What Is a Locandina? The Small Italian Film Poster Explained

What the word locandina means

In Italian, a locandina is any small printed notice: a theatre bill, a concert flyer, a poster in a shop window. The plural is locandine. In the film world it has a precise meaning — the 33 × 70 cm cinema poster — and that is how auction houses and dealers in Italy and abroad use it.

English-speaking dealers sometimes call it an "Italian insert" because its proportions are close to the American insert poster (14 × 36 in). The two are not the same size, so a listing that says "insert" for an Italian poster should still give measurements.

How cinemas used locandine

Distributors sent locandine to cinemas in bundles, together with the large posters and the fotobuste. The cinema displayed some in its own windows and handed the rest to shops, bars and barbers nearby, who put them up in exchange for a free ticket or simply as a favour. When the film moved on, the locandine were thrown away or kept by whoever had them.

That history explains the marks collectors see: pin holes in the corners, small tape stains, a cinema's rubber stamp with the date of the screening, or a strip of paper pasted at the bottom with the name of the theatre. None of these makes a locandina a fake; a period stamp can even help date it.

Reading a locandina from top to bottom

• Artwork — usually the main image of the campaign, re-composed for the tall format. Look for the painter's signature in a lower corner of the image.
• Title — the Italian release title, often quite different from the original (see Italian titles of American films).
• Credits — cast, director and the distributor's name or logo, which helps date the poster and identify re-releases.
• Blank band — many locandine leave a strip at the bottom where the cinema wrote or stamped the date and time of the show.
• Printer's line — a small credit in the margin naming the printing works and city (for example A.P.E. Roma or Moneta, Milano-Roma).

How to date a locandina

Start with the film's first Italian release year, then check whether the poster belongs to it. A first-release locandina names the original distributor and uses the original credit block. A re-release (riedizione) often names a different distributor, may carry the word "riedizione", and sometimes uses a new or cheaper design. Read more about re-release posters.

The printing helps too. Older locandine were printed by lithography on thin, often slightly off-white paper; later ones by offset on smoother stock. A modern digital print has neither texture nor the fine regular screen of offset printing.

Why collectors start with locandine

• Price. For the same film, a locandina usually costs a fraction of a 2-fogli or 4-fogli.
• Space. It fits a standard frame and a normal wall.
• Art. It normally carries the full painted artwork, signed by the same painter.
• Availability. More were printed, so even modest films can be found.