Eight Movie Museums Cinephiles Need to Visit
From Chaplin’s World in Switzerland to Popeye Village in Malta, these spots celebrate much-loved films and filmmakers
We all have movies that we want to learn everything about. Documentaries and interviews usually provide cinephiles with anecdotes from production and shed light on the intention of the filmmakers, while Google searches and Wikipedia help to fill in the gaps.
But some films and filmmakers are so popular and impactful that they actually require their own museums. Gerhard Strassgschwandtner was such a die-hard fan of the 1949 classic film noir The Third Man, about a pulp novelist investigating the death of an old friend, that in 2005 he opened up the Third Man Museum in the Fourth District of Vienna, alongside fellow enthusiast Karin Höfler.
“The museum is a project of enthusiasts. It is a private museum without sponsors and subsidies,” writes Strassgschwandtner over email.
Across 16 rooms, the Third Man Museum displays 3,200 artifacts, including the original scripts, the cameras that shot the film, interviews with its cast and crew, and the zither used by Austrian composer Anton Karas to record its iconic soundtrack.
British director Carol Reed’s seminal film noir isn’t the only cinematic phenomenon to get this treatment. The Mad Max 2 Museum in Silverton, Australia, is full of memorabilia from the 1981 dystopian action film that will transport you to the post-apocalypse. The Ghibli Museum on the outskirts of Tokyo will make you feel like you’re walking through an animation from Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli. Northern Italy’s Fellini Museum and Sweden’s Bergman Center explore the visions of legendary filmmakers Federico Fellini and Ingmar Bergman.
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of The Third Man this year, here are eight movie museums from across the world that are a must-see for cinephiles.
The Third Man Museum — Vienna
The Third Man is delightfully international. Several Brits were involved in the making of the 1949 thriller, including writer Graham Greene, director Carol Reed, producer Alexander Korda and actor Trevor Howard. In 1999, it was even named the greatest British film of all time. But its main actors (Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles) and co-producer (David O. Selznick) were American, and it was shot and set in Austria.
All that said, it only feels right that Vienna is home to the museum that celebrates the gripping film noir in all of its glory.
“Our real fascination for The Third Man lies in its historical context,” says Strassgschwandtner. The film depicts “a turning point in Austria’s recent history, one which still has not been adequately revealed to the general public.” Postwar Vienna was separated into four sections, which were run by the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, United States and France until 1955. Not only was movement between the sections extremely difficult, but free speech was also challenged; the black market was rife, and citizens were still on strict rations. By focusing on the film, the Third Man Museum documents Austria in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s.
Ultimately, Strassgschwandtner hopes that the people who explore his “personal collection of documents and photos” from The Third Man won’t just “understand the complexity of shooting films in an entertaining way,” but will be reminded that “starting wars is a horrible contribution to us humans wanting to live together in peace.”
Chaplin’s World — Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland
Near the banks of Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, Chaplin’s World occupies the house that Charlie Chaplin lived in for the final 25 years of his life until his death in 1977. The museum honoring the life and legacy of the silent movie icon opened in April 2016, after 16 years in the making. In 2000, Swiss architect Philippe Meylan and Canadian museographer Yves Durand realized there wasn’t a museum that told Chaplin’s life story. They then spent the next decade and a half working with entrepreneurs, artists, architects, engineers and designers to preserve Chaplin’s artistic legacy. After making his film debut in 1914, Chaplin appeared in 93 movies, 72 of which he directed. His last leading performance was in 1957’s A King in New York, while his final film as writer and director was 1967’s A Countess From Hong Kong.
“Spanning over 32,000 square feet, the museum comprises three main areas—the Manoir, the Studio and the Park,” explains Olivia Baliguet, the museum’s communication and public relations manager. “Through immersive exhibits, captivating experiences and personal artifacts, Chaplin’s World offers visitors and cinephiles a glimpse into the extraordinary world of one of cinema’s pioneers.”
Visitors are even able to visit the sets of some of Chaplin’s most iconic movies, while gazing at his personal belongings, including the costume he wore in his 1915 short “The Tramp,” his Oscars, and even his knighthood recognition.
Mad Max 2 Museum — Silverton, Australia
The Mad Max 2 Museum being in the middle of nowhere only seems appropriate. Located some 330 miles and a nearly six-hour drive away from its closest major city, Adelaide, in the remote village of Silverton, New South Wales, just getting to the museum is like being in one of Australian filmmaker George Miller’s dystopian movies. Then, on top of that, the filming of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) took place nearby.
Opened in 2010 and run by English couple Adrian and Linda Bennett, the museum is primarily dedicated to the 1981 action classic Mad Max 2, but there’s no doubt that fans of the other four installments of the franchise will enjoy the memorabilia that fills it.
Mostly donated by local residents, the Mad Max 2 Museum is home to original and replica vehicles from the film, including the black GT Falcon car with a supercharger on its hood that Max drives throughout the franchise. There’s also a huge collection of photographs, costumes worn by the cast and other fascinating props, like the weapons and stunt mannequins from the set of the acclaimed and influential action series.
Buñuel Film Center — Calanda, Spain
While Luis Buñuel is not a household name, when Sight and Sound critics conducted their 2012 poll of the greatest 250 films ever made, six of the Spanish Mexican filmmaker’s movies were included. Regarded as one of the founding members of surrealist cinema, the director—who also worked in France—combined his avant-garde approach with searing political commentary while making the likes of Belle de Jour (1967), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), Los Olvidados (1950) and The Exterminating Angel (1962).
