The Exacting Magic of Film Restoration

"The city, which is the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region, is rich in porticoes-elegant arcaded structures that line the streets and allow the panting pedestrian, at any point, to flee the sunlight's blaze and seek shade. In all, according to Unesco, Bologna boasts more than thirty-eight miles of porticoes, and they promote a pleasing illusion that you are simultaneously inside and outside."

"Far from thinning out, the crowds grew denser as the hours passed, borne toward the Piazza Maggiore, the main square of the city's historic center, as if on a tide. There, beside the shiplike hulk of the Basilica of San Petronio-which is a work in progress, the foundation stone having been laid in 1390, and which somebody really should get around to finishing one of these days-was a vast white screen. Rows of ticketed seating were ranged before it, like pews in a nave."

Each year a Bologna festival restores and screens lost or damaged films, reviving cinematic works for public view. Bologna features extensive porticoes that shade pedestrians and create an inside-outside urban feeling, with more than thirty-eight miles of arcades according to Unesco. A heat wave can push residents and visitors toward public fountains and the Piazza Maggiore, where an outdoor white screen is installed beside the Basilica of San Petronio. Ticketed seating fills the square like pews in a nave, while others lounge on marble steps or dine at nearby restaurants, enjoying late-night treats such as almond-milk granita.

Read at The New Yorker