They say movie magic unfolds on the big screen, but Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore reminded us that there’s as much wonder behind the rectangular hole of the projection room with his 1988 film ‘Cinema Paradiso’ on the bittersweet nostalgia of old movie houses and the friendship between a boy and a projectionist. So, who better to honour these unsung heroes of cinema than the Oscar-winning director who was once a projectionist himself? On a rainy Friday morning in Mumbai, ahead of awarding two Indian projectionists as part of Film Heritage Foundation’s (FHF) festival, ‘Cinema Italian Style—Celebrating Tornatore and the Masters of Italian Cinema’, the 68-year-old director spoke to TOI about the lasting legacy of Cinema Paradiso, urgent need to preserve the theatres of yore and his unexpected enthusiasm for AI.

Yes, this is my first time in India, thanks to Shivendra (Dungarpur, founder of FHF) and the Film Heritage Foundation event. I arrived two days ago and had some time to explore. The city has a familiar atmosphere—some streets and the people remind me of Palermo when I was very young, around five or six. The crowd, the attitude—they’re so polite and open. I’ve taken many pictures. The only thing I don’t love is the sound of the klaxons (Italian for car horns) going pom-pom, pom-pom! (Laughs)

It’s a short trip, but I’m very happy to be here. I’ve received invitations to India for years but never had the chance until now. I’m very fascinated by the culture and the people—not just from a tourist’s perspective.

The last Indian movie I watched was one year ago, ‘The Last Film Show’ (Chello Show) by Pan Nalin that was inspired by Cinema Paradiso and represented India at the Academy Awards. I really liked it. For me, though, the most important filmmaker from India is Satyajit Ray. In many of his movies, I felt an original point of view— an authenticity about his world. Some aspects remind me of our Italian Neorealism. I love that kind of cinema. But I’m not familiar with the new Indian movies. I’ve never seen a Bollywood film. I would like to, but in Italy, we don’t have any distributors that bring those movies to us. We hear about them with great curiosity. I’m told many people here know some of my films— that’s a privilege and a great honour.

It’s a mystery. I don’t know why this movie, made little by little, is still so loved after 36 years. Maybe it’s the shared experience of generations going to the cinema—something universal. The story is simple, about the end of a small village cinema. Maybe that touched the emotions of everyone who loves cinema. There’s no other explanation. It’s a normal movie, nothing particularly special, yet people love it. After almost 40 years, I’m still busy with interviews and introducing it at big events—more than when it first came out. (Laughs) It’s very unusual!

Yes, that’s why I say it’s a mystery. Some people tell me they watched ‘Cinema Paradiso’ again and cried— even their children love it. Young generations have an immediate, strong emotional connection with the movie. It’s one of those mysteries that only movies can give us.

First, I have to say I envy your country because you still have many movie theatres. In Italy and much of Europe, theatres aren’t as numerous as they were 20 years ago. It’s crucial to preserve these special spaces. The biggest mistake theatre owners made was they built a cinema and then forgot about it for years, not keeping up with modern comforts and technology. So people prefer their plasma screens and surround sound at home. This is a big issue in Europe, too. Theatres with uncomfortable seats or poor lighting get forgotten. But when people enter a beautiful, well-maintained cinema, they return. In Rome, there aren’t many theatres left, but the few that are well-kept do very well. Take Gian Luca Farinelli who has rebuilt a historic theatre (Modernissimo Cinema) in Bologna. Today, with technology changing so rapidly, you must offer the best quality to keep people coming back.

Yes, exactly. When I made Cinema Paradiso, Italy was experiencing a crisis with movie theatres. Many were closing every day. I had been living in Rome for many years, but when I would return to my village to visit my family, I noticed that all the cinemas were going. It was a shock, really traumatic for me. As a child, there were seven movie theatres in my village, but by the time I was 25, none were left. I wanted to capture that, to show the world what life in the cinema was like, especially at a time when people were beginning to forget that experience. The emotional instinct behind Cinema Paradiso was a deep nostalgia for that world—the energy of the theatres, with children screaming, people laughing, everyone knowing each other. In a village, you know everyone, and to have 200, 300 people in one room, all watching the same story—it’s a special feeling. That energy has been slowly disappearing, and I wanted to preserve it.

Many young people don’t know what life in a movie theatre was like. Many of them don’t even go to the cinema. They love movies, of course, but often they watch at home or on their phones. They don’t have that communal experience. It’s important to show them what they’re missing. But this isn’t a new phenomenon. When I shot Cinema Paradiso, there were no cinemas left in the village where we filmed. The young boy who played the lead didn’t know what a movie theatre was. While we were building the set, he and his friends were curious, asking, “What is this?” One Sunday, I organized a free screening of E.T. for the village kids, but nobody came. When I asked the boy why, he said, “We’ve already seen it on television.” So this decline in cinema attendance has been happening for a long time. We need to stop losing this experience from our culture. We need to educate young people to participate in this special way of watching stories, in that silent communication that only happens in a movie theatre, with others.

Artificial intelligence! A few months ago, they did an experiment where they described a scene in just three lines—a young girl walking in Tokyo, her attitude, the way she looked around—and the computer, using AI, created the shot without any filming. Incredible.

Yes! In the future, I might not need a producer or crew. I could write a story and create the film without a budget or losing time. Making a movie has always been hard and time-consuming. Spending years trying to find people who love the project as much as you isn’t easy. The idea of making a film without those obstacles sounds wonderful!

I know, I know. This technology is both amazing and dangerous. But making movies has always been difficult, so the possibility of making a film without hurdles, it’s exciting. Another thing I love is the experiment with virtual reality, this immersive experience. A few months ago in San Francisco, I tried a VR headset and it was unbelievable — the new way to tell stories through images. So when people ask me if cinema is dying, I tell them, no, we’re not at the end of movies, we’re at the beginning. Entering a world with endless possibilities for evolving the language of cinema. Cinema will never die.