Discoveries from Italy World Cinema

Angelo is a forty-year-old messy man, nice but a bit of a scoundrel. He makes a living by selling fake paintings to rich Japanese on holiday, until one day he is unmasked and to escape the police who are hunting him he takes the first flight to an unknown destination. As luck would have it, the first plane he can catch takes him to Los Angeles. Having arrived in California penniless and with his credit cards blocked, he gets by for a few days as a bum when suddenly he comes up with a brilliant idea. Angelo, in fact, reads in a newspaper that the rich Italian-American entrepreneur Vittorio Di Spirito has died leaving a boundless inheritance to his son George, and he cannot help but notice that the dead rich man looks like his father in every way. Thanks to this resemblance, Angelo shows up at the funeral, staging a dramatic and heartfelt condolence, and then shows up at George's villa declaring that he is his brother...

Laura is the victim of a blackmail, asks for help to her childhood friends Renata, Marina and Giovanna in the meantime become a nun to collect the amount requested.

Giovanni peddles useless pens in the streets of Rome with his sidekick Francesco, but his college-student daughter thinks he is a rich industrialist. She falls in love with a rich guy and when her father tells her the trust about their financial situation she drops her fiance and refuses food. Luckily, the guy's parents give their consent to the marriage anyway.

A man and his assistant invent a powerful aphrodisiac they don't hesitate testing out on the beautiful female populace of their village.

The movie is set in Nis, Serbia. A girl from Pittsburgh called Sophia, who lives and works as a designer in an international construction company in Nis, decides to change her bad habits and her life for the better, after hearing an advertisement on the radio and applying for a huge international casting for top models. Until the day of the casting, Sophia is working on herself and is making changes in her life that she never imagined she would. However, after the casting and the CEO Marc’s decision, as well as the decision of his assistant Jenny and the whole ‘Markofit’ team, Sophia is faced with true disappointment and goes back to her old ways. Nonetheless, this soon changes after one conversation with Jenny, the assistant. The movie ‘Change’ was created with a goal to show support to all the people around the world, who do not believe in themselves and lack motivation. The film puts forth the idea that anything is possible in life if we are willing to make changes.

This movie is set on the Easter Island, where a group of children that must face the mean ruler of the island in a pallastrike match in an arena. Their objective is to free a group of kids that have been petrified during the years.

Agata receives a visit from Florence, an old woman who wants to contact her dead husband to prove to her son that his ghost exists and that their house cannot be sold. Terrified by her encounter with the ghost, Agata decides to help the old woman with the help of her daughter Milla and a listless Ulisse, who will not believe in the ghost's existence until the very end.

Lorna, the daughter of an American playboy, enters a girls' school for the international smart-set, in the Alps, where the main course of study appears to be how to trap a rich man. At first, she is dominated and looked down on by the school ring-leaders, and forced into rooming with - horrors - a scholarship student. But when a rich young American shows interest in her she is elevated to the international clique of the upper-termers. Then she falls in love with - horrors again - a poor local mountaineer.

An English singer thinks his Italian wife has cheated on him and goes back to England. He is then involved in drug trafficking and ends up in jail. Luckily enough after a while the real culprit is revealed and he can go back to Italy and his wife.

Adapted from the mock-heroic poem in Roman dialect, tells the misadventures of the young trasteverino Bartolomeo Patacca that, because of the ambition of his woman, is having to train a group of beggars to go fight in defense of Christianity in Vienna, besieged by the Turks.

Zorro aids an American gun-runner in his effort to supply arms to Mexican revolutionaries in their effort to overthrow Emperor Maximillian.

Three teenagers are preparing for their final exams, but their main interest is certainly not their studies. Stefano dumps his girlfriend for the beautiful Caterina, but her boyfriend Gianluca forces him to disguise himself as a Jim Morrison fan to win over another classmate. Annalisa, the girl Stefano dumped, will find the man of her dreams.

When three drifters come into the possession of stolen gold they are imprisoned then sprung by a friend and tracked by the outlaw Jackson brothers, who originally stole the gold.

In Tanzania there is a growing clandestine market for albino skin, bones and hair as ingredients in potions that promise to make people rich. As a result people with albinism live in fear of being abducted or maimed. Jerome, a young karate master, has made teaching kids with albinism to defend themselves his life's mission. Now he’s determined to take one of them to a world championship in Japan.

When young Tommi goes missing during a festival in the Dolomites in 2010, his parents are devastated. Five years later, a boy is found with no name or records; DNA tests prove it is Tommi. But while Tommi's father Manuel welcomes him back with open arms, his mother Linda is not convinced that it is her son. Suspicion and superstition permeate the pores of this eerie mystery thriller.

After her audition as Juliet fails to impress, a young actress determined to act in the latest production of Shakespeare's play crossdresses and is unexpectedly chosen for the role of Romeo.

