Dear Italy is The Garden Cinema’s love letter to Italian Cinema. We are delighted to showcase films not only widely considered classics but also the most beloved by audiences and critics alike. This series is an emotional journey through the protagonists, the stories, and the spirit of Italian cinema, offering vibrant and unique films from the Golden Age to the present day.

We open with a tribute to the iconic Italian actress Monica Vitti, the anti-diva at the time of the great divas, with four titles which celebrate both her dramatic depth and her comic brilliance. As the ‘Muse of incommunicability’ and the queen of comedy, La Vitti was capable of moving seamlessly from Michelangelo Antonioni’s existential dramas to the sparkling wit of commedia all’italiana, embodying – equally importantly – both mystery and modernity, establishing herself as a star of arthouse cinema and as a popular icon. Her career rewrote the rules of Italian comedy and helped to shape one of the greatest periods in Italian and world cinema. With her deep, magnetic voice, and a sweet, biting beauty, La Vitti created a new kind of female presence on screen, portraying emancipated, ironic, and fiercely independent characters. To celebrate her unique talent we are showing four films alternating between drama and comedy, alienation and lightness: L’Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960), I Married You for Fun (Luciano Salce, 1967), L’Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962), and Jealousy, Italian Style (Ettore Scola, 1970).

Dear Italy is supported by CinemaItaliaUK.