Past Film/Video | Classics

Variety Lights | I clowns

(Luci del varietà, Alberto Lattuada and Federico Fellini, 1950)
(The Clowns, Federico Fellini, 1970) 

Double Feature | New Restorations

From left to right: Black-and-white still from Variety Lights featuring Lily (Carla Del Poggio) and Checco (Peppino De Filippo). Lily has her hands, which are covered in black gloves, on Checco’s shoulders as he looks straight ahead. Still from I clowns featuring a person wearing a clown mask, a black hat, and a white cloth tied around their neck. They are holding metal rods in each hand.
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Aug 18, 2022
Available Times
  • Thu, Aug 18, 7:00 PM
  • Thu, Aug 18, 8:45 PM
Film/Video Theater

$7 members and seniors
$9 general public
$5 students

Click here to view our latest COVID-19 protocols.

ACCESSIBILITY
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as CART captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall at accessibility@wexarts.org or via telephone at (614) 688-3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

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This Fellini double feature spotlights the director’s love of theater and taps into his obsession with clowns and circuses.

Fellini’s first film as director, Variety Lights follows a traveling vaudeville group whose enthusiasm helps compensate for limited talent. Their routine is disrupted when the group’s leader Checco (Peppino De Filippo) is tempted away from his girlfriend (Giulietta Masina) by an ambitious new dancer, Lily (Carla Del Poggio). (97 mins., 4K DCP).

Made for Italian television, the rarely screened “mockumentary” I clowns is Fellini’s filmic realization of his childhood obsession with clowns and circuses. The cast is filled with real-life clowns as well as film figures such as actress Anita Ekberg and French clown and filmmaker Pierre Etaix. (92 mins., 4K DCP)

See the complete Retrospective: Federico Fellini lineup.

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Black-and-white still from Variety Lights featuring Lily (Carla Del Poggio) and Checco (Peppino De Filippo). Lily (left) has her hands, which are covered in black gloves, on Checco’s shoulders as he looks straight ahead.

Variety Lights, image courtesy of Janus Films.

Still from I clowns featuring a person wearing a clown mask, a black hat, and a white cloth tied around their neck. They are holding metal rods in each hand, and there are metal bars to their left, with people behind them in the background in front of red curtains. The floor is covered in sand.

I clowns, image courtesy of Leone Film Group.

Still from I clowns featuring two people in clown makeup, black top hats, and tuxedos. The person on the left is playing a horn, and the person on the right has their mouth open and are pointing to the fire burning in front of them. The word “ALSO” in yellow is on a structure next to them.

I clowns, image courtesy of Leone Film Group.

Black-and-white still featuring Lily (Carla Del Poggio) standing to the left of a seat where Checco (Peppino De Filippo) is sleeping with his head against the wall next to him. A woman to his right is sleeping against his shoulder.

Variety Lights, image courtesy of Janus Films.

Tag(s)

Retrospective: Federico Fellini is part of the Federico Fellini 100 tour, a series of centennial tributes to the director coordinated by Paola Ruggiero and Camilla Cormanni of Luce Cinecittà in Rome.

Variety Lights and I clowns were digitally restored by Luce Cinecittà, Cineteca di Bologna, and Cineteca Nazionale.

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Cardinal Health
Kaufman Development

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
The Wexner Family
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Columbus Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
Ohio Arts Council
American Electric Power Foundation
L Brands Foundation
Adam Flatto
Mary and C. Robert Kidder
Bill and Sheila Lambert
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Nationwide Foundation
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Michael and Paige Crane
Pete Scantland
Axium Packaging
CampusParc
CoverMyMeds
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
President Kristina M. Johnson and Mrs. Veronica Meinhard
Nancy Kramer
Huntington
Lisa Barton
Johanna DeStefano
Russell and Joyce Gertmenian
Liza Kessler and Greg Henchel
Ron and Ann Pizzuti
Joyce and Chuck Shenk
Bruce and Joy Soll
Jones Day

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Past Film/Video

Variety Lights | I clowns

Aug 18, 2022
Wednesday's Hours 10AM–6PM
  • Thu, Aug 18, 7:00 PM
  • Thu, Aug 18, 8:45 PM
Film/Video Theater

$7 members and seniors
$9 general public
$5 students

Click here to view our latest COVID-19 protocols.

ACCESSIBILITY
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as CART captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall at accessibility@wexarts.org or via telephone at (614) 688-3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

Become a Member