Convict Umberto is allowed to work outside prison during daytime as a librarian. There he falls for a beautiful woman who mistakes him for a volunteer helping the inmates — however, like a modern-day Cinderella, every day he must leave and be back to his cell before midnight... will they manage to live happily ever after?

The evil Queen Tenefi demands that a steady supply of young women be sacrificed to the God of Fire. Maciste intervenes and saves from this sacrifice a village's women including the beautiful Antea. Maciste then becomes involved in an effort to restore to the throne of Memphis its rightful ruler, Prince Iram.

By day, Ovidio (Joe Dallesandro) and his two friends work at a data center. After work, they blow off steam by committing random acts of savage violence, swiftly graduating from sparking a riot at a football game to vehicle theft, rape, and murder. The police are convinced this recent spate of crimes is politically motivated, but world-weary veteran Commissario Santaga (Enrico Maria Salerno) suspects a far more terrifying explanation: that these young men are motivated by nothing more than boredom and disaffection at civilized society. As Ovidio's behavior escalates, a psychological game of cat-and-mouse ensues between the two adversaries, building towards a shocking final confrontation.

After years of sexual humiliation at the hands of her sadistic husband and his friends, a wealthy heiress struggles to regain her sense of identity. To that end, not only does she become ruthless in business, but also delights in sexually dominating her young secretary, Anna. When she attempts to exert her sexual power over a blythe traveler, Peter Smart, he turns the tables on her, and she finds herself at the mercy of an unfamiliar emotion: Love.

When a journalist is murdered Inspector Micheli begins to investigate. Although someone comes forward to confess to the crime, Micheli doesn't believe he acted alone and keeps investigating despite coming under pressure to close the case.

It follows the tragic life of Giulia Cecchettin, starting from the private pain of her father, Gino Cecchettin, and culminating in a cinematic story that stems from the book of the victim's father, entitled Dear Giulia.

It's an event that draws many thousands of music lovers to one of the most beautiful cities in the world every summer: the opera season at the ancient Arena di Verona. The 2,000-year-old roman amphiteatre with its gigantic stage dimensions is one of the largest and best preserved Roman construction of its kind, and with over 22,000 seats it is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular open-air venues of the world! The revered master of opera Franco Zeffirelli, who died shortly before the premiere of Il Trovatore, created a legendary scenery with groups of giant sized armoured knights, a fortress turning into a luminous cathedral, an enormous choir, horses, breathtaking fights: “his perhaps best arena production” (Opernglas). It brings Anna Netrebko to the Arena of Verona where she is giving her much-anticipated debut in one of Giuseppe Verdi’s most popular operas.

Father Pacifico is a genuine friar with a brisk manner, for this reason he is nicknamed Father Manisco. The religious finds himself grappling with a thorny case, as Don Liborio, a Neapolitan lord, dominates all local events, including the love choices of his young daughter. Father Pacifico manages to restore harmony and order despite a thousand difficulties.

The ten gladiators are hired to travel to Arbela, a small country on the outskirts of the Roman Empire to learn if Parthia is planning to war with Rome. Upon arriving, the heroes decide to kidnap the beautiful Parthian queen and spirit her to Syria to serve as a hostage.

Samoa is kidnapped and held captive hypnotized in caves by her cousin Charles Druk, whose father has been murdered by her future husband Sandokan, lord of Malaya. Assisted by his European friend Iannis, he wants to rescue her.

The "Brigatte Veneno" is a fan group from the soccer club "AS Roma". The next match is against "Juventus Turin", the classic prestige duel. Principe, the former leader of the group, has been dismissed from jail a few days before. He has to realize that his best friend Red has not only taken over control of the group, but also has started an affair with his girlfriend. The rivalry between the hot-blooded Principe and the sensible Red causes an anxious mood within the group. When Smilzo, a member of the group, dies during a street fight with another fan group, Red knows that Principe is to be blamed for this catastrophe.

In Congo during the revolution, an Italian journalist is in love with the wife of a Belgian businessman.

Celia Berni is facing the possibility of receiving an inheritance and is forced pretend to be a virtue. But unfortunately her plans may be thwarted by zealous performer, who tries to expose her in any way.

Lemmy Caution has been assigned by Interpol to work as a double agent. Little does he know how many spies are on to this deception and how dangerous his assignment has become.

The Metropolitan Opera performance of L'Elisir d'Amore is conducted by Nicola Rescigno and features Luciano Pavarotti in the title role. Donizetti's graceful melodies have long endeared his L'Elisir d'Amore to operatic audiences and performers alike. Judith Blegen, Louise Wohlafka, Luciano Pavarotti, Nicola Rescigno, Sesto Bruscantini.

Two surreal/satirical comedy episodes.

