Scoprir, 14th Ibero-American Film Showcase at Casa del Cinema, November 26 to 28, 2026

Scoprir 2026, the 14th Ibero-American Film Showcase in Rome, runs from Thursday, November 26, to Saturday, November 28, 2026, at Casa del Cinema, Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1, inside Villa Borghese a short walk from Porta Pinciana and Via Veneto. Screenings are in the Sala Cinecittà and the Sala Fellini and admission is free while seats last: there are no tickets to buy. The showcase is promoted by Instituto Cervantes in Rome, which publishes the program and times on its official website. To get there, the most convenient station is Spagna on metro A, with the exit toward Villa Borghese. Alternatively metro A to Flaminio, tram 2 to the Flaminio terminus, trams 3 and 19 on the north side of the park. For information Instituto Cervantes answers at 06 8537361, Casa del Cinema at 06 40401604.

Language: performed in Italian. No English version or English surtitles are announced.

Scoprir 2026 at a glance

Scoprir is the annual showcase that Instituto Cervantes in Rome devotes to the cinema of Spanish-speaking countries, and from November 26 to 28, 2026, it reaches its 14th edition, again at Casa del Cinema in Villa Borghese and again with free admission.

What Casa del Cinema announces

Casa del Cinema's official listing presents the 2026 edition as the return of Rome's Ibero-American film showcase with a selection of films that celebrate the diversity and cultural richness of Ibero-American countries. The category is film series, there are two screening rooms, the Cinecittà and the Fellini, and for every detail it refers to the Instituto Cervantes website. The film titles, the day-by-day schedule and the screening times haven't been published yet: the full program usually comes out close to the opening.

Three days at the end of November

The format is compact: three consecutive days, from Thursday to Saturday, with screenings alternating between the two rooms. It's the same structure as the most recent editions, held from November 22 to 24, 2024, and from November 28 to 30, 2025, always at Casa del Cinema. If you have a free weekend in Rome at the end of November you can build a whole program around it.

What you'll see at Scoprir

Scoprir offers feature films, short films and documentaries produced in Spain and Latin America, largely unreleased in Italy and screened in the original language with Italian subtitles: this is the format stated for the 2025 edition, and the 2026 presentation confirms its spirit.

The 2026 program

The titles of the 14th edition haven't been announced yet. Instituto Cervantes publishes the detailed program on roma.cervantes.es, and Casa del Cinema updates its event listing with the individual screenings. The advice is to check both websites in the week before November 26, because the sequence of screenings in the two rooms determines which films you can see back to back.

What the 2025 edition was like

To understand what to expect, it helps to look at the previous edition. In 2025 Scoprir brought together films from nine countries, whose embassies worked with Instituto Cervantes: Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela. Alongside the official section there was a focus on contemporary Chilean cinema, an all-female section called Espacio femenino, devoted to women directors and protagonists in a rural setting, and a Spanish animated film also offered to schools.

Last year's films

The 2025 press release mentioned, among others, the Mexican Nómadas de la 57, with a protagonist who was among the first women truck drivers. The Chilean La Jubilada, the story of a woman who returns to her hometown and has to mend family ties. The Dominican Convivencia, built on the climate of suspicion among the residents of a building. The Venezuelan Los herederos, set in an abandoned house. The Uruguayan Una luz afuera. The Chilean Los análogos, with two elderly people marked by the disappearance of their daughter. The Peruvian La casa de las galletas. The Spanish Los destellos. A varied map of genres, from thriller to intimate story.

Mariposas negras and animation

The best-known title of 2025 was Mariposas negras, an animated film made in 2024 by director David Baute and winner of the Goya award for best animated film. Its presence on the program says a lot about Scoprir's calling: bringing to Rome films awarded in their own countries but little distributed in Italy, and opening some screenings to school audiences too.

Who organizes Scoprir: Instituto Cervantes in Rome

Scoprir is organized by Instituto Cervantes in Rome in collaboration with the embassies of the Spanish-American countries in Italy: it's the Rome branch of the Spanish public institution that promotes the language and culture of Spanish-speaking countries.

What Instituto Cervantes is

Instituto Cervantes is named after Miguel de Cervantes and is a public cultural institution created in 1991 by the Spanish government, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its mission is to promote the teaching and use of Spanish and to spread Spanish and Spanish-American culture. It's part of the EUNIC network of national cultural institutes of the European Union and has dozens of centers around the world. Its main offices are in Madrid, in the Palacio de las Cariátides on Calle de Alcalá, and in Alcalá de Henares, Cervantes's birthplace.

