Luca Guadagnino Presents…

In January 2024, the Cinémathèque had the pleasure of welcoming the renowned Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino as a guest programmer for a week-long celebration of cinema.

Known for his rich and expressive style as well as his deep passion for film history, Guadagnino has carved out a singular path within contemporary cinema. From I Am Love, which evokes the grandeur of Visconti, to Call Me By Your Name, often compared to the work of Bertolucci, his films demonstrate both reverence and reinvention. He revisited Dario Argento’s cult classic Suspiria and paid homage to Jacques Deray’s La Piscine in A Bigger Splash — revealing a filmmaker deeply engaged with the legacy of European cinema.

For this special series, Guadagnino selected a personal collection of films from the Cinémathèque’s archives, many of which were screened in 35mm, and he introduced each screening in person. From Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Sheltering Sky to Terence Davies’s The Long Day Closes, and from John Carpenter’s Village of the Damned to Fritz Lang’s Liliom and Rancho Notorious, his selections offered a privileged glimpse into his cinephilic passions and sources of inspiration.

The event concluded with a cinematic conversation with queer Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues, who also presented two of his own films during the week: Two Drifters and Will-o'-the-Wisp. The dialogue between the two filmmakers provided unique insight into their creative worlds and their shared love of the seventh art.

This unforgettable week perfectly exemplifies the kind of events organized by the Cinémathèque — guest programs that bring together filmmakers, influences, and audiences around a shared celebration of the art of cinema.