As part of Italian Heritage Month in Vancouver and in celebration of Italian Day on the Drive (Sunday, June 10), the Rio Theatre is programming screenings of select Italian titles in June - including one of our most requested titles, Federico Fellini's masterfully surreal, semi-autobiographical take on the trials and tribulations of the film-making, a film often cited by Fellini himself as one of his favorite films ever - 8 1/2.

Marcello Mastroianni delivers one of his best-loved, career-high performances as troubled Italian filmmaker Guido Anselmi, a harried man struggling with creative stasis as he attempts to get a new movie off the ground. Overwhelmed by his work and personal life, the director retreats into his thoughts, which often focus on his loves, both past and present, and frequently wander into fantastical territory. As he tries to sort out his many entanglements, romantic and otherwise, Anselmi finds his production becoming more and more autobiographical. Also starring Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo, Barbra Steele.

Thanks to our friends at Italian Day on the Drive, Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver, the Vancouver Italian Film Festival, and the Italian Contemporary Film Festival for their ongoing support of this screening, and all the films selected for our annual Italian film series.

"Inventive, thought-provoking, and funny, 8 1/2 represents the arguable peak of Federico Fellini's many towering feats of cinema." (Rotten Tomatoes)

"Here is a piece of entertainment that will really make you sit up straight and think, a movie endowed with the challenge of a fascinating intellectual game." (The New York Times)

Friday, June 15
Doors 8:00 pm | Movie 8:30 pm

Tickets $10 advance | $12 at the door

*Minors OK in the balcony! Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service and main floor seating.
*Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK! Please redeem at the door.

8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963 / 138 mins / 18A) | Harried movie director Guido, when trying to relax after his last big hit, retreats into his memories and fantasies, but He can't get a moment's peace when the people who have worked with him in the past constantly look to him for more work. He wrestles with his conscience, but is unable to come up with a new idea. While thinking, he starts to recall major happenings in his life, and all the women he has loved and left.