Overview

A film director gathers his favorite actresses, those he worked with and those he loved. He wants to make a film about women but he doesn’t reveal much: he observes them, takes cue, until his imaginary throw them into another era, in a past where the noise of the sewing machines fills a workplace handled and populated by women, where men have minor and marginal roles and cinema can be told from another point of view: the one of costume. Between loneliness, passions, anxieties, heartbreaking absence and unbreakable bonds, reality and fiction permeate, as well as the lives of the actresses and those of the characters, the competition and the sisterhood, the visible and the invisible.

Please be informed that the event has now sold out.

Director

Ferzan Ozpetek

Producer

Marco Belardi

Cast

Luisa Ranieri, Jasmine Trinca, Sara Bosi, Loredana Cannata, Geppi Cucciari, Anna Ferzetti, Aurora Giovinazzo, Nicole Grimaudo, Milena Mancini, Paola Minaccioni, Stefano Accorsi

The screening is organised in collaboration with the Italian Institute in London.

In Ripa di Porta Ticinese, on the Navigli, there is an apartment whose door is always open. Often crossing it are intellectuals, singers, journalists, but also simple onlookers. They are all there for her, Alda: 70 years old, polished nails, cigarette always lit, a chaos in which she is at ease. But what makes her so special? Her poetry, of course, but perhaps also her life without half - measures, which she herself recounts, with irony and sagacity, to a young intellectual, Arnoldo.

Director

Roberto Faenza

Cast

Laura Morante, Federico Cesari, Rosa Diletta Rossi, Giorgio Marchesi, Sofia D’Elia, Mariano Rigillo

The Mafia women mini film festival is a collaborative project between CinemaItaliaUK and Professor Felia Allum (University of Bath) with sponsorship from Jacobacci Avvocati, Turin. The aim of this mini film festival has been to shine a light on the gendered nature of mafias, to challenge the traditional narratives that portray women as minor, secondary and insignificant characters and to shift thinking away from the neutral-male centric perspective to one that sees and considers women as having their own agency independent of men.

The first edition took place online during Covid in 2020 and this year will be the festival’s 5th edition and the last one for some time. During the 5 years, 17 mafia films & documentaries will have been shown following Giovanni Falcone’s wise words: ‘silence is the mafia’s greatest ally, and courage is its greatest enemy’.

SCREENINGS:

15:30 - The Judge and the Mafia Boss (Il Giudice e il Boss)

18:30 - Sicilian Letters (Iddu)

It’s up to Gollum to tell us La storia del Frank e della Nina —only, he doesn’t speak, and has to write it on the wall. He’s the guardian of those words, the ones that can’t come out of his mouth, the ones he writes on buildings as if the city was a big amplifier. Frank has stopped existing a couple years back, but to make a living he sells homework outside of school. He’s waiting till he turns 18 to take the train and clear out. Frank’s version of reality is so compelling that we all believe him. Till he meets Nina. Practical and ambitious, she made the mistake of listening to the grownups and now she’s in trouble. Now life as she wants it is only in the pictures she takes. She is a mother and a wife. And she’s 16. She now knows that to be free she needs to study. She hires Frank to help with her middle school licence. But studying in itself is dangerous stuff in her situation. And the more they study, the more they get to know each other, they almost become a family, at least until reality catches up with them. Still, as Frank says, “reality is a point of view”—so then they might be able to write their own version of the story, after all.

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Director

Paola Randi

Producer

Domenico Procacci and Laura Paolucci

Cast

Gabriele Monti Ludovica Nasti Samuele Teneggi

1944. In Vermiglio, a high mountain village of the Italian Alps where war looms as a distant but constant threat. The arrival of Pietro, a refugee soldier, disrupts the dynamics of the local teacher’s family, changing them forever.

Director: Maura Delpero

Producer: Francesca Andreoli, Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli, Maura Delpero, Santiago Fondevila

Cast: Tommaso Ragno, Giuseppe De Domenico, Roberta Rovelli

At the dawn of the year 1800, not far from Venice, stands the Sant’Ignazio Institute, a cross between an orphanage, a conservatory, and a convent. For years now, it has been home for Teresa, a young woman with a special gift: a visionary talent that allows her to listen to the world around her and transform it, animating it with a new, contemporary, timeless music. An enchantment… that is shattered when reality makes an incursion and brings her back to her duties.

