Italian Cinema

The first movies screened in Venice have arrived in theaters, and finally, an Italian feature is taking back the stage and the box office. Il signore delle formiche, the new motion picture by acclaimed Italian director Gianni Amelio, out on September 8, immediately took fourth place in the top ten chart.

April's second long weekend brings in an extra +13% in box office revenues compared to last week's total, but the film industry isn't popping champagne bottles. Albeit on the first of May, the majority of Italy's Coronavirus restrictions will come to an end, and masks will most likely remain mandatory to go to the movies.

For the first time, people once again gathered in person at the Italian Cultural Institute in Westwood, the façade of the building lit with the colors of the Ukrainian flag in support of the ongoing and tragic conflict. The occasion, however, was a celebratory one, to honor the two-time Oscar nominee and legendary maestro of cinematography Dante Spinotti and two of the three Italian nominees for this year’s Oscar: Enrico Casarosa, director of the animated film Luca and Massimo Cantini Parrini, costume designer of Cyrano.

Elvira Coda Notari, the first woman director of Italian cinema, was born in Salerno, Campania, on February 10, 1875. She benefited from an education, which was unusual for women of that time, earning a high school degree which allowed her to work as an elementary school teacher.

Italy confirms itself as one of the countries in the world that most attracts international productions and stars. In this period, given the loosening of Covid-19 restrictions for both traveling and filming, numerous crews have started new film projects in various territories of the “Belpaese” (the “beautiful country”, as Italy is often addressed).

Monica Vitti, immeasurable talent of Italian cinema, Michelangelo Antonioni's muse, and herself a writer and director, has died. She was 90 years old: in her last years, because of a degenerative disease, she had never appeared in public.

What better way to celebrate Federico Fellini’s centennial than reading the appropriately titled “Fellini on Fellini”? Not an autobiography per se, and initially published in 1974, a year after the release of the seminal Amarcord, this slim volume is a random selection of his articles, essays, letters, introspective musings and miscellanies on many topics dating back to 1955. A perfect complement for a different insight into the persona and work of a legendary filmmaker that has been so obsessively analyzed, documented, and scrutinized over the years.

One in an occasional series exploring the state of Hollywood films in global markets. In a departure from the trend in other countries, the top-grossing film on the Italian charts in 2020 is Tolo Tolo, a comedy about migration directed by and starring Luca Medici, aka Checco Zalone, the country’s most popular comedian, who regularly commands the top of the charts with his broad farces.

Cinema Italian Style is the annual showcase of new movies from Italy presented by the American Cinematheque and Luce Cinecittà. This year the festival is dedicated to Lina Wertmüller.

Italian cinema – like Italian culture – reflects an unparalleled love of food. That is the inspiration for a series of talks which will emphasize the relationship.