The underlying reason for choosing a section like “Venezia Classici” is not to be found in nostalgia. While the goal may be to recall the vitality of a time when “cinema was everything” (to quote Leonardo Sciascia), another consideration must be taken into account: the realization that the cinema of tomorrow can only draw its lifeblood from the films of the past.
With four restorations in the competition out of a total of nineteen, L'Immagine Ritrovata is the lab with the most entries at Venice Classics 83.
Here are the titles of the restoration projects carried out in our laboratories that will be screened as part of Venezia Classici:
THE UNCLE FROM BROOKLYN (Lo zio di Brooklyn)
Daniele Ciprì, Franco Maresco
1995, 98', Italy
Having disappeared from the screens after the unfortunate stint of a nearly clandestine release in movie theaters across Italy, The Uncle from Brooklyn has not merely been restored but has actually been “resurrected,” to quote Alberto Barbera. The collaboration between the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna and Filmauro has generously made it possible to bring Ciprì and Maresco’s first, highly distinctive feature film back to light.
DOWN AND DIRTY (Brutti, sporchi e cattivi)
Ettore Scola
1976, 115’, Italy
The restoration of Down and Dirty, the 1976 masterpiece in which Ettore Scola directs the incomparable Nino Manfredi, is the result of yet another collaboration featuring the Cineteca di Bologna, this time with Surf Film and the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. An eccentric film, to be sure, and perhaps one of the director’s most underrated works: will the release of this restored version provide an opportunity to rediscover and reevaluate this unsparing portrait of the Roman suburbs in the early 1970s? We certainly hope so, because the film undoubtedly deserves it. And if you don’t trust us, perhaps you’ll trust the opinion of Albero Moravia, who wrote upon the film’s release: “In this remarkable film, the emphasis on ugly and repulsive physical details might even lead one to speak of a new aestheticism in keeping with the times.”
LONG NIGHT IN 1943 (La lunga notte del '43)
Florestano Vancini,
1960, 105', Italy
There could be no better way to celebrate the centennial of the birth of Florestano Vancini, the Ferrara-born director, than the one proposed by the Cineteca di Bologna and Compass Film: bringing the restored version of Long Night in 1943 to the Lido, an intense film that not only marks Vancini’s cinematic debut but also links his name and success to the Festival. In fact, the film was first presented in Venice in 1960, where it won the Best First Feature Film Award. The exceptional performances by Belinda Lee, Gabriele Ferzetti, Gino Cervi, and Enrico Maria Salerno, along with the screenplay by Ennio De Concini and Pier Paolo Pasolini—inspired by a short story by the Bolognese writer Giorgio Bassani—certainly contributed to the success of this film, which is often considered the director’s finest work.
ENGLISH, AUGUST
Dev Benegal
1994, 118', India
Staying on the topic of promising beginnings, here's another, more recent, debut film: English, August by Indian director Dev Bengal, which won the Best Film award at the 1995 Turin Film Festival. The film appeared to have been lost due to a flood that had severely damaged its negatives, until a 35mm print was rediscovered in 2020 at the National Film Archives of India. This discovery, combined with the Film Heritage Foundation’s tremendous commitment to preserving Indian cinema, has made it possible, through a new 4K restoration, to breathe new life into the first independent film to break into the Indian mainstream cinema scene, which is generally dominated by major Bollywood productions.
For further information and to view the complete program for the Classici section, visit the Festival's website: https://www.labiennale.org/it/cinema/2026/venezia-classici.