Gloria! speaks of the imagination, inventiveness and talent of all women composers who, like dried flowers, have remained hidden in the pages of history

Director

Margherita Vicario

Cast

Galatéa Bellugi, Carlotta Gamba, Veronica Lucchesi

Watch the trailer here:

Caterino is a worker at the Ilva factory in Taranto. When the company executives decide to use him as a spy to identify the workers they should get rid of, Caterino starts to track his colleagues, in search of reasons to report them.

Director

Michele Riondino

Producer

Carlo Degli Esposti, Nicola Serra

Cast

Michele Riondino, Elio Germano, Vanessa Scalera

Flaminia, a wealthy Roman girl, is set to marry a diplomat's son when her autistic half-sister Ludovica barges into her life, exposing Flaminia's superficial existence. As they reconnect, an unexpected event threatens their newfound bond.

We celebrate the 100th anniversary of Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren's 90th birthday, with the screening of A Special Day (Una Giornata Particolare) by Golden Globe winner and five-time Oscar nominee Ettore Scola.

Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni deliver two of the finest performances of their careers in this moving, quietly subversive drama. Though it’s set in Rome on the historic day in 1938 when Benito Mussolini and the city first rolled out the red carpet for Adolf Hitler, the film takes place entirely in a working-class apartment building, where an unexpected friendship blossoms between a pair of people who haven’t joined the festivities: a conservative housewife and mother tending to her domestic duties and a liberal radio broadcaster awaiting deportation. Scola paints an exquisite portrait in muted tones, a story of two individuals helpless in the face of Fascism’s rise.

Arriving in the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park during a snowstorm, a

seasoned elementary school teacher, Michele Cortese, embarks on a new chapter of his

life. He faces a unique challenge late in his career – a teaching position far from Rome

in a school nestled in the heart of nature.

Agnese, the Vice-Principal and Michele together they form an unlikely duo with a

mission: to breathe life into a school threatened by dwindling enrolments.

As Michele acclimates to the picturesque setting and the multi-age class filled with

spirited children aged 7 to 10, he discovers that real education goes beyond textbooks.

With Agnese’s support and the camaraderie of the students, he sheds his metropolitan

veneer and becomes an integral part of the close-knit community.

However, just as everything seems to fall into place, a heartbreaking revelation shakes

the foundations of their newfound harmony: the school is set to close its doors in June

due to the stark decline in enrolments.

And so, the race against time begins. The film beautifully captures the essence of a

community coming together, transcending boundaries to save something they hold

dear.

One of the most controversial choices in the season is the highly divisive Swept Away by Italian iconoclast Lina Wertmüller – the first woman ever nominated for a Best Director Oscar.

On an elegant yacht cruising off the coast of Sardinia, Raffaella (Mariangela Melato), a rich and stunning capitalist, enjoys tormenting Gennarino (Giancarlo Giannini), a Communist sailor. Fate weaves a different scenario and roles become reversed when the two find themselves stranded together on a deserted island.

Join us for the screening of Jealousy, Italian Style, (also known as The Pizza Triangle) by master of commedia all’italiana Ettore Scola: a tribute to Monica Vitti, the Queen of Italian Cinema, in one of her greatest comedic performances.

At a political rally, bricklayer Oreste (Marcello Mastroianni) sees flower girl Adelaide (Monica Vitti) and is so thoroughly smitten that he decides he must leave his wife for her. The pair's happiness doesn't last, however, as a young pizza chef named Nello (Giancarlo Giannini) also has eyes for Adelaide. He sends her a heart-shaped pizza pie and in no time has broken up their relationship. Adelaide leaves Oreste, who becomes passionately grief-stricken and considers suicide.

IO CAPITANO tells the story of the adventurous journey of Seydou and Moussa, two young men who leave Dakar to make their way to Europe. A contemporary Odyssey through the dangers and beauty of the desert, the shock of the detention centres in Libya and the perils of the sea as they cling to their hopes for a better life.

Join us for a live Q + A after the screening with line producer Gianluca Chiaretti.

We are delighted to announce the exclusive UK premiere screening of 

NANNI MORETTI’s latest film

IL SOL DELL'AVVENIRE/A BRIGHTER TOMORROW!

Sunday 21st of January at 5PM, Curzon Mayfair

This film, like many of Moretti’s films, is characterized by a mix of humour and profound reflection, allowing audiences to connect with the characters on both the intellectual and the emotional level.

Starring Silvio Orlando, Margherita Buy and Barbara Bobulova as well as Nanni Moretti, the film centres on a film director who finds himself at a crossroads both on set and at home.

