By Beverly Andrews
A contemporary renaissance is currently underway in Italian cinema—something that is now bringing Italian audiences flocking back to theatres. This resurgence is driven by the production of films that engage contemporary audiences.
The revolution is being led by a new generation of Italian filmmakers—interestingly, many of whom are women—who have become household names. Among them are Alice Rohrwacher, director of the Josh O’Connor hit La Chimera; Paola Cortellesi, whose commercial smash There Is Still Tomorrow explores the post-war political emancipation of Italian women; and, of course, Luca Guadagnino, director of Call Me by Your Name, the film that propelled Timothée Chalamet to global success.
This spring sees the return of the Made in Italy festival, now located at its new home at London’s British Film Institute. The festival will feature ten new films along with one cinema classic.
The opening film is Primavera, which tells the little-known story of Antonio Vivaldi’s time as music director at one of Venice’s largest orphanages for girls, the Ospedale della Pietà. He spent almost forty years of his life there, composing some of his most important pieces—including The Four Seasons—and training many renowned female musicians, among them the virtuoso violinist Anna Maria della Pietà. Vivaldi helped transform the orphanage into a major Europe-wide musical institution before dying in poverty. It would take years before his work was rediscovered, but once it was, many of the compositions he wrote there became among the most performed classical works in the world.
The film highlights the battles that many of the girls studying there had to fight in order to choose music over the often loveless marriages arranged by the church in exchange for enormous dowries. The orphanage had also become a major hunting ground for wealthy men seeking docile, obedient wives. It is a fascinating film, told from the perspective of one of the students rather than the composer himself, and it bears a strong resemblance to Céline Sciamma’s acclaimed Portrait of a Lady on Fire in its examination of history from a female perspective.
Other films to look out for at the festival include Mario Martone’s Fuori, which explores the life of The Art of Joy author Goliarda Sapienza. Elisa, a powerful prison drama directed by Leonardo Di Costanzo, is another feature to watch, along with the classic The Facts of Murder, screened as a tribute to screen legend Claudia Cardinale.
The sheer variety of films in the season points to the depth of current Italian filmmaking. It also highlights the fact that, although Italy has a glorious cinematic past, many exciting films are still being made today by extraordinary directors.
The season runs from 4–8 March at London’s British Film Institute.
Cinema Made in Italy | BFI Southbank
