In an Eternal City that breathes cinema and music, the evening dedicated to Lina Wertmüller at Parco della Musica brought together a chorus of memories, tributes, and forward-looking visions. I’m Joanna Longawa, a journalist who had the privilege of meeting Wertmüller and conducting an interview with her several years before her passing. I wholeheartedly recommend this tribute. I stood at the edge of a crowd stirred by the director’s enduring legacy and the live program that celebrated her work.
Lina Wertmüller was a pioneering Italian filmmaker renowned for her sharp, politically charged comedies that blended satire with social critique. Born in 1928 in Rome, she rose to international prominence in the 1970s with a distinctive visual style and fearless storytelling that interrogated power, gender, and class. Wertmüller’s narratives often featured colorful ensembles, razor-edged dialogue, and a bold willingness to challenge conventional genre boundaries. Her groundbreaking work, including films like The Seduction of Mimi (1972) and Seven Beauties (1975), earned her critical acclaim and made her one of the first women to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. Her legacy continues to influence filmmakers who seek to fuse political insight with inventive, human-centered storytelling.
The event opened with a sequence of Wertmüller’s most iconic scenes projected on a large screen, accompanied by a live ensemble that translated the filmic rhythm into music. The program wove together excerpts from her most celebrated films with newly commissioned performances, echoing the director’s talent for blending satire with social commentary.
A show conceived by Valerio Ruiz with Massimo Wertmüller and Nicoletta Della Corte. Songs written by Lina Wertmüller with the extraordinary music by Maestro Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, Enzo Jannacci, Bruno Canfora, Italo ‘Lilli’ Greco, and Lucio Gregoretti.
As the night unfolded, speakers—from fellow filmmakers to scholars and critics—reflected on Wertmüller’s audacious storytelling, her fearless portrayal of power, and the stubborn humanity that permeates her heroines. I recalled the moment of our encounter years earlier, when Wertmüller spoke with candor about cinema as a tool for empathy and a mirror of society. Her words, still vivid, underscored the resonance of her body of work as much today as in the decades that produced it.
The proceedings also highlighted Wertmüller’s international influence, tracing how her work crossed borders and inspired generations of women filmmakers. The Parco della Musica venue provided a fitting stage: a space where sound and image could converse about resilience, class, and the politics of representation.
In closing, the event affirmed Wertmüller’s status not merely as an auteur of a particular era, but as a navigator of complex social terrains who challenged audiences to rethink desire, power, and the ethics of looking. For me, documenting this tribute was a reminder that journalism can be a bridge—connecting a filmmaker’s past to a living, evolving conversation about cinema’s role in society.
Photo credits: Emanuele Ruiz
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