La Dolce Italia Festival

Overview

Sophia Loren, the icon of Italian cinema, is headed to Melbourne for a newly established festival celebrating all things Italian down under. The 80-year-old screen siren will travel to Australia to attend a special charity dinner at the Crown Palladium Ballroom, with proceeds going to the Allanah and Madeline Foundation. The event will mark the beginning of La Dolce Italia, a festival that showcases Italian culture through performance, music and film.

For the record, anyone hoping to schmooze with the Italian film star had best start scrounging for pennies. Tickets to the black tie gala start at a cool $1000 — and those are just the cheap seats. For the less affluent, other events include a one-woman show at La Mama that explores the life of Loren’s fellow Oscar winner Anna Magnani, as well as a night of stand-up from comedians Joe Avati, Sam McCool and James Liotta, who’ll entertain audiences in both English and Italian.

For the full list of events at La Dolce Italia, head over here.