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Thanks to popular demand, the Palm Springs Cultural Center is extending its Fellini Retrospective series through the end of 2023. The series debuted in September 2022 and featured four director Federico Fellini's essential films: La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, La Strada, and 8 ½.

 The series is part of the Fellini 100 Tour, an international celebration of Fellini's centennial at significant museums and film institutions worldwide despite being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour launched in Fellini's birthplace of Rimini, Italy, with the opening of the International Federico Fellini Museum, and has since visited institutions such as UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the British Film Institute (BFI), the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA).

One of the most influential directors of the 20th century, Fellini's films are known for their surreal, dream-like imagery and eccentric characters, often combining a playful carnival-like atmosphere with biting social critique. Fellini's work has inspired several generations of directors, including Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Sofia Coppola, and Pedro Almodóvar.

The extended series will feature classics such as NIGHTS OF CABIRIA and I VITELLONI as part of a deep dive into the director's filmography, exploring cinema rarely exhibited outside of revival theaters in major metropolitan areas. In addition, cinephiles can look forward to avant-garde favorites such as SATYRICON and CASANOVA, as well as Fellini's first feature film, THE WHITE SHEIK, and his last, THE SHIP SAILS ON. 

"We're delighted to see so much enthusiasm for classic cinema from our audience, which allows us to continue exhibiting these incredible films," said Program Director Lauren Wolfer.

The Palm Springs Cultural Center's Fellini Retrospective resumes with a screening of ROMA on Friday, February 3, at 7 pm in the Historic Camelot Theatre. The films will be shown on the first Friday of the month (excluding the month of May) through December 2023. The Cultural Center's Historic Camelot Theatre is highly regarded by film fans, boasting one of the giant screens in the Coachella Valley and a state-of-the-art sound system.

Mildred's Cafe will serve Italian food specials at 6 pm to accompany each event. Tickets are available here. 

February 3 - ROMA (1972)

As a young man, Fellini (Peter Gonzales) leaves his small Italian town to go to the big city of Rome, live in a boarding house, and cavort with the natives in the 1930s and '40s. Then, in an alternating storyline, the older Fellini (Federico Fellini) goes back to make a movie about Rome, filming things like traffic jams at the Colosseum and the subway system, which hides underground crypts. By inter-cutting this footage, Fellini, the director, draws comparisons to the old Rome and the new.

March 3 - JULIET OF THE SPIRITS (1965) 

Middle-aged Giulietta (Giulietta Masina) grows suspicious of her husband, Giorgio (Mario Pisu) when his behavior grows increasingly questionable. Then, one night when Giorgio initiates a seance amongst his friends, Giulietta gets in touch with spirits and learns more about herself and her painful past. Slightly skeptical but intrigued, she visits a mystic who gives her more information -- and nudges her toward the realization that her husband is indeed a philanderer.

April 7 - I VITELLONI (1953)

Five young men dream of success as they drift lazily through life in a small Italian village. Fausto (Franco Fabrizi), the group's leader, is a womanizer; Riccardo craves fame; Alberto (Alberto Sordi) is a hopeless dreamer; Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi) fantasizes about life in the city; and Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste) is an aspiring playwright. As Fausto chases a string of women to the horror of his pregnant wife, the other four blunder their way from one uneventful experience to the next.

June 2 - FELLINI’S CASANOVA  (1976)

A man (Donald Sutherland) uses his sexuality to find his place in life amid eccentric and strange characters.

July 7 - NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957)

The magnificent Giulietta Masina plays an eternally optimistic Rome streetwalker with a heart of gold and a head of cotton candy in her husband's Oscar-winning masterpiece. This funny, poignant classic inspired the musical "Sweet Charity" and is a must-see for Fellini fans.

August 4 - SATYRICON (1969)

After his young lover, Gitone (Max Born), leaves him for another man, Encolpio (Martin Potter) decides to kill himself, but a sudden earthquake destroys his home before he has a chance to do so. Now wandering around Rome in the time of Nero, Encolpio encounters one bizarre and surreal scene after another. He's invited to a poetry reading that ends in violence, is taken hostage by pirates, and is even forced to battle a gladiator disguised as a minotaur in a giant labyrinth.

September 1 - IL BIDONE (1955)

Tired of impersonating priests, three small-time swindlers (Broderick Crawford, Richard Basehart, Franco Fabrizi) go their separate ways.

October 6 - AND THE SHIP SAILS ON (1983)

In 1914, a cruise ship set sail from Naples to spread the ashes of beloved opera singer Edmea Tetua (Janet Suzman) near Erimo, the isle of her birth. During the voyage, the eclectic array of passengers discovers a group of Serbian refugees aboard the vessel. Peace and camaraderie abound until an Austrian flagship descends upon the ship. The Serbians are forced to board it, but naturally, they resist, igniting a skirmish that ends in destruction.

November 3 - CITY OF WOMEN (1983)

This surreal exploration of male and female sexuality follows Snaporaz (Marcello Mastroianni), an Italian train passenger who pursues a beautiful woman. Trailing the lovely lady through a forest, Snaporaz ends up at a hotel populated by women gathered for a feminist conference. He soon realizes that he is an unwelcome presence and must evade hostile women, with some aid provided by the seemingly kind Donatella (Donatella Damiani). Can Snaporaz escape this strange ultra-feminine reality?

December 1 - THE WHITE SHEIK (1952)

In Italy, small-town newlyweds Wanda (Brunella Bovo) and Ivan Cavalli (Leopoldo Trieste) embark on their honeymoon in the big city of Rome. Ivan dutifully wants to keep appointments with family and church, but Wanda is only interested in meeting her favorite photo-strip star, "The White Sheik" (Alberto Sordi). While Wanda impetuously sneaks away to locate the object of her affection, disconsolate Ivan tries his hardest to keep up appearances with the couple's relatives. 

All films have been digitally restored by Cinecittà, Cineteca di Bologna, and Cineteca Nazionale.

The Palm Springs Cultural Center incubates, produces, and encourages arts and cultural programs to leverage the unique power of creativity to open minds, bridge what divides people, and discover what connects people. Its programs include film festivals, farmers' markets, live performances, art installations, and lecture series—all of which act as creative inspiration points—expanding learning and building meaningful relationships with people and the environment. As an organization, The Palm Springs Cultural Center is also at the forefront of recognizing the interconnection between the cultural arts and food culture and their combined importance to the vitality, collective consciousness, and sustainability of the community. 

Source: Lauren Wolfer

Program Director

Palm Springs Cultural Center