The AVI Award 2026 goes to the box set Elvira Notari: Pioneer of Italian Cinema (CSC-Cineteca Nazionale/Penny Video) in recognition of the historical significance of a project that celebrates the first female director in Italian cinema.

By bringing together all her surviving films, superbly restored and with sound added, this edition offers a comprehensive overview of her body of work. The excellence of the project lies in the perfect balance between scholarly rigour – evidenced by the rare bonus features and the comprehensive bilingual booklet – and a popular approach that makes the box set accessible even to a non-specialist audience. A collector’s edition that restores the well-deserved prominence to a true pioneer of Italian cinema.
 
Penny Video was founded as a “commitment to quality cinema” and has stood out from the very beginning for its focus on audiovisual production and distribution, as well as on multimedia publishing projects. In particular, it promotes a wide range of films rarely seen in traditional cinema circuits, catering to an audience that is curious and interested in original, non-mainstream cinema.

A prime example of this vision is Elvira Notari herself, who, as well as being one of the first female directors in Italian cinema, was also a pioneer of film entrepreneurship through Dora Film, one of the most important Italian production companies of the time. Her films were characterised by a strong sense of realism, a focus on the everyday lives of the working classes, and the frequent use of non-professional actors. Today she is recognised as one of the most innovative and original figures in the history of Italian cinema and as one of the first female directors to have achieved international renown.