The latest from a perennial Open Roads presence, the great Gianni Amelio, finds the director rendering the life of another artist: the poet/playwright Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 under a Fascist-era anti-homosexuality law after it was revealed that he was living with a younger male lover. Magnetically portrayed by Luigi Lo Cascio, Braibanti finds himself enmeshed in scandal when his lover’s father informs on him (and sets his son on a tragic program of electroshock therapy to “cure” his aberrant sexuality). As the intellectual awaits trial, he is visited by a journalist (Elio Germano) who is anxious to tell the real story. A masterfully executed biopic that looks to the past for a political roadmap of our fraught present, Lord of the Ants is a stirring portrait of a key moment in Italian LGBTQ+ history.

We’re excited to introduce a dinner and a movie combo with our Italian programming this June, including Lord of the Ants. For $30, receive one ticket to Lord of the Ants and a select menu item at Café Paradiso, located in FLC’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Learn more here.