To mark the 20th anniversary of Federico Fellini’s death, we pay homage to the Italian maestro with a screening of Ettore Scola’s Che Strano chiamarsi Federico! (How Strange to Be Named Federico!).This delightful homage to Fellini’s life and films is part documentary—including rare archival material from Scola and Fellini’s visits to one another’s film sets—and part fiction, with re-enacted, scripted scenes. Although the two filmmakers never worked together, Scola had previously celebrated Fellini’s work by re-creating the famous Fontana di Trevi scene from Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960) in his own C’eravamo tanto amati (1974). InFederico!, Scola commemorates their long association through his own memories and those of mutual friends, while simultaneously evoking a lost way of making movies.
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, with 41 Parallelo, in conjunction with a series of screenings of Fellini’s work held at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, New York University, and supported by Mibac, Ministero dei Beni e degli Affari Culturali.