This film is currently unavailable

Orchestra Rehearsal
Fellini's allegorical pseudo-documentary about an orchestra rehearsal that descends into anarchy and vandalism while a TV crew looks on.
Director: Federico Fellini
Overview
Made in 1978 for Italian television, Orchestra Rehearsal is possibly Fellini’s most satirical and overtly political film. An allegorical pseudo-documentary, the film depicts an Italian television crew’s visit to a dilapidated auditorium (a converted 13th-century church) to meet an orchestra assembling to rehearse under the instruction of a tyrannical conductor. The TV crew interviews the various musicians who each speak lovingly about their chosen instruments. However, as petty squabbles break out amid the different factions of the ensemble, and the conductor berates his musicians, the meeting descends into anarchy and vandalism. A destructive crescendo ensues before the musicians regroup and play together once more in perfect harmony.
Abounding with its director’s trademark rich imagery and expressive style, Orchestra Rehearsal marks the last collaboration between Fellini and the legendary composer Nino Rota (due to the latter’s death in 1979) who provides one of his most beautiful themes in the film’s conclusion.
Related

Hundreds of Beavers Hundreds of Beavers
Comedy 2024 109 mins Director: Mike Cheslik
Stranded in a surreal winter landscape, a drunken applejack salesman must become North America's greatest fur trapper in Mike Cheslik’s gloriously anarchic slapstick comedy.

Alma's Rainbow Alma's Rainbow
Comedy 1993 89 mins Director: Ayoka Chenzira
Ayoka Chenzira’s vital coming-of-age comedy about three Black women living in Brooklyn learning to embrace life and exercise their agency.

The Balconettes The Balconettes
Comedy 2024 104 mins Director: Noémie Merlant
Co-written with Céline Sciamma, Noémie Merlant’s bold film follows three friends as they dispose of the body of an abuser they’ve accidentally killed.

Barking Dogs Never Bite Barking Dogs Never Bite
Comedy 2000 111 mins Director: Bong Joon Ho
A professor takes drastic action to silence a barking dog in this superb debut feature from Bong Joon Ho, the Oscar-winning director of Parasite.

The Living Wake The Living Wake
Comedy 2007 92 mins Director: Sol Tyron
Accompanied by his faithful assistant Mills (Jesse Eisenberg), self-proclaimed genius K. Roth Binew (Mike O’Connell) decides to go out in style following a terminal prognosis – staging a living wake.

Paterson Paterson
Comedy 2016 118 mins Director: Jim Jarmusch
Adam Driver excels in this effortlessly charming tale of a bus driver poet in New Jersey, filmed with typically groovy elan by Jim Jarmusch.

La dolce vita La dolce vita
Drama 1960 175 mins Director: Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini’s masterpiece depicting seven hedonistic days in the life of a tabloid journalist (Marcello Mastroianni) as he searches for the sweet life.

I clowns I clowns
Documentary 1970 92 mins Director: Federico Fellini
Fellini's documentary indulges his long-standing fascination with clowns, with the director affectionately recreating episodes from his childhood.

Juliet of the Spirits Juliet of the Spirits
Drama 1965 137 mins Director: Federico Fellini
Fellini’s first colour feature is a sensory experience that blends fantasy and reality in rich, evocative ways, following a woman’s self-discovery through stunning visions.

The Voice of the Moon The Voice of the Moon
Drama 1990 121 mins Director: Federico Fellini
Fellini’s final film follows the wanderings of a wide-eyed young man (Roberto Benigni) after he's released from a psychiatric hospital.

Il bidone Il bidone
Drama 1955 113 mins Director: Federico Fellini
American star Broderick Crawford joined forces with Federico Fellini for this deliciously cynical tale of three conmen.

La Strada La Strada
Drama 1954 104 mins Director: Federico Fellini
A brutish travelling strongman (Anthony Quinn) acquires a waif-like young assistant (Giulietta Masina) before taking to the road in Federico Fellini’s acclaimed neo-realist fable.

Boccaccio '70 Boccaccio '70
Anthology 1962 204 mins Director: Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, Vittorio De Sica and Mario Monicelli
Four of the greatest Italian directors – Fellini, Visconti, De Sica and Monicelli – join forces with show-stoppers Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg and Romy Schneider in a carousel of sex and satire mocking the mores of Italian '60s society.

8½ 8½
Drama 1963 138 mins Director: Federico Fellini
Fellini triumphantly conjured himself out of writer's block with this magnum opus about a film director experiencing his own creative crisis.

Who We Love Who We Love
Drama 2021 94 mins Director: Graham Cantwell
Bullied for her sexuality, Dublin schoolgirl Lily turns to her gay best friend for support in this vibrant coming-out, coming-of-age drama.

Sebastian Sebastian
Drama 2024 110 mins Director: Mikko Mäkelä
A young London-based writer begins a double life as a sex worker to research his debut novel, in this gripping psychological drama.

Punch-Drunk Love Punch-Drunk Love
Drama 2002 95 mins Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Adam Sandler is a beleaguered businessman who finds romance with a mysterious woman, in Paul Thomas Anderson’s award-winning offbeat comedy.

An Elephant Sitting Still An Elephant Sitting Still
Drama 2018 234 mins Director: Hu Bo
The troubled lives of four desperate people unfold over the course of a single day, in this melancholy masterpiece about the human condition.

The Outcasts The Outcasts
Fantasy 1982 106 mins Director: Robert Wynne-Simmons
Haunting Irish folk-horror, from the writer of The Blood on Satan’s Claw, about an introverted farm girl suspected of witchcraft.

Memoir of a Snail Memoir of a Snail
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 95 mins Director: Adam Elliot
Nick Cave and Sarah Snook voice an Oscar-nominated stop-motion classic of divided twins, told with adult candour and uncanny warmth.