With the formula of a film within a film, Moretti builds on the themes he first approached in Palombella Rossa: he still sings his heart out to Franco Battiato, he struggles to accept that people may not be like he wants them to, and he refuses to let go of his the dream even when defeat seems near…

Join us in celebrating Federico Fellini 30 years after his death, with this masterpiece: La Strada.

Mario Martone takes a personal journey into the cinema of Massimo Troisi by editing clips from his films to show his greatness as a director and a comedian. Martone draws the actor's artistic curve from beginning to end, framing him within the climate of the time and Naples, the city they both belong to. Intertwined with this collection of memorable scenes are conversations with artists whose careers were influenced by their admiration for Troisi and industry insiders who wrote extensively about him. The list includes Francesco Piccolo, Paolo Sorrentino, Ficarra & Picone, cinema critics such as Goffredo Fofi, Sentieri Selvaggi magazine, and some of the makers of his posthumous work The Postman: Michael Radford and Roberto Perpignani. Among this array of celebrities who never personally met Troisi, the writer Anna Pavignano is a most notable exception. As his partner in life and career, she is a first-hand observer of his creative process and an invaluable collaborator to this movie, enriched by the precious unpublished material she disclosed for the occasion.

For our members, you can use the DISCOUNT CODE:

to get tickets for only £9!

This month CinemaItaliaUK is delighted to present the UK premiere of Santa Lucia, Marco Chiappetta’s first feature film starring Renato Carpentieri. 

The event is organised in partnership with the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in London.

Save the date!

Friday June 23rd at 7PM

 at The Garden Cinema

After forty years of exile in Argentina, Roberto, a blind novelist, comes back to Naples. Guided by his brother Lorenzo, a failed musician, he starts a journey of memory through the city of his youth. Though he cannot longer see, he perceives it through his remaining senses, his memories, and his imagination, in search of the tragic reason behind his departure.

Presented at the 2021 Turin Film Festival in the non-competitive programme, Santa Lucia won Best Film at the Edera Film Festival in 2022.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with film director and writer Marco Chiappetta.

At the start of the 1990-91 Serie A championship, President Mantovani's Sampdoria is ready to aim for the maximum goal. Vialli, Mancini and Vierchowood are more determined than ever to do well, also because of the disappointment suffered in Italy '90. A pact between players will lead to one of the most surprising championships ever.

DIRECTED BY: MARCO PONTI

PRODUCTION: GROENLANDIA, RAI CINEMA

FILM RUN: 95’

CATEGORY: DOC&FACTUAL

CAST: LUCA VIALLI, ROBERTO MANCINI AND

SAMPDORIA SOCCER PLAYERS 1990-1992

Antonio (Antonio Albanese) is a passionate but often out of work actor. To make ends meet, he takes on whatever job may come his way… including teaching a theatre workshop in a prison.

A homage to Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Grazie Ragazzi is a comedy on waiting and on learning to wait, and on turning to art to find solace and redemption.

Riccardo Milani (The Soul’s Place, Like a Cat on a Highway) casts a comic eye on Italian prisons and the need for culture and creative outlets for inmates as a means of rehabilitation and self-affirmation.

Starring the comic genius Antonio Albanese (Cetto LaQualunque, Alex Drastico) and award winning actor Fabrizio Bentivoglio.

🎬 Join us at @riversidestudiolondon on the 26th of February for the UK premiere of Settembre, Giulia Louise Steigerwalt’s directorial debut!⠀
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On a September day, the protagonists of the film realise that the life they are living is not the one they dreamed of. The stories of Maria (Margherita Rebeggiani), a reserved teen, Francesca (Barbara Ronchi), a woman with health issues, and Guglielmo (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), a doctor, come together in a quest for happiness and new beginnings.⠀
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🎟️ GRAB YOUR TICKETS HERE!

UK PREMIERE OF ACQUA E ANICE

Olimpia is a legend of dance halls. At age 70, she puts her orchestra’s Ducato back on

the road and sets off on a journey towards the people who loved her and the places

that made her a star. For some time, however, she has been forgetting things.

Therefore, she hires Maria, a girl who has yet to emerge from her cocoon, as her driver

and chaperone. Olimpia is excessive and passionate, while Maria is quiet and shy. The

two women will learn to love each other, until Maria realizes that Olympia is asking her

to be much more than a chauffeur. For she has told no one that the journey will be her

last.

