The Gold Rush Lights Up Piazza Maggiore for its 100th Anniversary
Photographer Lorenzo Burlando captured the atmosphere at Piazza Maggiore during the 100th anniversary screening of The Gold Rush, presented by Roy Export SAS (the Chaplin Office) and mk2 Films, in a new 4K restoration by the Cineteca di Bologna and L’Immagine Ritrovata showcased at Il Cinema Ritrovato 2025. See more photos on Facebook.
The screening took place on 26 June 2025—the exact date of the film’s original premiere 100 years ago. Thousands gathered in the square as Chaplin’s timeless classic returned to the big screen, its appeal undiminished.
The live score, adapted, arranged and conducted by Timothy Brock, was brilliantly performed by the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna — a remarkable rendition of the score Chaplin composed for the 1942 reissue.
Gian Luca Farinelli, director of the Cineteca di Bologna, introduced the film, presenting a stereoscopic image of the Chilkoot Pass, one of Chaplin’s key inspirations for The Gold Rush.
Carmen Chaplin, her husband Ashim Bhalla, and their daughter Uma were in attendance, pictured alongside Arnold Lozano, director of the Chaplin Office.
Thanks to the BFI National Archive, Blackhawk Films and the Lobster Films Collection, Das Bundesarchiv, Filmoteca de Catalunya, George Eastman Museum, and MoMA for their contributions to the restoration.
Special thanks to Cineteca di Bologna and L’Immagine Ritrovata, and to mk2 for their continued collaboration.
Viva il cinema, viva Charlot!
