Italian Cinema Forum 2026 # 2. The Lady without Camelias (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1953)
Schedule
Thu May 28 2026 at 08:30 am to 10:00 am
UTC+10:00Location
189-199 Faraday Street, Carlton, VIC, Australia, Victoria 3053 | Melbourne, VI
Presented by Dr Mark Nicholls (the University of Melbourne)Free event. Registration essential here: https://www.coasit.com.au/events/events-archive/icf-2-2026
In this early, sophisticated and glamorous work, Michelangelo Antonioni trains his camera on a subject which is uncomfortably familiar to both the Italian industry and global filmmaking generally. Lucia Bosè plays Clara, a young woman catapulted from shop girl tedium to national celebrity at her designated impresario’s (Andrea Checchi) lightest of puppet-string touches. As acting contract turns to marriage deal, Clara becomes increasingly trapped in her impresario-husband’s perverse mix of personal and professional ambition. Her only hope of any type of happiness lies in what is least artistic in her profession and its most modest dreams.
Selected clips of the film will be shown as a basis for group discussion. For a more engaging conversation, we encourage you to watch the full movie beforehand.
ITALIAN CINEMA FORUM
Following the successful classic and contemporary Italian cinema workshops chaired by Mark Nicholls at CO.AS.IT. (2019-2026), we continue the discussion with new instalments for 2026. Join us for this year’s forum. Our aim – as always – is to stimulate you to watch these films and television programs, again or for the first time, and to bring your ideas and insights to our always lively discussion.
This year we begin with a series of discussions based on three films steeped in the creativity and chaos of the Italian film industry of the 1950s and early 1960s: Bellissima (Beautiful), La signora senza camelie (The Lady without Camelias) and 8 ½.
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Dr Mark Nicholls is Senior Lecturer in Cinema Studies at the University of Melbourne, where he has taught film since 1993. Mark has worked as a film journalist for ABC Radio and The Age, and has a list of over twenty stage credits as a playwright, performer, producer, and director.
Image: Lucia Bosè and Ivan Desny in a scene from The Lady without Camelias. Public domain.
Where is it happening?
189-199 Faraday Street, Carlton, VIC, Australia, Victoria 3053, 189 Faraday St, Carlton VIC 3053, Australia, Melbourne
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