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World Cinema Series: 8 1/2

  • Strand Theatre 210 Main Street Hudson Falls, NY, 12839 (map)

free admission and free popcorn

8+1⁄2 (Italian title: Otto E Mezzo, pronounced [ˈɔtto e mˈmɛddzo]) is an Italian 1963 avant-garde surrealist comedy-drama film directed and co-written (with Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano and Brunello Rondi) by Federico Fellini. The metafictional narrative centers on Guido Anselmi, played by Marcello Mastroianni, a famous Italian film director who suffers from stifled creativity as he attempts to direct an epic science fiction film. Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo, Rossella Falk, Barbara Steele, and Eddra Gale portray the various women in Guido's life. The film is shot in black and white by cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo and features a soundtrack by Nino Rota, with costume and set designs by Piero Gherardi.

8+1⁄2 was critically acclaimed and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Costume Design (black-and-white). It is acknowledged as an avant-garde film and a highly influential classic. It was ranked 10th on the British Film Institute's The Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2012 critics' poll and 4th by directors. It is listed on the Vatican's compilation of the 45 best films made before 1995, the 100th anniversary of cinema. The film ranked 7th in BBC's 2018 list of The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films voted by 209 film critics from 43 countries around the world.

The film was also included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978". It is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential films of all time.

Earlier Event: January 24
Open Mic
Later Event: January 26
Paper Sun - The Music of Traffic