Fellini Retrospective begins in New York

IFC Center presents “Fellini,” an 11-film retrospective of the legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, July 1-September 25 in the ongoing “Weekend Classics” program. With a signature style that combined baroque and fantastic flourishes with more earthy concerns, Fellini (1920-1993) was not only one of the twentieth century’s most beloved filmmakers, but has proven one of its most influential as well. Among numerous awards and distinctions, Fellini’s films won four Oscars, along with prizes at Cannes, Venice, Berlin and other film festivals, with Fellini himself receiving career achievement awards from Cannes in 1974 and Venice in 1985, followed by a special Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1993.

The program kicks off with Fellini’s international succès de scandale blockbuster LA DOLCE VITA (1960), screening daily at 11:00am Friday, July 1-Thursday, July 7. An epic portrait of the dawn of tabloid culture, set in the decadent postwar Roman demimonde and starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg, the film was denounced by censors around the world for glorifying immorality, despite winning the Palme d’Or for Best Film at Cannes.

The series continues weekends at 11:00am through September 25. Other highlights of the program include the early black-and-white masterworks I VITELLONI and LA STRADA, the semiautobiographical AMARCORD, the historical fantasies FELLINI’S CASANOVA and FELLINI SATYRICON, the recently restored CITY OF WOMEN, and a Labor Day weekend presentation of 8½, a meditation on creativity starring Mastroianni as a frustrated filmmaker that’s a perennial entry on Top-10-of-all-Time lists.

A related exhibit of rare, international Fellini posters is on display in the Posteritati at IFC Center gallery on the theater’s second floor. A complete film schedule is below.

“Fellini” – Weekends at 11:00am, July 1-September 25 at IFC Center

JUL 1-7: LA DOLCE VITA (1960)
JUL 8-10: I VITELLONI (1953) – 35mm print!
JUL 15-17: LA STRADA (1954) – 35mm print!
JUL 29-31: IL BIDONE (1955)
AUG 5-7: GINGER AND FRED (1986) – 35mm print!
AUG 12-14: AMARCORD (1973)  – 35mm print!
AUG 19-21: ROMA (1972)
AUG 26-28: FELLINI’S CASANOVA (1976)
SEP 2-5: 8 1⁄2 (1963) – 35mm print!
SEP 9-11: FELLINI SATYRICON (1969) – 35mm print!
SEP 23-25: CITY OF WOMEN (1980)

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