May 23: Ferzan Özpetek’s Diamonds film premiere + Q&A with Betsy Heimann & Deborah Landis

A considerable box office hit upon its Italian release, Diamonds is director Ferzan Özpetek at his very best, commanding a dazzling ensemble featuring eighteen of Italy's leading ladies including Luisa Ranieri and Jasmine Trinca who star as two sisters who preside over a Roman fashion house during the 1970s. We follow their relationship and the virtuoso dressmakers they employ, as they try to fulfill a challenging order from an Oscar-winning costume designer client. This scenario sets the stage for a myriad of dramas, both within and outside the atelier. Özpetek has created a "mise en abyme effect" in order to employ the same actresses in two very different eras: A film director gathers his favorite actresses, who he has worked with or admired, as he attempts to make a film about modern women by observing them and taking their cues, and then using imagination to place them into a past era—one in which the whirling of sewing machines fills a workplace run by women. In that world, the film unfolds from a different point of view: the elegant design and immersive world of costuming. Reality and fiction permeate the lives of both the actresses, and their the characters in both visible and invisible ways.

Costume designers Betsy Heimann and Deborah Nadoolman Landis will participate in a Q&A after the 7:00 PM show on Saturday May 23 at the Laemmle Royal.

The film opens on Friday May 22nd at Laemmle’s Royal Theater and runs through Thursday, May 28 laemmle.com/film/diamonds

An Outsider Pictures release.

Diamonds / Diamanti
2024, Italy, 135 min
Italian with English subtitles
Foreign, Period Drama, Comedy

Director Ferzan Ozpetek
Original Story Ferzan Ozpetek, Carlotta Corradi
Screenplay Ferzan Ozpetek, Carlotta Corradi, Elisa Casseri
Director of Photography Gian Filippo Corticelli
Costumes Stefano Ciammiti
Music by Giuliano Taviani and Carmelo Travia

Laemmle’s Royal Theater is located at
11523 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-478-3836

Tickets & More Info: laemmle.com/film/diamonds#get-tickets
Pricing: $17.50 General; $14.50 Early Show Discount, $8.50 Senior Weekday

Photos courtesy of Outsider Pictures.