Calici di Cinema – Felline

A festival where cinema meets wine

Calici di Cinema is a summer event held every September in Felline, a small village in the municipality of Alliste, in the province of Lecce, in the lower Salento area of Puglia. The festival was born from a simple and fascinating idea: to screen great films outdoors while the audience dines and tastes local wines, transforming the village's Piazza Castello into an open-air cinema.

The subtitle chosen for the event, «La vite è colta» (a play on words meaning both 'the vine is harvested' and 'culture is cultivated'), references the Vite Colta venue hosting the event and perfectly summarizes the spirit of the evening: culture and conviviality, imagery and flavor, in a continuous dialogue between the big screen and the dinner table.

The concept: screen, wine glasses, and zero-mile cuisine

Each evening begins with dinner, served at tables set up in the village square, followed by the screening. The dishes offered highlight typical zero-mile Salento products, accompanied by local organic wines. The result is a slow, convivial experience, quite different from traditional cinema viewing, where taste and vision intertwine.

The festival was created by Antonio Manzo and is organized with the support of Marta Cesi, a wine and olive oil entrepreneur who runs Vite Colta. The film selection favors great classics of Italian cinema, often tied to anniversaries and commemorations, with an approach that blends cinephile memory with popular rediscovery.

Felline and the Salento Serre

Felline is a village in southern Salento that preserves a historic layout clustered around its castle. The area, known as the Serre Salentine, is a land of olive groves, vineyards, and small towns rich in identity. Hosting a film festival in a village square, amidst the light-colored stones typical of Salento architecture, adds a strong sense of place to the experience, characteristic of the most authentic Puglia.

A loyal audience

• Evening open-air screenings in Piazza Castello, starting after sunset.
• Selection of great Italian auteur cinema classics.
• Dinner and organic wine tasting by reservation at Vite Colta.
• Intimate and convivial atmosphere, suitable for cinephiles and families.

Reaching its eleventh edition in 2025, the festival has established itself as one of the most distinctive summer cultural events in the municipality of Alliste, successfully combining a passion for cinema with the promotion of local food and wine.