A New Dawn for Italian Cinema in the UK

By Beverly AndrewsOutside of film festivals—most notably the BFI London Film Festival—accessing foreign-language cinema in the UK can be a challenge. However, a new initiative by CinemaItaliaUK aims to change that by making Italian cinema significantly more accessible to British audiences through the launch of the CinemaItaliaUK player.

Launched in December, the streaming platform offers a curated selection of both classic and contemporary Italian films to viewers across the UK. In doing so, it hopes to introduce a new generation to the richness and charm of Italian cinema.

The CinemaItaliaUK Player will feature films from some of the most iconic names in Italian cinema, including legends like Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, and Michelangelo Antonioni. Their works will be presented alongside those of equally esteemed but less mainstream directors such as Sergio Corbucci, as well as modern favorites like Luca Guadagnino, acclaimed for Call Me by Your Name.

Among the available titles are Corbucci’s original Django and Fellini’s masterpiece 8½, widely regarded as one of the greatest films in cinema history. The platform will also showcase hidden gems such as Ettore Scola’s rarely screened A Special Day, starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.

A Special Day is an extraordinary, though often critically overlooked, film that chronicles Adolf Hitler’s historic visit to Italy as a guest of Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Yet, these infamous figures are not the film’s primary focus. Instead, the narrative centers on the communities shattered by their regimes: the political left, the queer communities of Germany and Italy, and, above all, the women—expected to abandon personal ambitions and dedicate themselves solely to bearing children for the state.

With populist leaders gaining traction around the globe, A Special Day stands as a powerful and timely warning from history.

^{A Special Day by Ettore Scola with Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren.}

The initial selection of films is being made available through the British independent label CultFilms, with additional titles set to be added throughout the year from other distributors. The CinemaItaliaUK Player will operate as a pay-per-view streaming rental service, rather than a monthly subscription model, with most films available to rent for £3.99 each.

More than just a platform, the CinemaItaliaUK offers a charming and accessible window into the rich and beautiful world of Italian cinema.