 22, 2026, with a crew of at least three people and at least one link to a showreel or to previous work.

Where is Casa del Cinema?

Casa del Cinema, home of the As Film Festival, is at Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1, 00197 Rome, inside Villa Borghese near Via Veneto. The pedestrian entrance is from Piazzale del Brasile, and metro line A stops at Spagna, Barberini and Flaminio.

The final tip on the As Film Festival

The As Film Festival is a festival small in size and big in idea: short films from all over the world chosen and presented by a neurodiverse staff, in a theater in Villa Borghese, for free. My tip is to be there on Sunday, November 15 for the 42HRS, arriving early for the coupon, and if possible on Saturday too for the competitions. In our view, in a year when the festival chose to go ahead anyway, a full house is the best answer.

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