Fellini's iconic film was previewed in Rome before its Milan premiere.

La Dolce Vita, a masterpiece by the great Italian director Federico Fellini, celebrates 65 years as a cult classic of Italian cinema.

The movie, which starred Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni, was previewed in Rome on the night of 3 February 1960 at the Fiamma cinema, which closed in 2017.

The film's official premiere was held at the Capitol in Milan on 5 February 1960 before going on general release in cinemas around Italy.

Fellini's film went on to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes festival as well as an Oscar for best costumes, followed by dozens of other international awards.

La Dolce Vita had major box office success in Europe with more than 13 million admissions in Italy where it remains among the country's top 10 most watched films to this day.

The New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther praised Fellini’s "brilliantly graphic estimation of a whole swath of society in sad decay and, eventually, a withering commentary on the tragedy of the over-civilized…Fellini has an uncanny eye for finding the offbeat and grotesque incident, the gross and bizarre occurrence that exposes a glaring irony."

The film follows Marcello Rubini (Mastroianni), a journalist writing for gossip magazines, over seven days and nights on his journey through Rome's dolce vita in a fruitless search for love and happiness.The movie is best known internationally for the scene in which Sylvia (Ekberg) lures Marcello into the waters of the Trevi Fountain, a sequence which is immortalised in countless souvenirs in Rome today.

The film's 65th anniversary occurs during the centenary year of the birth of Mastroianni, who died in 1996.

For tips on how to make a Fellini pilgrimage around Rome, see our guide.