Now that the celebrations of Agnès Varda and Martin Scorsese have died down, it’s time to fete a different royal of cinema, Federico Fellini. Known for his “baroque” style, the celebrated Italian post-war-era director passed away in 1993. This year would have marked his 100th birthday. To commemorate the occasion, cultural organizations around the globe are hosting centennial tributes to the five-time Oscar winner. Museums are mounting exhibitions, theaters are revisiting his films, and his birthplace is being marketed as a major tourist attraction. New York City’s observance of Fellini’s 100th birthday is starting off low-key, but come December, the joint should be hopping.

Fellini 100 fever hits Italy with exhibits, film screenings & a museum

It’s no surprise that Fellini fever is already full-blown in Italy. The maestro’s birthplace of Rimini has become a memorial. While Fellini never shot there, he featured Rimini in several of his films. He recreated parts of the town in his film studio in Rome. We recommend reading Juliet Rix’s recent Rimini travelogue for The Guardian.

Rimini is also the first stop of a major touring exhibit, Fellini 100: Immortal Genius. Organized by Museo Internazionale Federico Fellini – Comune di Rimini, the show features photos, film clips, costumes, props, and cartoons. It is being housed at Castel Sismondo, one of the future sites of the Federico Fellini Museum, which is expected to open in December 2020. Fellini 100: Immortal Genius‘ next stop is Palazzo Venezia in Rome in April. It will then travel to Los Angeles, Berlin, and Moscow.

Also in Rome, Cinecittà studios, where Fellini filmed La Dolce Vita (1960), 8 1/2 (1963), and Satyricon (1969), among others, has installed a permanent immersive installation titled Felliniana: Ferretti dreams of Fellini. The work takes you inside Fellini’s imagination. Production designers Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo, who worked on several of Fellini’s projects, consulted on the project.

Five Fellini films will also return to theaters in Italy, thanks to Cineteca Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, Cineteca National, and Luce Cinecittá. The films include Amarcord (1972), I Vitelloni (1953), 8 1/2 (1963), The White Sheik (1952), and La Dolce Vita (1960).

UK first international stop for Fellini 100 film retrospective

The UK is also early to the Fellini 100 party. The British Film Institute (BFI) is leading the charge in coordination with the Italian Ministry of Culture and Luce Cinecittà. BFI Southbank is the first international stop of the official film retrospective of Fellini 100. The comprehensive survey, which is accompanied by a series of talks, runs through the end of February. Other international destinations for the series include Asia, South America, North America, and Cuba.

BFI is also spearheading a UK and Ireland tour of five of Fellini’s films, La Dolce Vita (1960), I Vitelloni (1953), Juliet of the Spirits (1965), Nights of Cabiria (1957), and 8 1/2 (1963). The Cineteca di Bologna, the Cineteca Nazionale, and Luce Cinecittà, who are behind most of the 4K restorations of Fellini’s work, are supporting the tour. You can find out more details here.

Film fans in the UK can also stream Fellini’s films via BFI Player. This will be the first time some of these titles are available in the UK.

On the other side of the Thames, the Barbican Centre is hosting the UK premiere of Cineteca di Bologna’s new 4K restoration of Fellini’s Roma.

Other parts of Europe join in the Fellini 100 festivities

Fellini’s genius is being recognized in other areas of Europe as well. In Belgrade, the Yugoslav Film Archive is hosting an “unofficial” retrospective that runs through January 26. In Geneva, the La Fondation Fellini Pour le Cinéma presents Viva Fellini! Exposition du Centenaire (1920-2020), an immersive exhibition that explores the filmmaker’s creative process that runs through May 3, 2020.

Over in Germany, Fellini is being feted in film, photography, and drawing. The Italian Cultural Institute of Berlin has on view Fellini – Mastroianni Alter/Ego through February 29, 2020. The photographic exhibit focuses on the relationship between Fellini and his friend/leading man Marcello Mastroianni. With the show, Arsenal is hosting Federico & Marcello – The films of Federico Fellini starring Marcello Mastroianni. All of the films in the series screen in 35mm.

Museum Folkwang in Essen is celebrating Fellini later in the year with an exhibition that illustrates the significance of Fellini’s drawings to his creative process. Federico Fellini From Drawing to Film will be on view from October 23, 2020 to February 7, 2021.

UPDATE 1/24/20: The 70th Berlinale will salute “100 years of Fellini” by hosting the world premiere of a new 4K restoration of Il Bidone (1955). The film screens in the festival’s Berlinale Classics section.

Where you can find those sweet Fellini 100 events in the U.S.

Fellini’s La Dolce Vita

Fellini mania has also come to U.S. shores, just not to New York City yet. The official Fellini 100 retrospective, which is also running at BFI, made its North American debut on January 16th at the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). The series, dubbed Federico Fellini at 100, comprises over forty programs and features digital restorations of all of Fellini’s films. BAMPFA’s event spans five months and runs through May 17, 2020.

Over the year, this career-spanning retrospective is expected to travel to venues in Washington, and Toronto, as well as The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Cinematheque at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Harvard University, the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. MoMA’s Fellini retrospective is slated for December 2020.

Also in San Francisco, in conjunction with BAMPFA’s program, the Castro Theatre is the site of a day-long tribute to Fellini on March 7th. Organized by Cinema Italia San Francisco, Fellini 100: Homage to Federico Fellini includes DCP screenings of La Strada (1954), Juliet of the Spirits (1965), Amarcord (1973), and I Vitelloni (1953), plus a party.

In Los Angeles, there are two art exhibits inspired by Fellini on view this month. The Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Los Angeles is hosting Food in Federico Fellini’s Drawings. And, opening January 25th at Corey Helford Gallery is The Influence of Fellini: A Surreal 100th Birthday Celebration. The show presents work that channels Fellini.

For those looking for something more immersive, Esperienza, a non-profit tour group out of Minneapolis, is hosting a Fellini-inspired trip to Italy. It includes a visit to Rimini and its neighboring towns. The tour is created in collaboration with Cineteca di Rimini, Cineteca di Bologna, and the MSP Film Society, TCFF and Film North. To find out more, visit Esperienza’s website.

Criterion Channel is also celebrating Fellini by making some of his films available to stream on the channel. Among them, La Strada (1954), Nights of Cabiria (1957), Toby Dammit (1968), And the Ship Sails On (1984), and a half dozen more.

NYC eases into the Fellini 100 event fun

New York City is not diving headfirst into the centennial celebrations. So far, there has been some toe-dipping. This could be because film institutions in the city have already saluted the filmmaker recently. IFC Center hosted a mini-retrospective in 2016. And, Fellini’s films have been included in several of Film at Lincoln Center’s series over the last few years, including a Marcello Mastroianni series in 2017.

As for what is happening in New York City, Film Forum just hosted a limited engagement of a new digital restoration of The White Sheik (1952). The film is Fellini’s solo directorial debut and stars Alberto Sordi as “The White Sheik.” The restoration is gorgeous and should be part of MoMA’s retrospective later in the year.

Film Forum has teased that it will also present a limited engagement of a new 4K restoration of Nights of Cabiria (1957). The theater hasn’t confirmed a date yet.

MoMA screened a 4K restoration of Fellini’s Roma as part of its popular film preservation series, To Save and Project. The restoration was completed by Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Titanus, with funding provided by Hollywood Foreign Press Association at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory.

It’s a shame that New York cinephiles’ full helping of Fellini is almost a year away. But as they say, good things come to those who wait.