FSLC Announces La Magnani, May 18 – June 1

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces La Magnani, a series dedicated to the film work of iconic Italian actress Anna Magnani, May 18 - June 1. The 24-film series will screen entirely on 35mm and 16mm.

"No actress possesses the magic and the fire of Anna." - George Cukor

"[Anna Magnani] is probably the greatest actress I have ever worked with. She is the complete animal-an ANIMAL created completely for the stage and screen." - Jean Renoir

Anna Magnani's blend of fiery passion, earthy humor, and unvarnished naturalism made her the symbol of postwar Italian cinema. Launched to worldwide superstardom through her indelible turn in Roberto Rossellini's ROME Open City, she represented something startlingly new to audiences accustomed to movie-star glamour: here, in all its raw, gritty glory, was life. Equally adept at drama and comedy, she could harness her explosive emotional intensity to move an audience to laughter, tears, or both at once.

La Magnani highlights the actress's illustrious international career, including powerhouse performances for directors like Rossellini, Luchino Visconti (Bellissima), Pier Paolo Pasolini (Mamma Roma), Federico Fellini (L'amore and Roma), Sidney Lumet (The Fugitive Kind), George Cukor (Wild Is the Wind), William Dieterle (Volcano), Mario Monicelli (The Passionate Thief), and Jean Renoir (The Golden Coach).

This diverse survey of Magnani's filmography also features a number of the actress's rarely screened early performances, including her third-ever on-screen appearance, as a scheming maid opposite a young Vittorio De Sica in Mario Mattoli's Full Speed; as a gold-digging showgirl in De Sica's Doctor, Beware; showing off her distinctive vocal style as an enchanting nightclub performer in Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia's La vita è bella; as well as her final roles in Alfredo Giannetti's historical drama 1870-the only time she appeared opposite Marcello Mastroianni-and Fellini's Roma, her farewell to film.

The series is the first stop of a traveling retrospective organized by Istituto Luce Cinecittà that will continue at film institutions around the United States, including the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and The Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus.

Organized by Florence Almozini and Dan Sullivan. Co-presented with Istituto Luce Cinecittà.

Tickets will go on sale Thursday, May 5. Single screening tickets are $14; $11 for students and seniors (62+); and $9 for Film Society members. See more and save with the discount ALL ACCESS Pass or 3+ film package. Visit filmlinc.org for more information.