A new grand documentary capturing the beloved Pellegrini's espresso bar arrives in cinemas nationally from 4 December.
Pellegrini’s: A Melbourne Legacy captures the pure history and humanity of Melbourne’s iconic espresso bar through a number of untold stories from longtime patrons and the family behind it.
Filmmaker Frank Lotito, himself a regular and long-time customer, compiled the documentary to preserve all the laughter, stories and generations that have passed through the popular and beloved Little Bourke Street institution.
The film will make its premiere at The Astor Theatre in St Kilda on Tuesday December 2, ahead of its national cinema release on December 4 across all Palace Cinemas, Cinema Nova, and the Thornbury Picture House.
Founded in the mid-1950s by migrant brothers Leo and Vildo Pellegrini, Pellegrini’s espresso bar brought a piece of Italy to their new Australian lives. Sisto Malaspina and Nino Pangrazio took over in 1974, with Sisto’s son David later stepping into the role.
Pellegrini’s: A Melbourne Legacy documents how this family-run bar became woven into Melbourne’s fabric over seven decades.
Pellegrini’s espresso bar: A Melbourne Legacy
- Opens nationally 4 December
- Palace Cinemas locations: Balwyn, Como, Westgarth, Kino, Pentridge, Church Street, Penny Lane, Ballarat
- Also showing at Cinema Nova
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Frank Lotito’s documentary features stories from regular customers who’ve found something of themselves in Pellegrini’s espresso bar over the years. It’s less about coffee and more about the community that formed around red vinyl booths and Italian hospitality transplanted to a Melbourne laneway.
Pellegrini’s has operated continuously on Little Bourke Street since opening, surviving every shift in Melbourne’s dining culture while maintaining its original character. Formica tables, handwritten menus, and staff who remember your order before you sit down have kept it distinct from the wave of cafes that followed.
The Pellegrini’s espresso bar documentary arrives at Palace Cinemas and Cinema Nova locations across Victoria from early December. It presents an intimate look at how one small espresso bar became shorthand for a certain kind of Melbourne experience, told through the people who kept coming back.
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