In recent years, Pienza has continued to be chosen as a setting for major film productions. In 2015, the Taviani brothers filmed some scenes from Wondrous Boccaccio, while in 2018, Lux Vide chose the town for the television series Medici, now in its third season.
In 2021, Pienza returned to the big screen with Gianni Schicchi, an opera-film based on Puccini’s opera of the same name, filmed in various symbolic locations in the Pienza area (Palazzo Borgia, Palazzo Comunale), with Villa Belvedere and the Monastery of Sant’Anna in Camprena as the main sets.
More recently, the comedy La Dolce Villa, released in 2025, once again made Pienza and Val d’Orcia the centre of attention for an international audience.
In this contemporary light-hearted comedy, Pienza and Val d’Orcia are not just a backdrop: they participate in the plot, becoming an integral part of the atmosphere, amplifying the emotional nature of the characters.
Watching the film, released in February 2025 and rewarded by the audience of the television platform, who made it their favourite for weeks, also yields a surprise that touches lightly on a diplomatic incident that is, in reality, resolved with some amusing banter.
The “incident” occurs in a panoramic scene with the outline of the Pienza Cathedral in the background, when a spire of the Collegiate Church of San Quirico d’Orcia can be recognised on the bell tower; an inexplicable and questionable effect created in the post-production phase that many have pointed out.