Cineteca di Bologna is located in the ex-Manifattura Tabacchi - where management offices can be found - whose façade was designed by the engineer De Napoli in 1906. Most of the activities offered by the Cineteca take place in Piazzetta Pier Paolo Pasolini, the area where the municipal slaughterhouse used to be (the presence of a former slaughterhouse is testified by a clay bull head still dominating one of the façades), thus creating a kind of audiovisual “cittadella” (a little city): archives, Renzo Renzi library, the movie theatres named after the Lumière brothers, the recent homages to Mastroianni e Scorsese and some offices.
 
The origins of the Cineteca may be traced back to 1963 when a Cinema Commetee was created: from that moment the Cineteca has experienced some changes, first being turned into “autonoma istituzione comunale” (an autonomous organization supported by the Municipality of Bologna) in 1995 and then into Foundation in 2012. At present, the Cineteca is an imporant benchmark in Bologna, also enriched by the cooperation with Mambo (the Museum of Modern Art) and the departments of Performing Arts and Communication Sciences of Bologna University.

The various activities carried out by the Cineteca include archival conservation and restoration, film and audiovisual promotion and dissemination, training, research, and publishing, along with other useful activities such as laboratories, mainly for children and teenagers, exhibitions and festivals, like the well-known Cinema Ritrovato.

Every year the Foundation offers a programme for the cinema in Piazza Maggiore: each night a wide repertoire of movies is proposed, including both classic and recent movies of the 20th century.