Italian Movie Posters - Names and Sizes...
Here at Art of the Movies, we source original movie posters from all over the World. In our Catalogue you'll find amazing posters from the U.S., China, Japan, Australia and across Europe.
Italy, the land of Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci, has also given us some of the most stylish movie posters of the past sixty years.
In this blog post, the fourth in our 'Poster Names and Sizes' series, we'll explain terms such as “Locandina” and “Foglio” as we look at Italian movie poster formats.
As we have done in the previous “Poster Names and Sizes” blog posts, we’ll describe the different formats and then provide a useful summary table at the end.
(One) Foglio – 28 in x 39 in (71.1 cm x 99.0 cm)
The ‘Foglio’ (literally translated as ‘sheet’) is the Italian equivalent of the U.S. ‘one sheet’ format. Note that it is an inch wider than its American counterpart, so is unlikely to fit off-the-shelf ‘one sheet’ frames.
Two-Fogli – 39 in x 55 in (99.0 cm x 139.7 cm)
The Italian ‘two sheet’ format is used in portrait (long side vertical) and provides a fantastic statement piece of art for the home, much akin to the French ‘Grande’ format. Two-Fogli posters are usually issued folded.
Four-Fogli – 55 in x 78 in (139.7 cm x 198.1 cm)
The large Italian ‘four sheet’ is usually issued in two sections, most usually folded. Whilst this format is almost invariably used in portrait, landscape examples do exist (e.g, the poster for “Let’s Make Up” from 1955).
Photobusta – 19 in x 27 in (48.2 cm x 68.6 cm)
The Photobusta serves a similar purpose to the “Lobby Cards” found in other countries. They are usually issued in a set, each showing a different image or scene from the film. They can be found in both portrait and landscape (long side horizontal).
Note that size can vary a few inches either way.
Pre-1960, the Photobusta format was 14 in x 20 in (35.6 cm x 50.8 cm). Whilst most texts infer that this size was no longer used, there are quite a few examples, particularly from the 1980s, that use the smaller format, for example “Raiders of the Lost Ark” from 1981.
Most sources also reference a ‘Double Photobusta’ format, coming in at 40 in x 48 in (101.6 cm x 121.9 cm). We haven’t included it here as we haven’t come across any posters that we would definitely classify as fitting the format.
Locandina – 13 in x 28 in (33.0 cm x 71.1 cm)
The Locandina is similar to the U.S. ‘Insert’ poster format, being thinner and used in portrait. It is therefore useful for smaller walls.
And here is the useful table summarising all of the above.
A final warning - always measure your poster...
Despite the definition of standards, movie posters do often vary in size. Please always re-measure your poster before ordering a frame. It may save the cost of an unwanted frame, and, protect your poster from being squeezed in to too small a space.
Just as we have pointed out for other countries, from the “PhotoBusta” and “Locandina” to the “Four-Fogli”, Italian movie posters come in a range of sizes. They often feature more stylish artwork than their English language counterparts and are really versatile pieces of art. A poster can be found to fit most aspects and decors.
In later blog posts, we'll cover the most common poster sizes used by other countries. Coming shortly, Japanese movie poster sizes.
If you are interesting in Italian movie posters, you can use the 'filter by' option in our Catalogue and then choose ‘Italian’. This will filter your view to posters for films released in Italy, and, films produced there too.
We hope you find something you love.
Adam and the 'Art of the Movies' team