The Rome branch

In Rome Instituto Cervantes has its main office at Via di Villa Albani 16, home to the course office and the library, and an exhibition space in the historic center, Sala Dalí at Piazza Navona 91, open Tuesday to Saturday. The institute's cultural program includes literature, theater, music and film, also with online series. Scoprir is its most visible film event, because it leaves the institute's premises and takes over one of the city's leading screening venues for three days.

The curators

The latest editions were curated by Gianfranco Zicarelli: on his own in 2024, for the 12th edition, and together with José Cantos in 2025, for the 13th. The name of the curator of the 14th edition hasn't been published yet. The selection is made together with the embassies, which suggest the most representative films of their countries' recent production.

The role of the embassies

The collaboration with diplomatic missions is what sets Scoprir apart from a competitive festival. There are no juries or prizes: each country brings to Rome a part of its cinema, and the result is a panorama that changes from year to year, depending on the productions available. For the viewer it's a quick way to see, in three days, films from very different areas, from the Southern Cone to the Caribbean.

Casa del Cinema, venue of Scoprir

Casa del Cinema occupies the Casina delle Rose, a 19th-century building in Villa Borghese restored by the City of Rome and inaugurated as a center devoted to film by mayor Walter Veltroni on September 18, 2004. Our page on Casa del Cinema in Villa Borghese describes its program during the year.

From Felice Laudadio to Fondazione Cinema per Roma

The idea of giving Rome a Casa del Cinema came from journalist and cultural manager Felice Laudadio. In September 2001 the venue was identified in the Casina delle Rose, which had been abandoned for 25 years. The complete restoration cost 7 million euros. Laudadio directed it until 2011, then came Caterina D'Amico, until 2014, and Giorgio Gosetti, until 2022. In 2011 management passed from Azienda Speciale Palaexpo to Zètema Progetto Cultura, and since 2023 it has been entrusted to Fondazione Cinema per Roma, the organization behind the Rome Film Fest. The editorial line is handled by artistic director Paola Malanga.

Scoprir's screening rooms

For the Ibero-American showcase Casa del Cinema provides two rooms, the Sala Cinecittà and the Sala Fellini, which run in parallel. The venue has three rooms in all for screenings and talks, an open-air theater, Teatro Ettore Scola, used in summer for free screenings, two exhibition rooms, a café and a restaurant. At the end of November the arena is closed and all activity is concentrated indoors.

The 2023 makeover

In the first months of 2023 the building had its facade, rooms and interior spaces renovated, and the Casa reopened in May of the same year under the new management. If you haven't seen it since before then you'll find renovated spaces, within the same outline as the 19th-century Casina.

Villa Borghese around Casa del Cinema

Villa Borghese is the large public park between Pinciano and Campo Marzio, owned by the city since 1903. Casa del Cinema is on its southern edge, just inside the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pinciana. The whole park is covered in our page on Villa Borghese.

A 17th-century villa

The park comes from the villa of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V and great patron of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who from 1606 had it built by Flaminio Ponzio and then by Giovanni Vasanzio. The work ended in 1633. In the 18th century Marcantonio IV Borghese renovated the Casino nobile, today's Galleria Borghese, and had the Giardino del Lago created. In the 19th century Camillo Borghese extended the villa toward Porta del Popolo and Porta Pinciana with the architect Luigi Canina.

Saved from development

Between the 19th and 20th centuries many of Rome's patrician villas were divided into building lots. Villa Borghese was bought by the State in 1901 and handed to the city in 1903, which opened it to the public: in the same years nearby Villa Ludovisi disappeared under the new neighborhood of Via Veneto. The official name became Villa Umberto I, but nobody uses it.

Nearby museums

On foot from Casa del Cinema you can reach Galleria Borghese, Museo Pietro Canonica, Museo Carlo Bilotti in the Aranciera, Casina di Raffaello and the Bioparco. A Scoprir day can start with a museum in the morning and continue in the screening room in the afternoon, without leaving the park.

A curious fact about Scoprir, 14th Ibero-American Film Showcase at Casa del Cinema, November 26 to 28, 2026

The most interesting curious fact is the biography of the building that hosts the showcase. According to the history published by Casa del Cinema, in 1833 the Borghese princes enlarged their villa by buying some neighboring vineyards and villas, including Villa Manfroni Bernini, right against the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pinciana. It was a building made up of an older part, opened by a loggia, and a lower, more rustic block. The architect Luigi Canina restored it and turned it into a restaurant. After the damage of 1849, during the fighting between the defenders of the Roman Republic and the French troops, it was put to more modest uses, with stables for cows and a shop selling milk and dairy products.

