The Dantedì, the day dedicated to Dante Alighieri, will be celebrated on Monday 25 March 2024 in the main Swiss cities. Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Zurich and Lugano are taking part.
The date was identified by scholars as the one on which Dante ideally began his journey into the afterlife of the Divine Comedy. The anniversary, approved in 2020 by a directive of the Council of Ministers, on a proposal by the minister for cultural heritage and activities and for tourism Franceschini, will be the occasion to remember the genius of Dante in Italy and around the world, with a great many initiatives strongly involving schools, students and cultural institutions. A little more than 700 years after the poet's death, his figure represents the unity of the country, the essence of the Italian language and therefore the very idea of Italy.
Every year on 25 March the “Dantedì” is celebrated, a national day dedicated to Dante Alighieri: the date corresponds to the day in the year 1300 on which, according to tradition, Dante loses his way in the “dark wood”. The aim of the day is to rediscover Dante's extraordinary cultural, civil and political relevance, but above all his human and spiritual one, as a universal author, timeless, indeed eternal.
In Switzerland the Italian Embassy in Bern is organising, together with its consular network and in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, the screening of the new film “Dante” by Pupi Avati. Does the Divine Comedy still speak to our fellow Italians? The Dantedì on 25 March is a great opportunity to keep celebrating the great poet and his work thanks to the power of cinema.
Admission is free with prior booking at the following links:
ZURICH – Cinema Pathé Spreitenbach
Address: Sandäckerstrasse, 4, 8957 Spreitenbach – capacity: 280 seats
(The film will be screened in Italian with English subtitles)
Bookings for Zurich
BERN – Cinema Pathé Westside
Address: Riedbachstrasse 102, 3027 Bern – capacity: 252 seats
(The film will be screened in Italian with English subtitles)
Bookings for Bern
GENEVA – Cinema Pathé Balextert
Address: Av. Louis-Casaï 27, 1209 Vernier – capacity: 114 seats
(The film will be screened in Italian with French subtitles)
Bookings for Geneva
LAUSANNE – Cinema Pathé Flon
Address: Rue du Port-Franc 16, 1003 Lausanne – capacity: 280 seats
(The film will be screened in Italian with French subtitles)
Bookings for Lausanne
LUGANO – CineStar Lugano
Address: Via Filippo Ciani 100, 6900 Lugano – capacity: 83 seats
(The film will be screened in Italian)
Bookings for Lugano
“My guide and I entered by that hidden path
to return into the bright world;
and without caring for any rest,
we climbed up, he first and I second,
until through a round opening I saw
some of the beautiful things that heaven bears.
And from there we came out to see the stars again.”
