This year’s online edition of the annual Italian film fest includes last year’s Berlinale best
Actor, a couple of Venice favourites – and only male directors
Spring is here, and with it the allure of sunny escape – though the prospect of variously tiered travel restrictions from May means that most of us will be holidaying within national borders for now. If you’re daydreaming of an Italian getaway, the Italian Cultural Institute has given us some armchair-based consolation in the shape of their annual Cinema Made in
Italy showcase. Usually a big-screen affair, it goes digital this year for Covid purposes: as with other such online adaptations, the trade-off is that a traditionally London-centred event is available to viewers across the
UK and
Ireland.
Until 29 April, a curated selection of nine recent Italian films will be available to stream via Mubi: free to the platform’s existing subscribers, while others can access a free 30-day trial for the specific purpose of the event, while also sampling anything else Mubi has to offer in that time. As usual, it’s a programme that largely eschews big arthouse names in favour of talents less known outside their home country, with several films plucked from last year’s international festival circuit. Perhaps constrained by the disruptions of the pandemic, this year’s lineup isn’t quite as diverse as some previous editions: it’s a little disappointing to see no female directors among the selections, for one thing. But there’s much here that’s worth seeing.