Day 1: Wednesday, March 5 at the Italian Cultural Institute (Embassy of Italy, Washington DC) - FREE (RESERVATION REQUIRED)

This year the festival will open on March 5 with a conversation about the love for cinema at the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington. The conversation will feature Cecilia Cenciarelli, co-director of Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna and head of the Special Projects Department at the Cineteca di Bologna; and Massimo Riva, Professor of Italian Studies and Modern Culture and Media at Brown University. 

Day 2: Thursday, March 6  at 4pm on the UMD Campus (TWS 0320) - FREE (NO RESERVATION REQUIRED)

On March 6, the festival will celebrate the great German star Marlene Dietrich on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park (Tawes 0320) with the screening of two of her masterpieces: Blonde Venus (dir. Josef Von Sternberg, 1932, 94'), and A Foreign Affair (dir. Billy Wilder, 1948, 116'). The screening will be accompanied by a roundtable.  More info on the films and screening times.

Day 3: Friday, March 7, 7:00pm - AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center - FREE (RESERVATION REQUIRED)

On March 7, the festival will move to AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, MD, for a screening of Marco Bellocchio's highly controversial Slap the Monster on Page One (1972, 87'). An unforgiving inquiry into the sensationalism of the Italian press in a historical moment of social and political turmoil, the film boasts an astounding performance by political cinema icon Gian Maria Volonté. More info on the films. 

Day 4: Saturday, March 8 - National Gallery of Art - FREE (RESERVATION REQUIRED)

On March 8 the festival will move to the East Building Auditorium at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., for a screening of a recently restored version of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (dir. Sergei Parajanov, 1965, 97'). A sumptuous, haunting drama, this highlight of Parajanov's early career will be accompanied by Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992, 60'), an award-winning documentary by Mikhail Vartanov.  More info on the films.

Day 5: Sunday, March 9, 2:00pm - AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center - FREE (RESERVATION REQUIRED)

On March 9, we return to AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, MD to conclude the festival with one of the most singular looks at the 1980s in world cinema: Golden Eighties (dir. Chantal Akerman, 1986, 96'). Known for her groundbreaking work in experimental cinema, Akerman shows in this musical comedy a more playful side, while also providing a sharp critique of consumerism and sexism in Western society. More info on the films.