The dairy stayed open even after the villa passed to the city, in 1903. In the 1930s the building became a luxury restaurant under the name Casina delle Rose, documented by a 1932 postcard, and in the years of the Dolce Vita it was a famous dance hall, La Lucciola. A stable, then an elegant restaurant, then a dance hall: the fact that today it hosts a showcase of Latin American cinema, with its stories of families, provinces and social change, has its own logic. The Casina too, after all, is a character that has changed lives many times.

Something nobody tells you about Scoprir, 14th Ibero-American Film Showcase at Casa del Cinema, November 26 to 28, 2026

What few people say is that free admission while seats last is a generous but demanding formula. There's no booking that guarantees a seat, at least in past editions: it's first come, first served. For the most anticipated films, the award winners or those announced with more fanfare, it's best to show up well ahead of the start time, especially in the evening and on the weekend.

The second thing concerns language. All the films are in the original version with Italian subtitles, and that's an advantage: you hear the accents, the rhythm of Madrid Castilian next to that of Mexico City, Santiago, Montevideo or Caracas. For anyone studying Spanish, including in the courses of Instituto Cervantes itself, Scoprir is a listening exercise of rare variety. The third: at the end of November darkness comes early, and walking the park's inner paths at night is less pleasant than by day. To leave after the last screening, the shortest way toward Porta Pinciana and Via Veneto is best, rather than crossing the park.

My advice for seeing Scoprir, 14th Ibero-American Film Showcase at Casa del Cinema, November 26 to 28, 2026

In our view Scoprir should be experienced as a small marathon and not as a single outing. The advice is to pick one of the three days and stay for two or three screenings in a row, alternating rooms: you move from one country to another in the space of an afternoon and grasp the point of the showcase, which is the comparison between film cultures close in language and very distant in history. Saturday is the most convenient day if you work during the week.

Before you go, it's best to print or save the program published by Instituto Cervantes and mark the titles that interest you, keeping in mind the overlaps between the Sala Cinecittà and the Sala Fellini. Between screenings Casa del Cinema's café takes care of the break without going out. If you arrive early you can spend the morning at Galleria Borghese, which requires a booking, or on a walk to the Pincio, before the light fades. And if you come with kids, the animation screenings, when there are any, are the best way in.

How to get to Scoprir at Casa del Cinema

Casa del Cinema is at Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1, inside Villa Borghese near Porta Pinciana. You can reach it on metro A at the Spagna and Flaminio stations, on tram 2 to the Flaminio terminus and on trams 3 and 19 along the north side of the park.

By metro

Spagna station on line A has an exit toward Villa Borghese: from the corridors you go up to the park and in a few minutes you're at Porta Pinciana, that is, at Casa del Cinema. It's the shortest route and the best one in the evening, when you come out of the last screening. Flaminio station instead takes you to Piazzale Flaminio, at the monumental entrance to the park, from which you climb toward the Pincio: convenient on the way there, longer on the way back.

By tram

Tram 2 ends at Flaminio. Trams 3 and 19 run along the northern side of the park with stops at Viale delle Belle Arti and the Bioparco: they're useful if you're coming from San Lorenzo, the Policlinico or Parioli, but from the stop to Casa del Cinema there's a walk through the greenery. For up-to-date times, ATAC's journey planner is the way to go.

On foot from the center

From Piazza di Spagna you climb to Trinità dei Monti and continue toward the park. From Via Veneto you just pass Porta Pinciana and Casa del Cinema is right there. From Piazza del Popolo you climb to the Pincio and cross the park eastward: a nice walk by day, less advisable in the dark.

By car

Parking around Villa Borghese is scarce and fills up early on weekends. The advice is to leave the car and use the metro, which at the end of November, with possible rain, is also the most sheltered choice.

Accessibility and services

Casa del Cinema offers an accessible version of its web pages. For specific needs regarding access to the rooms during Scoprir it's best to write to the venue at casadelcinema@romacinemafest.org or call 06 40401604.

The route through the park

The paths of Villa Borghese are wide and passable with wheelchairs and strollers, and on the Porta Pinciana side the difference in level is smaller than the climb from Piazza del Popolo. For people with mobility difficulties Via Veneto route is the easiest.

