by InTrieste
At the Cinema Ariston in Trieste, a late-winter program curated by La Cappella Underground is bringing together a wide spectrum of cinematic experiences — from emerging filmmakers to restored classics and multimedia performances — underscoring the venue’s role as both movie theater and cultural hub.
The lineup, which unfolds over several days in late February and early March, blends contemporary international titles, special events and retrospectives, reflecting an emphasis on experimentation and cross-disciplinary storytelling.
Emerging voices and personal stories
On Feb. 24, the program turns to new filmmaking talent with a screening of Transumanza, the debut short by the Trieste-born writer and director Giovanni Bertoia, who grew up between Italy and the United States. The film won the audience award at the ShorTS International Film Festival in 2025.
Spare in style and emotionally restrained, Transumanza follows Carla, a woman who returns from Milan to rural Friuli after learning that her father is dying. There she reconnects with her sister, Anna, confronting both grief and unresolved ties to her past. The screening is scheduled to include a discussion with the director, the actress Zoe Pernici and the producer Massimiliano Milič.
Silent comedy and live performance
Later in the week, on Feb. 27, the tone shifts to classic comedy with the closing event of a retrospective dedicated to Laurel and Hardy. Organized in collaboration with a local cultural association, the evening combines archival film material with live music.
The program opens with Via Convento (1947), an Italian compilation feature built from earlier works by the duo and dubbed by Alberto Sordi and Mauro Zambuto. It is followed by a cine-concert performance in which narration, projected clips and live songs revisit the Italian and American soundtracks associated with their films.
A retrospective of Pedro Almodóvar
Beginning March 1, a Sunday-morning series turns to the work of the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, presenting six restored films in their original versions with Italian subtitles. The retrospective highlights the filmmaker’s long-standing exploration of desire, identity and transgression, themes that helped redefine European cinema in the late 20th century.
The opening screening is Entre tinieblas (1983), a melodrama set in an unconventional convent where a nightclub singer seeks refuge from the police. Subsequent screenings include Donne sull’orlo di una crisi di nervi (March 8), which established Almodóvar internationally; Tacchi a spillo (March 22); Parla con lei (March 29); La mala educación (April 12); and Volver (April 19).
Organizers say the series is intended to revisit the director’s enduring influence and his portrayal of characters who challenge social and moral constraints.
Tickets are priced at €6, with an option that includes coffee and a pastry from a local café for €10 — an offering that reflects the theater’s broader aim: to position cinema not only as entertainment, but as a shared cultural ritual.
