Basaglia on screen: film, madness, and freedom.

Kino Basaglia

Kino Basaglia is part of the official programme of the European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica – Gorizia.

Franco Basaglia was a pioneer of psychiatry who, with his work and ideas, transformed the treatment of psychiatric patients. Through his revolution he eliminated the system of isolation and stigmatization suffered by those labelled as “mad”. The inscription “Freedom is therapeutic” on the wall of the former psychiatric hospital in Trieste remains an inspiration for a more humanistic approach.

Screenings at the Slovenian Cinematheque, Ljubljana

Wednesday, 1 October 2025, 19:00

La favola del serpente / Pravljica o kači / The Serpent’s Tale
Director: Pirkko Peltonen, Finland–Italy, 1968, Yleisradio
16mm (digitised), 29’
Guest: Pirkko Peltonen

• Description: After reading Franco Basaglia’s L’istituzione negata (The Institution Denied), a young Finnish journalist rushes to Trieste to witness the revolution under way at the asylum he directed.

Trieste racconta Basaglia / Trst pripoveduje o Basagliu / Trieste on Basaglia
Director: Erika Rossi, Italy, 2012, 54’
Guest: Erika Rossi

• Description: Between 1971 and 1978, Trieste was the stage of an unprecedented scientific and cultural revolution that dismantled the asylum system to create a more humane society.

Thursday, 2 October 2025, 20:00

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Director: David Lean, 1957
35mm (digitised), 161’

• Description: A classic war drama based on the novel by Pierre Boulle, regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of 20th-century cinema. Set during the Second World War in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma, the story follows British soldiers led by Colonel Nicholson as they build a bridge over the River Kwai. The film explores the conflict between military honor, collaboration with the occupier, and resistance, raising questions about the fine line between heroism and delusion. It won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Alec Guinness).