The director Corrado Ceron will be present.

Corrado Ceron (Vicenza, 1980) obtained a philosophy degree at the Catholic

University in Milan and then a degree in film directing in Rome. In 2013, he directed Un

amore di plastica, which earned him the prize for best short film at the Social World Film

Festival in Vico Equense. The following year, as an assistant director, he tackled the

feature film Diminuta by Bruno Saglia. In 2015, he helmed the short Scorciatoie, which

won numerous awards at festivals. The year after, the screenplay for Zanzare, which he

co-wrote with Federico Fava, was shortlisted for the Solinas Award. In 2018, Ceron

directed the short film Apnea, which took home the top prize at the inaugural edition of

the Vertical Movie Festival in Rome. That same year, his screenplay for Acqua e

anice earned him a SIAE/Centro Sperimentale development grant.

Click here for further details about his work.

Rating: 15.

GRAB YOUR TICKETS HERE!

All photos are by Matteo Girola.

Italy, after the promulgation of the racial laws (1938). Luciano, a Fascist-abiding restaurateur, nonetheless believes he can still live by his own rules inside his business. However, everything changes when Anna, a girl with a dangerous secret, starts to work at his restaurant.

- Film Curator, Critic and Head of Screen Arts at NFTS Sandra Hebron will introduce the film.

- The director Giuseppe Piccioni and the main actor Riccardo Scamarcio will attend for a post film discussion / Q&A.

Cast:
Riccardo Scamarcio, Benedetta Porcaroli, Lino Musella, Valeria Bilello, Waël Sersoub, Sandra Ceccarelli, Vincenzo Nemolato, Antonio Salines, Costantino Seghi, Giorgia Fiorio.

The screening will have two time slots: 19:15 and 19:45.

To commemorate one of Italy’s pioneering comedians on the 100th anniversary of his birth, CinemaItaliaUK is proud to present one Ugo Tognazzi’s most beloved performances: Il Vizietto (6:40pm), and a documentary about his life by his daughter: Portrait of a Father (4:30pm).

Under the aegis of the Consulate General of Italy in London, this event is included in the "Vivere all’Italiana" (Italian Way of Life) integrated promotion plan, launched by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Screening at The Garden Cinema on the 26th of November, this film is witty and a masterpiece of the “commedia all’italiana”.

The screening will be introduced by the film critic Lorenzo Tamburini.

Tognazzi represents, along with Mastroianni, Gassman and Sordi a pioneering star of the Golden Age of the Italian commedia, the genius behind the “supercazzola”, a staple of Italian humour as well as a clever critic of Italian society. Renowned for his satirical comments on the Italian bourgeoisie, his bold caricatures and daring comedic sketches, Tognazzi has been paid homage to countless times - worth mentioning two successful, insightful documentaries produced by Tognazzi’s children Maria Sole and Ricky Tognazzi: Ritratto di mio padre (2010) and La voglia matta di vivere (2022). In 2018, the MoMA, backed by Instituto Luce Cinecittà in Rome, curated a retrospective on the actor’s life centred around Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man” - perhaps better described as Tognazzi’s most dramatic performance as it won him the Best Actor award at Cannes in 1981. Head to our social media channels to discover more on Tognazzi’s career and performances.

Join us at The Garden Cinema on the 26th of November to celebrate Tognazzi’s genius and sample some of Etna Coffe’s arancini.

Keep following our website and socials for more details on the event.

Il Vizietto/LA Cage aux folles (Édouard Molinaro, 1978): A pair of odd ageing queers, Renato and his transvestite boyfriend Albin, clumsily attempt to conceal their flamboyant lifestyle to Renato’s soon to be in-laws. A farce set in an eccentric nightclub in St. Tropez, it is a bold and fluid comedy. The film masks its subversive force behind a salute to traditional family values: almost visionary for its time, Il Vizietto is a satirical comment on normativity which granted Molinaro an Academy Award nomination.

Portrait of My Father (Maria Sole Tognazzi, 2010): The idea of a documentary on Ugo Tognazzi came from the desire to tell the life, the love, the passion, the successes and disappointments of the great actor and to reveal for the first time the hidden sides, the secrets and his less known works.

Ugo Tognazzi was a provocateur and a puzzling figure: he loved life and its pleasures, but also knew how to be tenacious, courageous and combative. He would always be himself, without excuses and embarrassment. His numerous interviews during his long career and those of his close ones are a testimony of this fascinating character.