Opening Night

Primavera

+ intro and Q&A with director Damiano Michieletto and screenwriter Ludovica Rampoldi

Cinema Made in Italy opens with this enthralling period drama inspired by the life of composer Antonio Vivaldi.

  • Director

    Damiano Michieletto

  • With

    Tecla Insolia, Michele Riondino, Andrea Pennacchi, Stefano Accorsi

  • Italy-France 2025. 110min

  • Digital

  • Certificate

    TBC

  • English subtitles

  • Courtesy of Curzon Film

This authentic, beautifully realised musical drama is set in an 18th century Italian church that doubles as an orphanage for young women who perform in its orchestra. Drawing on the real life of Vivaldi, Primavera details the consequences that ensue when Cecilia, a talented protégé of the legendary composer (played by the wonderful Tecla Insolia) rebels against the orphanage’s draconian strictures.

+ Grasshoppers Cavallette

Italy 1991. Director Bruno Bozzetto. 9min. Digital. With English subtitles

In the natural course of earth’s evolution, five or a thousand years represent just a handful of seconds. What is the role of mankind on this boundless stage?