THE VOICE OF THE MOON

The final feature by Federico Fellini, concluding a career that stretched over fifty years, THE VOICE OF THE MOON combines the nostalgia of AMARCORD (the film is set in the Emilia-Romagna countryside of the director’s youth), the surreal satire of CITY OF WOMEN and the naïf-adrift-in-a-brutal-world structure of LA STRADA.

Adapted from a novel by Ermano Cavazzoni, THE VOICE OF THE MOON concerns itself with Ivo Salvini (Italian comedian Roberto Benigni), recently released from a mental hospital and in love with Aldini (Nadia Ottaviani). As he attempts to win her heart, he wanders a strange, dreamlike landscape and encounters various oddball characters including Gonnella (Paolo Villagio), a paranoid old man prone to conspiracy theories.

Upon its original release, VOICE emerged without fanfare: it played the Cannes Film Festival out of competition after its Italian premiere and failed to secure distribution in North America and the UK. This new restoration from the original negative seeks to right that wrong and provide the film with a second chance...