Film coming in 2026
Basilica of Santa Croce before 1966 / Image credit: Torrini Fotogiornalismo Firenze. Used with Permission.
about
It is not possible to calculate the true human cost of war because estimates can never include the psychological or physiological costs to survivors or consider other long-term events such as inter-generational trauma. Dinner with Dante, completed in 2023, is a somber tale that reveals one woman’s struggle to come to terms with World War II trauma through the weekly monologues she has in her mind with the statue of Dante in the Piazza di Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. The script conveys a sense of repetitiveness which symbolizes the narrowness of the protagonist’s world and the fact that the monologues occurred week after week, month after month, year after year until they flowed like water, and her entire life passed before her in this way.
Although the protagonist is fictional, the inspiration for the story came from the author’s own more limited conversations with the statue which she then combined with fragments of stories she’d heard about the early post WWII years in Florence.
Dinner with Dante marks the author’s screenplay debut. It will be filmed in Italian and onsite in Florence, Italy, in 2024.
"The narrative plumbs complex emotions and the lifelong attempt to cope with grief and mourning through a meticulous description of emotions, and an educated and sophisticated use of language." -Rome Prisma Awards
"The greatest travelers have not gone beyond the limits of their own world; they have trodden the paths of their own souls." -Carlo Levi
"Dinner with Dante...is a story of survival, of love, and of the people broken by the horrors of war." -Florence Film Awards
Dinner with Dante.
Witness the story of a lifetime through a WWII widow's conversations with a statue of Dante in Florence!
01.
Funding Inquiries
As of the Fall or 2025, we have reached our fundraising goals for the making of this film. Many thanks to our donors!
02.
Author | Writer
Katherine is a researcher, writer, and musician, who is passionate about art, music, and the creative process. Her projects may be divided into two areas: those that relate to the analytical study of paintings and those that relate to sound and music. Over the years she has collaborated with pioneers in both the sciences and the arts as a way of understanding the artistic process at a much deeper level. She has also hosted a popular series at an award-winning literary magazine and published articles in a variety of journals, technical magazines, and books. She is a long-time advocate for human rights, animal and environmental welfare and the protection and preservation of cultural heritage.
Dinner with Dante was inspired in part by the writer’s own conversations with the statue of Dante and by the stories she’d heard about Florence in the early post WWII years. It is her hope that the film will change someone’s life for the better; perhaps by making them feel less isolated or by giving them hope that comfort can sometimes arrive in the least expected places.
The screenplay marks her debut on the film festival circuit.
03.
Basilica di Santa Croce
The Opera di Santa Croce plays a vital role in preserving and maintaining the many rich and complex layers of history that are represented in the vast artistic, cultural, civil, and religious heritage of the basilica along with its extraordinary chapels, serene inner courtyards, and ancient affiliated buildings.
The Enrico Pazzi monument of Dante Alighieri, which was completed in 1865, and stands today to the left of the basilica, is seen here, in this image, more to the right. As the reader will note, the image of the piazza shown here appears very different from how it appears today. This is because the piazza is shown as it appeared just after the great flood of 1966 and before the monument of Dante was moved. The deluge of water that flowed from the Arno River on November 4th, killed at least 101 people and is responsible for damaging or destroying millions of priceless artworks and rare books; leaving some art restoration scholars to say that the flood of 66’ caused more damage to cultural heritage objects in the city of Florence than both World Wars combined. It was the worst flood the city of Florence had experienced since 1557; and in some ways it has yet to recover from the full scope of the damage.
If you would like to learn more about the Basillica di Santa Croce or learn more about the Opera di Santa Croce and their important work relating to the ongoing historical preservation of this landmark site, please go to their website directly by clicking on the Read More icon below.
Image credit: Torrini Fotogiornalismo Firenze. Used with Permission.
Basilica of Santa Croce, 1966 / Image credit: Torrini Fotogiornalismo Firenze. Used with Permission.