The UMBRIA FILM FESTIVAL is not a competitive festival, but one of the main characteristics that makes it unique in the panorama of events of this caliber is that each year it invites an author, director, actor or personality from international cinema and presents them with the Keys to the City of Montone.

Presenting the Keys to the City is a symbolic act that dates back to the Middle Ages when cities like Montone were surrounded by walls with gates that were locked at night with locks and keys for defense purposes. Offering the keys to the city therefore means attributing power to an illustrious guest: the permission to go anywhere in that city, and indeed all those who have received this recognition have entered Montone’s square with their cinema among the people, in its social and cultural heart.

The first to receive the key was Terry Gilliam in 1998, now Honorary President of our festival.
In the 2017 edition, Bill Nighy received this honor, but before him many personalities from the world of cinema have taken turns on the festival stage to receive this honor from the hands of the mayor: Colin Firth, Peter Lord, Lone Scherfig, Ralph Fiennes and many others.