Celebrating Luis Buñuel at Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour

Cineteca di Bologna presents the Mid-Atlantic edition of “Il Cinema Ritrovato” featuring Luis Buñuel with film screenings and roundtable discussions.

Each summer, Cineteca di Bologna (the Bologna Film Archive), one of the world’s most renowned centers for film restoration, presents and eight-day film festival called Il Cinema Ritrovato. The festival focuses on restored films, early silent cinema, and director retrospectives.

The fourth Mid-Atlantic edition of festival will culminate with screenings at the National Gallery of Art. This year’s collaborations extended to the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington, to the Cultural Office at the Embassy of Spain, and to the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center.

On Thursday, March 7, the Campus University of Maryland will host a series of events related to the Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel.

Buñuel, a Surrealist Filmmaker

• On March 7 at 4:15 pm.
• Introduction and screening of the documentary directed by Javier Espada, Spain, 2021, 83 minutes.
• In Spanish version with English subtitles.

In Buñuel, a Surrealist Filmmaker, Javier Espada expands his focus beyond his previous film Tras Nazarín to encompass Luis Buñuel’s entire career. From his childhood in Calanda, Spain, to his experience with surrealism in Paris, his brief stay at MoMA in the 1940s, his emigration to Mexico and his prolific subsequent career, this documentary examines Buñuel’s ties to literature and Spanish painting. By visiting Buñuel’s homes and filming locations in Mexico, talking to collaborators and surviving family, Espada paints a portrait of the renowned artist. Buñuel’s acuity, skepticism, and profound respect for human frailty are still significant today.

Roundtable and Q&A

• On March 7 from 5:40 pm to 6:30 pm.
• With Javier Espada, Miguel Albero (Cultural Counselor at the Embassy of Spain in Washington DC), Ryan Long (Department of Spanish and Portuguese UMD), and J. M. Naharro (Department of Spanish and Portuguese UMD).
• Followed by a break from 6:30 pm to 7 pm (food will be served.)

Belle De Jour

• On March 7 at 7:30 pm.
• Screening of the movie directed by Luis Buñuel, France-Italy, 1967, 100 minutes.
• In French version with English subtitles.
• Followed by closing remarks at 9:05 pm.

Belle de jour is based on the novel of the same name by Joseph Kessel. The film follows Séverine, a woman married to a doctor, who uncovers daytime prostitution. It delves into her desires, fantasies, and the duality of her bourgeois life.