In 2000, the local government of Buñuel’s hometown of Calanda—about three hours west of Barcelona—opened the Buñuel Film Center to honor the 100th anniversary of Buñuel’s birth. Inside, visitors will find a “surreal experience based on Buñuel's themes and obsessions,” says its director Jordi Xifra.
The Buñuel Film Center’s most popular exhibit is a projection room that celebrates how delightfully surreal Buñuel’s imagery could be. “Instead of chairs, there are toilets, and inside each toilet there are different Buñuelian elements, such as razor blades, eyes that look at us or bird feathers,” explains Xifra.
Ghibli Museum — Tokyo
Even people who haven’t seen the likes of My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Spirited Away (2001) will be left mesmerized by the Ghibli Museum. Located in the city of Mitaka, just over 14 miles west of Tokyo, it is a children’s, technology and fine arts museum all rolled into one, with its main intention being to celebrate the art and technique of animation.
Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli’s co-founder and the writer and director of many of its most famous movies, designed the museum himself. Abiding by the motto “Let’s lose our way together,” the museum was made so adults and kids alike can aimlessly walk around and get lost—all while taking in the gorgeous architecture, bridges, balconies, buildings and rooftop garden that feel straight from a Ghibli movie. It’s also the home to various exhibits that show the creative process and drawing techniques used to make these films.
If you’re a Studio Ghibli superfan, you can also take a trip to Ghibli Park. Located around four hours south of Tokyo, it doesn’t have the roller coasters and rides you expect from an American theme park, but it instead brings to life many of the settings from Ghibli movies, including Mononoke Village from Princess Mononoke (1997) and Howl’s Castle from Howl’s Moving Castle (2004).
Fellini Museum — Rimini, Italy
One of the most artistic and poetic directors in the history of cinema, Federico Fellini has long been deserving of a museum that could explore the “originality, complexity and power of his cinema,” says Marco Leonetti, the head of the Fellini Museum.
Located in the heart of Rimini, the city on the Adriatic Sea where Fellini was born and raised, the Fellini Museum finally opened in 2021. It celebrates his incredible body of work, including La Strada (1954), Nights of Cabiria (1957), La Dolce Vita (1960), Juliet of the Spirits (1965), and I Vitelloni (1953), across his entire filmmaking career, which began in the early 1940s as a screenwriter and lasted until 1990’s The Voice of The Moon.
“The Museum’s mission is to spread awareness of Fellini’s cinema and its importance in the history not only of cinema but of 20th-century art,” says Leonetti.
Described by Leonetti as a “continuum of image installations,” the museum is filled with rooms, each representing a motif, a character, a theme from Fellini’s movies. Outside the museum are sculptures in honor of his films 8 1/2 (1963) and Amarcord (1973).
If that’s not enough, the Fellini Museum is spread across a 15th-century castle and 18th-century palace, the latter of which is home to the historic Fulgor Cinema. The theater still screens classic movies, so visitors can sit in the same venue where Fellini saw his first ever film.
Popeye Village — Mellieha, Malta
While the 1980 musical comedy Popeye might not be the most popular movie for either star Robin Williams or director Robert Altman, there’s no denying that its hugely impressive sets give the film an eye-catching scale and beauty. On the island of Malta, a construction crew of 165 people worked for seven months to build 19 wooden buildings to make up the town of Sweethaven, where Popeye and the rest of the characters live.
The crew did such a good job that soon after filming concluded, Maltese film fans asked Paramount not to destroy the set, as they potentially wanted to use it for future filming opportunities. Instead, it became one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. In the early ’90s, it was renovated into an open-air museum.
Not only is it fun to walk around Popeye Village, but it’s also full of family friendly entertainment, including a Santa’s toy town, boat rides, trampolines, a sawmill and a Popeye comic museum. A Robin Williams Memorial Museum, which will celebrate his entire career, is also in the works.
Stephen Bonnici, Popeye Village’s director, says that the site is also a reminder of the effort required to make a movie, especially in the years before visual effects took over Hollywood. “Popeye Village explains to film enthusiasts how they used to build film sets before green screens and technology took over the whole industry,” he says. “It transports people to an era when full-fledged film sets had to be manufactured for a single movie.”
Bergman Center — Faro, Sweden
Located off of Sweden’s southeastern coast, the island of Faro will forever be linked with the world of cinema because of Ingmar Bergman. The writer and director of The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957) and Persona (1966), who used cinema to explore themes of death, love, sex and faith in an emotional, psychological and always creative manner, lived and died on the island.
The Bergman Center “tells the story of both Ingmar Bergman’s working methods and gives a unique look at his love for the place where it is located,” says its site manager Cristina Bernhardsson Ribeiro. “Faro was his haven and inspiration from the early ’60s till his passing [in 2007], and it is impossible to tell the story of Ingmar Bergman without also talking about the island of Faro.”
Visitors to the museum are able to visit Bergman’s private cinema, explore the filming locations for Persona and Through A Glass Darkly (1961), and take in the “Let There Be Light, Fun and Play” exhibition that breaks down Bergman’s connection to Faro. They can also see the 1984 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award he won for Fanny & Alexander and even listen to his answering machine, on which he utters, “Bergman’s answering machine. Go ahead.”
“Our purpose is to keep the public legacy of Ingmar Bergman alive,” says Ribeiro.
