The beauty of the Orrido – Andrea Vitali

Andrea Vitali

THE BEST POEMS OF OUR LIVES

Saturday 26 September – 6.00 pm

Bellano Movie Theater

Free admission

Bellano, 15 September 2026 – “Il bello dell’Orrido” (The beauty of the Orrido), a programme curated by Armando Besio and forming part of the BAC Bellano Art and Culture project, with the support of Bellano Town Council, resumes on Saturday 26 September with a new season of events. The series welcomes Andrea Vitali to the stage of Bellano Movie Theater (free admission): the event is entitled “Le migliori poesie della nostra vita” (The Best Poems of Our Lives), an occasion that shifts focus from the novel (the theme explored last year) to poetry and its role (sometimes as a source of comfort) in our daily lives.

Vitali, a true ‘regular’ in Bellano, explores, through the medium of poetry, the true human essence – made up of introspection, pain, loss, desires and hopes. His dialogue with Besio has now become a cherished literary tradition, underpinned by the long-standing friendship between the two men, which allows for a genuine and profound exchange. The poems have been selected by Vitali with the aim of guiding the conversation through the various periods that colour, underpin and make our lives unique.

Andrea Vitali (Bellano, 1956) studied medicine at the University of Milan and worked as a general practitioner in Bellano until 2008. Since then, he has devoted himself entirely to writing, returning to medical practice only exceptionally in 2020 during the pandemic. He has published numerous novels, mainly with Rizzoli and Garzanti. Prolific and consistent, through his writing he has constructed a veritable ‘human comedy’, almost always set in Bellano, where irony and melancholy intertwine: major historical events remain in the background, whilst the town, with its contradictions, its peculiarities and its personal and emotional relationships, becomes the beating heart of his stories.

Alongside his novels, Vitali has also experimented with other forms of writing: for the publisher Cinquesensi, he has authored nineteen books, illustrated by Giancarlo Vitali, his friend the painter, for whom he has always been the attending doctor.

The highly anticipated new TV series, inspired by his novels and the figure of the young Carabinieri marshal Ernesto Maccadò, is set to air on RAI very soon.

As in previous years, the cinema screenings are preceded by a guided tour – for this event, part of the ‘Ville Aperte’ autumn festival, organised by Bellano Heritage Guardians – exploring the BAC Bellano Art and Culture itinerary: the Orrido di Bellano, San Nicolao Arte Contemporanea, the Giancarlo Vitali Museum, the Church of Santa Marta, and the Church of Saints Nazaro and Celso.

Information, prices and compulsory booking: www.villeaperte.info