Café and restaurant

Inside Casa del Cinema there's a café and a restaurant, useful between screenings. Nearby, toward Via Veneto and the Ludovisi district, there are bars, trattorias and restaurants in every price range. Toward Piazza di Spagna prices go up.

Ibero-American cinema in Rome in autumn

Scoprir closes Rome's autumn of cinema, whose main event in October is the Rome Film Fest, organized by the same Fondazione that runs Casa del Cinema.

After the Festa, the film series

In the weeks after the Festa, Casa del Cinema hosts national and thematic film series, often promoted by foreign cultural institutes and embassies. Scoprir is one of these, and among the longest-running: 14 editions is a rare continuity for a free series. If you also follow the MedFilm Festival you'll find in November another window on less-distributed film cultures.

A mixed audience

A series built with embassies and a language institute naturally draws a varied audience: Spanish students, film buffs, residents of Latin American origin, people passing through Villa Borghese out of curiosity. The original-language screenings make the room a place where Spanish is heard alongside Italian.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

It's well known that Casa del Cinema is in Rome's most famous park. It's less often remembered how long the building was lost. According to the reconstruction published by Casa del Cinema, the abandonment began in 1976, when the concession holders started unauthorized work on a listed building, and the city halted everything until the 1990s. Meanwhile the Casina fell into ruin, struck by lightning and by repeated vandalism. Only in 2001, with funds from law 396 of 1990 for Roma Capitale and the technical and scientific contribution of the city's Superintendency, did the restoration start, which brought the building back to its appearance documented at the beginning of the 20th century, restored on the basis of period images and descriptions.

The second fact concerns the name of the small square in front of the entrance, dedicated to Marcello Mastroianni, a few meters from the start of Via Veneto, the street Italian cinema made famous around the world. An address like that, for a showcase that brings to Rome directors and actors from other continents, is a kind of welcome: anyone entering Casa del Cinema for a Chilean or Mexican film passes under the name of the Italian actor best known abroad. Third fact: Scoprir isn't an occasional guest, because the latest editions have all been held here, at the end of November, with the same free-entry formula.

The right photo to take at Scoprir, 14th Ibero-American Film Showcase at Casa del Cinema, November 26 to 28, 2026

The right photo is the facade of the Casina delle Rose as evening falls, with the windows lit and the pines of Villa Borghese dark in the background. At the end of November darkness comes early, and between five and six in the afternoon the building's artificial lights come on while the sky is still blue: it's the moment when the Casina reveals its double nature, as a 19th-century building and a contemporary cinema. It's best to shoot from the path, a few dozen meters away, to get the whole building and a bit of park around it.

The second image is in the screening room or in front of the program: the poster for the 14th edition, if it's put up at the entrance, with the audience in line. It tells of the popular nature of the showcase, made of people waiting their turn for a free film. The third is a few steps away, at Porta Pinciana, with the towers of the Aurelian Walls and the start of Via Veneto: a shot that brings together imperial Rome and the Rome of cinema. During the screenings, of course, no photos: the rules of the room apply to free film series too.

Some important events that happened here in history

The history of the place begins with the villa of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, built from 1606 by Flaminio Ponzio and completed in 1633 by Giovanni Vasanzio. In 1833 the Borghese bought Villa Manfroni Bernini near Porta Pinciana, the core of today's Casa del Cinema, which Luigi Canina restored and turned into a restaurant. In 1849, during the defense of the Roman Republic against the French troops, the building was damaged and downgraded to a stable and dairy. In 1901 the State bought the villa and in 1903 handed it to the city, which opened it to the public. In the 1930s the luxury restaurant Casina delle Rose was born, documented by a 1932 postcard. After the war the Casina became the dance hall La Lucciola.

In 1976 the long abandonment began, interrupted in 2001 by the restoration funded by the law for Roma Capitale. On September 18, 2004, mayor Walter Veltroni inaugurated Casa del Cinema, directed by Felice Laudadio. In 2011 management passed to Zètema Progetto Cultura, with Caterina D'Amico as director. In 2014 Giorgio Gosetti arrived. In 2023 the Casa passed to Fondazione Cinema per Roma and reopened after the makeover. On November 22, 2024, the 12th edition of Scoprir opened here, on November 28, 2025, the 13th, with films from nine countries. November 26, 2026, is the turn of the 14th.

