For cinema professionals with a passion for – more than that: a need for – sustainability, the first clapperboard is just around the corner. The appointment is in Turin, where from 17 to 19 April the new Green Film Lab will take place, the workshop promoted by the international laboratory TorinoFilmLab of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino. An event that strengthens an already well-established journey, and that today places sustainability at the heart of TorinoFilmLab's training activities, thanks to a fundamental insight: that film production, too, in the current era of increasingly evident climate crisis, is called upon to confront its own environmental impact.

Consider that a single film can generate emissions of between 391 and 3,370 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of the annual energy consumption of over 650 homes, according to estimates used today in European green production protocols. Figures that make it clear how cinema, while not a heavy industry in the strict sense, does have an impact – but also concrete room for improvement. Where improvement necessarily means transformation.

The Green Film Lab Turin 2026

In recent years, TorinoFilmLab has progressively built an ecosystem dedicated to the sustainability of the audiovisual sector. Since 2008 it has supported over 2,500 professionals from 101 countries, contributing to the development of approximately 270 films and series (among many, we recall the success story of Vermiglio, by Maura Delpero, which won the Silver Lion at Venice 2024 and then two David di Donatello awards in 2025) and collaborating with 130 international partners. But since 2022, with the launch of the Green Film Lab, this journey has also taken on a specific form, with the aim of translating European sustainability standards into operational skills capable of genuinely impacting productions that are more environmentally "lightweight": to date the programme has delivered 11 editions, involving 287 European professionals across 9 countries, with over 150 participants at the open sessions dedicated to local operators.

The 2026 Turin workshop will be the first annual appointment of the Green Film Lab and will consist of a three-day residential structure. It is designed for producers with or without a project, sustainability managers and representatives of film institutions, with a composition that reflects the European dimension of the sector: 80 per cent Italian professionals and 20 per cent European professionals. The 24 participants selected for the workshop (which will be held in English at a cost of 300 euros, and to which you can register here by 20 February, ed.) will work on concrete case studies of films and series in development or pre-production, simulating the construction of an applicable sustainability plan also oriented towards obtaining green certification under the pan-European Green Film system. Alongside the closed working sessions, the programme includes an Industry Session open to the local community, designed to encourage dialogue with production companies in Piedmont and to forge new professional connections.

Green skills as a driver of competitiveness

A step that is as useful and commendable as it is necessary: sustainability has indeed become an increasingly relevant requirement for accessing European public funding. The European Climate Law sets a target of a 55 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, and the audiovisual sector is no exception. For this reason, TorinoFilmLab has translated the urgency of the green transition into a form of professional development and the creation of new specialist roles, such as that of the green manager, and into greater organisational efficiency. The Green Film Lab works precisely on this issue: training producers and consultants capable of integrating sustainable practices into decision-making processes, facilitating international co-productions and strengthening the competitiveness of audiovisual companies, particularly in regional contexts.

The April workshop is part of a broader strategy that also encompasses the Green Production Lab, Green Narratives dedicated to climate storytelling, and a series of internal actions by TorinoFilmLab: from the presence of a Green Development Manager to ISO 20121 certification for events, through to the definition of policies and guidelines shared with partners and suppliers. A systemic approach that aims to make sustainability not an ideological constraint, but a structural factor of quality and innovation for the audiovisual sector. A journey already under way, measurable in figures and practices, which with the new Green Film Lab in Turin continues to take root in the local territory – for which it also represents a strategic investment: the project strengthens Piedmont's positioning within the European audiovisual landscape as a hub attentive to sustainability, generates specialist skills that can be put to use locally, and activates virtuous supply chains with local suppliers and professionals.