(May 6 2016) Bellissima, Mamma Roma, La Chanteuse, Rome Open City. These are just some of the 25 films of “La Magnani” retrospective: an event sponsored by the Istituto Luce-Cinecittà and the Film Society of Lincoln Centre that will be premiering in New York and then Canada. It is a unique moment in the history of world cinema: the appearance in front of the camera of an actress names Anna Magnani. A real tribute to the icon of Italian cinema, the myth that Marilyn Monroe called “divine, just divine”. Jean Renoir was however to say that Magnani was “the complete animal: an animal specially created for the stage and for the screen”. The star comes back to life thanks to the big screen and to the retrospective to be held from May 18th to June 1st at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Centre. The films, mostly from the Archive of International Luce Cinecittà, all screened in 35 and 16mm film format covering almost the entire time span of her cinema career. Works of Rossellini, De Sica, Visconti, Fellini, Pasolini, Renoir, Cukor, Lumet, Dieterle and many others. From her third film ‘Tempo Massimo’ by Mattoli in 1934 to Fellini’s Roma in 1972. Moving on to the Rosselini’s masterpiece, Rome Open City, which he projected into people’s memories. The Rose Tattoo by Daniel Mann which earned her an Oscar (marking its 60th anniversary this yeas) and ‘Wild is the Wind’ by Cukor with whom she won the award for best interpretation in Berlin and her second Oscar nominations. It is an exciting and comprehensive retrospective of the craft and the actress’s soul and after New York she will be presented in some of the most prestigious film institutions in North America such as Chicago, Detroit, Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Columbus, Toronto Festival, and Cambridge. Next, from the 2nd to the 8th of June the Istituto Luce-Cinecittà and the Lincoln Center will present the festival of Contemporary Cinema ‘Open Roads’ now in its 16th year.
