Some of the most memorable films directed by Federico Fellini (1920-93) were those starring his wife, Giulietta Masina (1921-94). This series features four of their best, including all-time classics LA STRADA and NIGHTS OF CABIRIA. ALL FILMS UNRATED

AFI Member Passes will be accepted at all screenings in the Fellini & Masina series.

NIGHTS OF CABIRIA
[Le Notti de Cabiria]

Prostitute Giulietta Masina dreams of happiness while working in Rome's drab outskirts. After a movie star dumps her, she finds true love with a respectable man--who betrays and robs her. Throughout a touching ride both comedic and tragic, she holds on to her belief in the goodness of life. An Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Fellini's second work with Masina followed the success of LA STRADA and became the basis of the stage and film musical SWEET CHARITY.

DIR/PROD Federico Fellini; SCR Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Italy/France, 1957, b&w, 117 min.

LA STRADA
[The Road]

One of the most poetic films of world cinema, LA STRADA established Fellini and Giulietta Masina internationally. It was a breakthrough for Italian cinema, moving away from strict neo-realism to a higher artistic realism. In a small traveling circus, Masina plays a young innocent whom strongman Anthony Quinn "buys" and makes into a clown. Gentle Richard Basehart befriends her. Nino Rota's music is unforgettable; the surrealistic images are today known as "Fellini-esque." Certainly one of the most influential films ever made, it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

DIR/PROD Federico Fellini; SCR Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano and Tullio Pinelli. Italy, 1954, b&w, 115 min.

JULIET OF THE SPIRITS
[Giulietta degli Spiriti]

Fellini's first color feature is a visually ravishing tribute to his wife. It is also a male director's attempt to get inside the mind of a woman. Giulietta Masina plays a well-to-do housewife who learns that her husband is having an affair. She consults with mediums and escapes into a world of imagination filled with spirits of the past, present and future. While 8 1/2 shows Fellini's masculine dreams, this film portrays the very different dreams of his actress wife.

DIR/SCR/PROD Federico Fellini; SCR Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Brunello Rondy. Italy/France/West Germany, 1965, color, 137 min.

GINGER AND FRED

Here is Fellini at his warmest and most directly appealing, with superb performances by his two greatest stars. Giulietta Masina and Marcello Mastroianni play aging hoofers who, in the 1930s, imitated Astaire-Rogers on stage as "Ginger e Fred." When a Rome TV station invites them to restage their act for today's home viewing audience, they meet a hilariously weird assortment of program participants. A nostalgic look back--and a satiric survey of contemporary television.

DIR Federico Fellini; SCR/PROD Federico Fellini and Tonino Guerra. Italy/France/ West Germany, 1986, color, 125 min.