Festival Mente Locale – Visioni sul territorio
XIII Edition: October 24th – November 1st, 2026
Mente Locale – Visioni sul territorio (Local Mind – Visions of the Territory) is the first Italian festival focusing on the narration of territories through audio-visual media. Every year Mente Locale offers a selection of international documentary films on communities and territories, highlighting the changes and challenges, solutions and gainings of people living in a particular area, village, district or shared workplace.
Founded in 2014, the festival stands for the values of equality, dialogue and freedom, respect for the territory and environmental sustainability. The selected films are screened in different towns in Emilia Romagna, supporting independent cinemas, bringing local audiences together with international professionals in the beautiful countryside between Bologna and Modena.
Taking place in the heart of Italy’s finest cuisine, Mente Locale brings together not only the filmmaking community, but also local chefs, farmers, winemakers and landscape professionals, offering a creative platform for interdisciplinary dialogue on the elements of a good, sustainable, healthy and happy life.
The screening of the movies selected for the competition Mente Locale – Visioni sul territorio will take place from October 24th to November 1st, 2026 and the winners of the competition will be announced on November 1st.
Founded in 2014, the festival stands for the values of equality, dialogue and freedom, respect for the territory and environmental sustainability. The selected films are screened in different towns in Emilia Romagna, supporting independent cinemas, bringing local audiences together with international professionals in the beautiful countryside between Bologna and Modena.
Taking place in the heart of Italy’s finest cuisine, Mente Locale brings together not only the filmmaking community, but also local chefs, farmers, winemakers and landscape professionals, offering a creative platform for interdisciplinary dialogue on the elements of a good, sustainable, healthy and happy life.
The screening of the movies selected for the competition Mente Locale – Visioni sul territorio will take place from October 24th to November 1st, 2026 and the winners of the competition will be announced on November 1st.
The 2026 competition
The competition is reserved for Italian and international documentaries with no distinction of duration, techniques, or format, as long as they focus on the narration of a territory, considered – in a broader sense – as a narration of sites, people, organisations, knowledge and traditions linked to a particular place or geographical area.
Works completed from 2024 onwards can compete.
Subscription times and costs
In order to participate works must be submitted through the FilmFreeway platform.
- Early bird deadline: April 30th – Registration fee Euro 5,00
- Second deadline: July 31st – Registration fee Euro 10,00
- Final deadline: August 30th – Registration fee Euro 15,00
