by InTrieste
The Cinema Ariston will host a three-day celebration of international film beginning March 13, as the local cultural organization La Cappella Underground presents its “Oscar Marathon 2026,” a program of screenings, discussions and a small exhibition devoted to film illustration.
Running from Friday through Sunday, the event brings nine Academy Award–nominated titles to the theater, most presented in their original language with Italian subtitles. The program also includes live conversations about cinema and a public viewing of the 2026 Academy Awards ceremony.
The initiative is organized in collaboration with the Italian film podcast CineFacts, as well as Creativa Eventi and MUG Bakery. At the entrance to the theater, organizers plan a small installation with a red carpet and replica Oscar statuettes for visitors.
The weekend opens Friday evening with the inauguration of Cinema Illustrato, an exhibition by the illustrator Alice Iuri. Born in Udine and now based in Milan, Iuri has worked as a graphic designer and illustrator for publishers and media outlets including Rizzoli, Mondadori, La Repubblica, L’Espresso and Linus.
Her exhibition features twenty illustrated portraits of filmmakers and actors, including David Lynch, Agnès Varda, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Jim Jarmusch and Daniel Craig. The show is displayed both at Cinema Ariston and at the city’s Mediateca in Via Roma.
For the marathon, Iuri has also designed a limited series of playing cards titled “Oscards,” inspired by the nominated films. The first 50 attendees at each screening will receive a deck.
The film program begins Friday night with The Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, a hybrid of horror and action that has received multiple Oscar nominations this year.
Saturday’s schedule starts with the animated film Little Amélie, directed by Maïlys Vallade and based on the novel The Character of Rain by the Belgian writer Amélie Nothomb. Later screenings include The Secret Agent, a political thriller set in 1970s Brazil by Kleber Mendonça Filho; Marty Supreme, directed by Josh Safdie and starring Timothée Chalametand Gwyneth Paltrow; and Bugonia, a psychological thriller by Yorgos Lanthimos featuring Emma Stone.
Between screenings, the organizers will host a live edition of the film criticism podcast “Blow Out,” moderated by Marco Lovisato of CineFacts. The Saturday session will feature a discussion structured as a “tournament” of Academy Award winners for Best Picture from the past 25 years.
Sunday’s program opens with Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier, which received the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Later screenings include Train Dreams, directed by Clint Bentley and set in the early 20th-century American Northwest; Sirāt, by Óliver Laxe, nominated for Best International Feature; and One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn.
A second live podcast discussion on Sunday afternoon will explore how the Oscars have reflected social change in the United States.
The marathon concludes Sunday night with a public screening of the 2026 Academy Awards ceremony beginning at 10 p.m., preceded by audience quizzes and discussions led by members of La Cappella Underground.
Individual tickets for film screenings cost six euros, while a pass for five films is available for twenty euros.
