Intro­duc­ing… La Dolce Vita: A Cel­e­bra­tion of Ital­ian Screen Style

To cel­e­brate Disaronno’s 500-year anniver­sary*, we’ve teamed up with the icon­ic Ital­ian liqueur mak­ers to bring you an extra spe­cial cin­e­mat­ic treat: a two-month cel­e­bra­tion of Ital­ian screen style, inspired by the time­less spir­it of la dolce vita.

Hon­our­ing half a mil­len­ni­um(!) of tra­di­tion and inno­va­tion, our ​‘La Dolce Vita’ sea­son – curat­ed in part­ner­ship with Dis­aron­no – kicks off in style this June with a deep dive into four of our favourite Ital­ian films, span­ning from the 1960s to today. Each one cap­tures the essence of this age-old Ital­ian phi­los­o­phy, which is all about liv­ing well, appre­ci­at­ing beau­ty, and savour­ing every moment.

On the week­end of 4 – 5 July, we’re tak­ing over London’s his­toric Regent Street Cin­e­ma for two nights of movies, cock­tails, and a true taste of Italy. First up on Fri­day 4 July, we’re bring­ing Pao­lo Sorrentino’s daz­zling 2013 film, The Great Beau­ty, back to the big screen, star­ring the one and only Toni Servil­lo in one of his best-loved roles.

Then, join us on Sat­ur­day 5 July for Michelan­ge­lo Antonioni’s atmos­pher­ic 1960 film, La Notte, fea­tur­ing the impos­si­bly glam­orous ménage à trois of Mar­cel­lo Mas­troian­ni, Jeanne More­au and Mon­i­ca Vit­ti. Each screen­ing will be accom­pa­nied by an intro­duc­tion from a mem­ber of the LWLies team, and an on-stage Q&A with an Ital­ian film expert. We’ll also be serv­ing up a deli­cious selec­tion of Dis­aron­no cock­tails and Ital­ian-themed goodies.

The leg­end of Dis­aron­no can be traced back to the most famous cre­ative peri­od in Ital­ian his­to­ry: the Renais­sance. In 1525, the artist Bernardi­no Lui­ni, a stu­dent of Leonar­do da Vin­ci, was com­mis­sioned to dec­o­rate the Sanc­tu­ary of Our Lady of the Mir­a­cles in Saron­no. For the Madon­na in one of his paint­ings, ​‘The Ado­ra­tion of the Magi’, he chose a local innkeep­er as his mod­el. In appre­ci­a­tion, she pre­sent­ed him with a spe­cial gift: a flask filled with a fra­grant, del­i­cate, amber-coloured liqueur.

Since those hum­ble ori­gins, Dis­aron­no has grown into the world’s favourite amaret­to liqueur, famed for its unique aro­ma and sweet char­ac­ter – not to men­tion its icon­ic ​“square cap” bot­tle, cre­at­ed in the 1970s by a mas­ter Venet­ian glass­mak­er. Today, it embod­ies the ele­gance, refined taste, and unmis­tak­able Ital­ian style that has been immor­tal­ized on screen time and again by Italy’s most revered filmmakers.

If you attend one of our ​‘La Dolce Vita’ screen­ings, you’ll not only have the chance to enjoy a sig­na­ture Dis­aron­no cock­tail – apt­ly named Dol­cevi­ta and cre­at­ed by mixol­o­gist Patrick Pis­tole­si and his team at Drink Kong Bar in Rome – but you’ll also get your hands on a lim­it­ed-edi­tion zine filled with orig­i­nal con­tent and gor­geous illustrations.

Stay tuned for more infor­ma­tion about our ​‘La Dolce Vita’ screen­ing events, and head to dis​aron​no​.com to find out more about Disaronno’s 500-year anniver­sary cel­e­bra­tions.

*1525: The leg­end of Dis­aron­no begins.