On December 5, 2025, at the Pallas Theater, the dazzling Italian actress will once again face the shadow – and the light – of Maria Callas
Four years after the legendary, sold-out nights at the Herodes Atticus with “Maria Callas: Letters and Memories”, Monica Bellucci returns to Athens to close a cycle that began right here. On December 5, 2025, at the Pallas Theater, the dazzling Italian actress will once again face the shadow – and the light – of Maria Callas, on the occasion of the screening of the film Maria Callas Monica Bellucci – An Encounter.
The hybrid documentary by Yannis Dimolitsa and Tom Volf was born from the world tour of the theatrical performance Maria Callas – Letters and Memoirs, from November 2019 to January 2023. It records the journeys, the backstage, the silences and the moments between performances, while at the same time opening a dialogue between two women who have never met, but seem to recognize each other: the diva of the 20th century and the modern star who bends over her life with respect and tenderness.
It is no coincidence that the film has already covered an impressive path: from the Festival del Cinema di Roma and the Thessaloniki Film Festival, to MoMA in New York, the San Sebastián International Film Festival, the Lyon Lumière and Marrakech. An international co-production between France, Italy and Greece, the film functions simultaneously as a portrait of Callas and as a mirror of Bellucci herself, who is at a mature moment in her career and treats “La Divina” not as a marble legend, but as a woman who fought, suffered, and rose again.
Bellucci, as she has stated, found her own point of reference in Callas’s fragility. The camera follows her as she reads letters and excerpts, travels to the cities of the tour, and grapples with the weight of a name that has haunted the 20th century. The result is a film that illuminates the person behind the idol – and at the same time, almost subtly, unfolds Bellucci’s own artistic journey.
The screening at the Pallas, on the day of Maria Callas’s birthday, will be in the presence of the Italian star. After the end of the film, an open discussion with the audience will follow, moderated by Orestis Andreadakis, a rare opportunity for viewers to hear from Bellucci herself how she experienced this “meeting”.
