The Years of La Dolce Vita: When Novels Dreamed of Being Like Films

A fascinating journey exploring the fruitful, stimulating and sometimes controversial relationship between the world of cinema and Italian writers of the 20th century. From the initial shock when cinema burst onto the scene, to the golden age of Hollywood, filled with dreams, stars and glamour; from the power of Neorealism, born to portray the harsh reality of ordinary people, to the boom of the 1950s and 1960s, when Italian cinema became famous worldwide thanks to filmmakers such as Fellini, Visconti, De Sica, Rossellini and Antonioni. Then came the 1970s and 1980s, the end of innocence and a period of nostalgic reflection.

The role of cinema in shaping the style, worldview and narrative universes of great Italian authors is the focus of the 31st Edition of the “L. Visconti” School of Advanced Studies in Film History and Criticism, organized by the Georges Sadoul Circle of Ischia. At Villa La Colombaia, the historic residence of Luchino Visconti, three evenings (August 26, 27 and 28) will explore the fascination with the seventh art that runs through a significant part of Italian literature.

Organized in collaboration with the Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies of Naples and the Municipality of Forio, the 2025 edition is entitled “Cinema Was Everything. Italian Writers in Front of the Big Screen” and will be curated by Professor Emiliano Morreale, writer, film critic and lecturer at La Sapienza University of Rome.

From Luigi Pirandello to Mario Soldati, through Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italo Calvino, Anna Maria Ortese, Giorgio Bassani and Elsa Morante, the program explores the perspective of novelists and poets as cinema spectators. This theme was also developed by Morreale in his latest book, published by Einaudi under the same title, ultimately tracing a history of the Italian gaze and collective imagination.

The program

All events are free admission and will take place in the park of Villa La Colombaia:

Wednesday, August 26: “The Years of La Dolce Vita: When Novels Dreamed of Being Like Films”
Thursday, August 27: “The Invention of Nostalgia: How Cinema Became the Past”
Friday, August 28: “What Remains of Cinema: Charlatans, Pastiches, Stories and Ghosts”

The School of Advanced Studies organized by the Georges Sadoul Circle has, in recent editions, featured contemporary filmmakers such as Aleksandr Sokurov, Abel Ferrara and Leonardo Di Costanzo, as well as timeless masters including Hitchcock, Buñuel, Lubitsch, Rossellini, Fellini, De Sica and Pasolini. Previous editions have also explored New German Cinema, the achievements of the French New Wave, the Italian Risorgimento in cinema and the incomparable genius of Totò.

Past seminars have been led by renowned critics and academics including Gianni Rondolino, Giovanni Spagnoletti, Auro Bernardi, Carlo Montanaro, Vieri Razzini, Emanuela Martini, Francesco Ballo, Arturo Martorelli, Aldo Tassone, Paolo Speranza and Flavio De Bernardinis.

The 31st Edition of the School of Advanced Studies in Film History and Criticism, directed by Luigi Parini and dedicated to the memory of Tonino Della Vecchia, is organized by the Georges Sadoul Circle of Ischia, together with the Municipality of Forio and the Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies of Naples.

The event is part of the official program of “Bellissima. Speciale Visconti 120”, the new cultural season at Villa La Colombaia in Forio.

On this occasion, visitors will also have the opportunity to see the exhibition “Letizia Battaglia. Without Asking Permission”, dedicated to the work of one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Italian photography.

Participation in the Film School is free and open to everyone.

Participants may request a certificate of attendance.

For further information:
beniculturali@comune.forio.na.it
+39 081 333 2984