CTVA professor, Tim Halloran, has brought back the event Thursday Nights at the Cinematheque — this time showing films of the famous Italian director, Federico Fellini.

“I thought students were coming into the film department with a lack of historical background,” Halloran said.

“It started last semester with the French films of Jean-Luc Godard. I was offered the opportunity to do anything I wanted. I chose to pick directors people knew who they were to generate some buzz.”

Federico Fellini took part in the Italian neorealism movement and quickly became successful because of his storytelling skills.

“For those who know Fellini,” Halloran said, “some of the films are newly released on DVD and even if you have seen them, you may not have seen them on the big screen before.”

Fellini’s first film as a solo director, “The White Sheik,” starts off the series Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.

It is a satirical film about a woman on her honeymoon and her obsession to find the hero of a photo comic strip known as the White Sheik.

Some of the Fellini films scheduled this semester are “La Strada,” “Juliet of the Spirits,” “City of Women,” and “Ginger and Fred.”

“I see people come every week and it’s a good experience,” Halloran said. “They get to know the director throughout his life.”

“The programming of the Cinematheque is intended to be enjoyed by the entire university,” Mark Schaubert, Armer theater director said.

“While many of our presentations are offered in conjunction with CTVA classes, we encourage anyone who is interested in a particular film or series of films to attend. In addition, we are constantly adding events such as studio sneak previews and guest presentations as they become available,” he said.

The Cinematheque is located in Manzanita Hall room 100. A full list of movies can be found online at movies.csun.edu. The next film, “I Vitelloni” will show Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.