Who has passed through Scoprir, 14th Ibero-American Film Showcase at Casa del Cinema, November 26 to 28, 2026

People from different centuries have passed through Scoprir's places. Cardinal Scipione Borghese and the young Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the 17th-century villa. The architects Flaminio Ponzio, Giovanni Vasanzio and, in the 19th century, Luigi Canina, who restored the very building of the future Casa del Cinema. The poet Giuseppe Gioachino Belli recalled the Casina's trattoria in his verses. In the 20th century the Casina saw the patrons of the 1930s luxury restaurant and those of the dance hall La Lucciola. Since 2004 Felice Laudadio, who conceived it, Walter Veltroni, who inaugurated it, the directors Caterina D'Amico and Giorgio Gosetti and today Paola Malanga with Fondazione Cinema per Roma have passed through here.

Scoprir's recent history adds other names. The curators Gianfranco Zicarelli and José Cantos, who signed the 2024 and 2025 editions. The films and directors of nine countries, from Chile to Venezuela. David Baute, author of Mariposas negras, the Goya-winning animated film screened in 2025. And the audience that every November enters the Sala Cinecittà and the Sala Fellini for free. From November 26 to 28, 2026, the guests and titles of the 14th edition join them, which Instituto Cervantes will announce with the program.

Villa Borghese at the end of November

At the end of November Villa Borghese is in full autumn, with short days and the low light of early afternoon: the best time for the park is before the evening screenings.

The weather

At the end of November rain is frequent and the days are short. It's best to bring an umbrella and plan your walks in the park before four in the afternoon, leaving the evening for the indoor screenings.

The rest of the city

If you come for Scoprir you can pair the showcase with an exhibition, a concert or a walk between Piazza di Spagna and Via del Corso, a few minutes' walk from the park.

Scoprir with young people and schools

Scoprir has already opened some screenings to school audiences: in 2025 the animated film Mariposas negras was also offered to schools.

For Spanish students

For those studying Spanish in high school or university, the showcase offers a concrete opportunity to hear the living language, in all its varieties, with the support of Italian subtitles. Teachers interested in screenings for their classes can contact Instituto Cervantes directly.

For families

With younger children the films should be chosen with care: many deal with adult themes. The best solution is to pair any animated screening with a morning at the Bioparco or at Casina di Raffaello, both in the park.

Frequently asked questions about Scoprir 2026

When does Scoprir 2026 take place in Rome?

Scoprir 2026, the 14th Ibero-American Film Showcase, runs from Thursday, November 26, to Saturday, November 28, 2026, at Casa del Cinema in Villa Borghese. Screenings are held in the Sala Cinecittà and the Sala Fellini. Times are published by Instituto Cervantes in Rome together with the full program.

How much is admission to Scoprir?

Admission to Scoprir at Casa del Cinema is free while seats last, as stated in the official event listing. There are no tickets to buy: for the most anticipated films it's best to arrive ahead of the start time, because it's first come, first served.

Where is Casa del Cinema?

Casa del Cinema, venue of Scoprir 2026, is at Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1, inside Villa Borghese near Porta Pinciana and Via Veneto. The most convenient station is Spagna on metro A. Alternatively Flaminio, tram 2 and trams 3 and 19 on the north side of the park.

Are Scoprir's films subtitled?

In recent editions of Scoprir all films were screened in the original language with Italian subtitles. It's a choice in keeping with the nature of the showcase, organized by Instituto Cervantes in Rome to make the cinema of Spanish-speaking countries known.

Who organizes Scoprir?

Scoprir is organized by Instituto Cervantes in Rome, the Spanish public institute for language and culture, in collaboration with the embassies of the Spanish-American countries in Italy. In 2025 there were nine participating countries, including Chile, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela.

What films are on the program at Scoprir 2026?

The Scoprir 2026 program hasn't been published yet: Instituto Cervantes releases it on roma.cervantes.es close to the opening on November 26. In 2025 the showcase offered feature films, short films and documentaries, a focus on Chilean cinema and a section devoted to women.

Do you need to book for Scoprir?

For Scoprir Casa del Cinema gives free admission while seats last, with no published booking. Any different arrangements for individual screenings are announced by Instituto Cervantes with the program. For information you can call 06 8537361.

Final advice on Scoprir 2026

Scoprir is one of the most generous film series of the Roman autumn: three days of cinema in the original language, films that otherwise don't reach Italian theaters, a building with a long history and a park around it, all with free admission. In our view it deserves at least a whole afternoon, with two screenings in a row and a break at the café, ideally choosing films from different countries to hear the variety of Spanish and its cinemas. The practical advice is simple: check the Instituto Cervantes program as soon as it comes out, arrive early and leave on the Porta Pinciana side.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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