Gloria! | In Sala. Cineclub italiano

The Italian Cultural Institute in Cologne presents the fourth edition of “In Sala. Cineclub italiano” with four new film nights, hosted by Eugenio Riversi.

The fourth edition of the “In Sala” film club focuses primarily on female perspectives. The first three films in the series tell compelling stories about women, written and directed by Italian female directors and screenwriters.

In chronological order, we begin with the life stories of young women who lived around the year 1800 in a Venetian girls’ boarding school where musical education was the focus. *Gloria!* (2024), the directorial debut of actress and singer Margherita Vicario, uses this story to bring to the forefront the largely forgotten experiences of numerous young women who lived in boarding schools during the early modern period—particularly their close relationship with music.

The second film takes us further into the era of World War II and tells one of the many tragic love stories that arose from encounters between soldiers—torn from their familiar surroundings by the war—and young women from the towns where they were taken in as occupiers or refugees. With *Vermiglio* (2024), renowned director Maura Delpero has created a story that unfolds between Trentino and Sicily and depicts the existential conflicts of this difficult love with great intensity.

The third film, *Diva Futura* (2024) by Giulia Louise Steigerwalt, takes us back to the late 1980s. Inspired by Debora Attanasio’s autobiographical novel *Non dite alla mamma che faccio la segretaria* (“Don’t Tell My Mom I’m a Secretary”), the film tells the story of the secretary at Riccardo Schicchi’s production company, which specialized in pornographic films. It sheds light on a phenomenon that contributed significantly to the establishment of the so-called “subcultural hegemony” in Italy.

The closing film, *Le città di pianura* (2025) by Francesco Sossai, serves as a sort of counterpoint to these female narratives. The road movie takes viewers along the roads of Veneto and follows two friends, Doriano and Carlobianchi, who are closely bonded by their shared passion for drinking. On their wanderings from one bar to the next, they encounter Giulio, an architecture student. While the two try to share their philosophy of life with the shy young man, Giulio, in turn, offers them a glimpse into the possibilities and hopes of someone at the beginning of adulthood. The result is a striking portrait of contemporary Venetian society.

Program

Thursday, September 24, 6:30 p.m.
*Gloria! * by Margherita Vicario, 2024
Original Italian version with German subtitles

Thursday, October 15, 6:30 p.m.
*Vermiglio* by Maura Delpero, 2024
Original Italian version with German subtitles

Thursday, November 19, 6:30 p.m.
Diva Futura by Giulia Louise Steigerwalt, 2024
Original Italian version with German subtitles

Thursday, December 10, 6:30 p.m.
*Le città di pianura* by Francesco Sossai, 2025
Original Italian version with German subtitles

The film screenings will take place in the theater hall of the Italian Cultural Institute in Cologne. Each screening will begin with a brief introduction in Italian and conclude with a light aperitif.

Free admission.

Eugenio Riversi, a historian, has been working at the Institute of History at the University of Bonn since 2011. Since 2013, he has been organizing and hosting the Italian Film Series at the Institute of Romance Studies at the University of Bonn, and since 2018 he has also been collaborating with the Bonn Cinematheque