Ben-Hur – Oscar Classic Returns to the Big Screen
On Sunday, March 15, Hollywood becomes the center of the film world when the Oscars are awarded. From that moment on, Cinecittà will dedicate the entire week to these prestigious film awards. All major winners will be screened. The full program can only be announced once the coveted statuettes have been presented.
However, the opening and closing events of this special Oscar Week are already known. Film scholar Rudi de Boer will open the week with a course on the Oscars, during which he will join you in predicting which films will take home the awards this year. The grand finale will be a screening of Ben-Hur, the film that won more Oscars than any other in history. In 1960, the film won a record-breaking 11 Oscars out of 12 nominations, including Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Special Effects.
Sunday, March 22 at 1:00 PM – Ben-Hur
To this day, Ben-Hur remains one of Hollywood’s great spectacle productions. When the film was released in 1959, director William Wyler set a new standard for what cinema could be. At a time when Hollywood risked losing audiences to television, Ben-Hur offered an unparalleled cinematic experience with gigantic sets, thousands of extras, and technical craftsmanship that was unmatched.
The epic story of Judah Ben-Hur—about betrayal, loss, revenge, and ultimately redemption—seamlessly blends human emotion with overwhelming spectacle. The absolute highlight is the twenty-minute chariot race, which remains breathtaking and is considered one of the most thrilling action sequences in film history, enhanced by Miklós Rózsa’s iconic score that helped make the film a lasting cultural phenomenon.
Program Sunday, March 22:
Start: 1:00 PM
Intermission: 3:05 – 3:30 PM
End: 5:00 PM
