Event

Join us at International House Philadelphia for a cinematic celebration of the 750th anniversary of the birth of Dante Alighieri featuring two amazing films L' Inferno (Dante's Inferno, 1911) and La Divine Comédie (The Divine Comedy, 2014).

The 750th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s birth was celebrated world widely last year. As an epilog to the recent commemorations, as well as an invitation to discuss the often overlooked cinematic works inspired by the Divine Comedy,International House in Philadelphia and the Center for Italian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania are proud to present this unmissable Dantean film program. The two selected feature films span through film history’s temporal extremes and bring together early cinema’s fascination for Dante’s afterworld imagery with the recent revival in popularity the Comedy has been enjoying within the contemporary new media landscape. The mesmerized astonishment, provoked in the early 20th century audiences by the spectacular grandeur and skilled craftsmanship involved in the production of the 1911 L’inferno by Francesco Bertolini, Giuseppe de Liguoro, and Adolfo Padovan is renewed for contemporary viewers through the sensorial and kinetic experience enhanced by the immersive audiovisual landscape of Simon Côté-Lapoint’s 2014 La divine comédie. Bearing witness to the everlasting appeal within popular culture the Divine Comedy has enjoyed throughout the 20th century and beyond, L’Inferno and La divine comédie will take you on a journey through time, film history, and changing viewing experiences.

The program will be introduced by Peter Lešnik, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Italian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania whose main concentration is modern and contemporary Italian literature and World cinema.

Follow the link to the International House Philadelphia website for further information on the event, the films, and the presenter: LINK

Thanks to Robert Cargni-Mitchell, IHP Associate Director of Arts, for making this event possible.