The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) pays tribute to the amazing five-decade career of Italian screen siren Claudia Cardinale with Focus on Claudia Cardinale this February. This film season shines a spotlight on the muse of the most renowned filmmakers of the last century including Sergio Leone, Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti.

Deservedly famed for her sultry beauty, Cardinale, emerged in the wake of Italian actress Sophia Loren and was touted as Italy's answer to Brigitte Bardot who herself famously remarked: "I already know who's destined to take my place. There can be only one, and one alone. After BB comes CC, no?".

Cardinale, however, was never purely reliant on her looks and proved herself time and again to be an incredibly talented and versatile actress. The high quality of her body of work is reflected in Focus on Claudia Cardinale, from the rarely screened The Girl in Australia (1971) to Sergio Leone's epic masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) which screens fully restored, complete and uncut in this season.