Professor Serafino Benvenuti is a master of classical music who has the passion of the orchestra director. However, the young audience of the 60 does not appreciate classical composers like Mozart or Beethoven, and so Serafino is likely to have compromised his image as a director. One day Serafino receives the news that his adopted daughter Rita is about to return to Italy from America, where she is studying. Serafino is very happy, because at least he can teach her the real music. However, Rita is deeply grown and changed: she follows the musical patterns of her time: the rock music and blues. Serafino gets very angry, especially when he discovers that his daughter falls in love with a young man, a member of a band called "The Rockets.

Don Salvatore Savastano, a boss involved in the smuggling of contraband cigarettes, is forced to watch four masked robbers kill his wife and his only son in a restaurant where he and his family are celebrating the young boy's first Holy Communion. From that moment on Don Salvatore has no other purpose in life but to get his revenge on the four assassins.

Michele is a superficial man with nothing but contempt for other people and who lives only to show off his wealth on social media, until he finds himself mistaken for a North African immigrant in Eastern Europe and deported.

Journalist decides to report on Miss Italy candidates, in which detective intrigue is added.

A very extended family gathers for the Christmas holidays, after the death of the breadwinner Leonardo Sereni, famous singer. The eldest son Julius, with his wife Marina, has a panettone factory.

In 1985 in Milan Michele Croce is now in prison and decides to answer the magistrate's questions, telling how in the seventies he became the ruler of the Milanese underworld.

A lawyer heads out on the road in an attempt to find his daughter who has been missing for quite some time. To help him navigate the secret world his daughter lived within that he knows nothing about, he recruits the help of Irene a close friend of his daughter's. But Irene has plans of her own.

An awkward first aid instructor seeks intimacy with his student. Their questionable contact is fleeting, but for a silent witness from afar, it leaves a lifelong imprint.

Leo Bianchetti has just finished his military service but then is again called to arms; after 10 years on various fronts, he finds himself again in Italy to guard a bridge destroyes by the Germans that he doesn't want to leave.

Two Sicilian royalist soldiers flee the island in a trunk at the arrival of Garibaldi's republican troops. They end up in the Far West with the army fighting the Indians and with their ineptitude they contribute to the army's defeat.

An inept sergeant is mistaken for a secret agent and charged with finding a spy, but he is so stupid he is demoted and becomes a corporal.

Jessica falls in love with the wrong man, aspiring actor Al Mariotti, who abandons her as soon as she achieves success. But she tries to start over, she meets by chance an eccentric billionaire, in disguise: he is actually the great film producer James Lorrimer. The two will get married and the girl will take revenge on her ex-boyfriend

Deep in the African Congo, revolution rages and explosive documents have fallen into the hands of nationalist guerillas. The Red Berets are the government's only hope of retrieving papers which could change the course of the war.

Based on the novel 'Ritratto Di Provincia In Rosso' by Paolo Levi .Mario Aldara, a Ministry of the Intenal Affairs officer and former police inspector, is sent to his native town, Bologna to investigate the alleged suicide of Cesare Bonfigli, of a powerful local family linked to politics but also the church dealing in real estate business and welfare. Aldara may be pleased to see there Viviana again. Viviana is the widow of the dead man and used to be Aldara's girlfriend twenty years before

Alice is 18 and afraid of falling asleep. Every night she relives the same nightmare, made of endless races, terrible challenges in which she faces a disturbing Queen of Hearts. Art, her friends, her boyfriend seem unable to help her overcome a nightmare deeply tied to her past. When do wounds become scars? Can scars disappear?

Antonio, an honest citizen, seeks his revenge against Simone, a dishonest politician. Antonio initially wanted to report him but then, knowing Italy, a country in which the justice process is very long and uncertain, he decides to take revenge in another way: he discovers that his enemy has hidden the proceeds of his misdeeds in a Swiss bank and decides to organize a hit to get back what was stolen from him. To accomplish the feat, Antonio sets up a small gang, made up of non-professionals who have only one thing in common: they too have been defrauded by corrupt politics. The heist takes place in Zurich where the bank in which Simone hid the money is based. With a series of unpredictable consequences, and with a funny substitution of people (Antonio and his wife pretend to be Simone and his partner), a comic clockwork mechanism starts. And the heist begins.

Catherine Miller's triumph at the Casino de Paris leads fashionable playwright Alexandre Gordi to ask her to create his next play. Flattered, Catherine moves into Gordi's villa near Cannes, escorted by her entire family. Only Jacques Merval, Gordi's secretary, disagrees. This is understandable, as it is he who writes the plays that Gordi, rather tired, simply signs. Jacques is a one-man band in every sense of the word, allying himself with the Casino manager to bring Catherine back to her music-hall successes. Despite a few clouds, and thanks to Gordi's generous intervention, he succeeds. Wasn't his only thought the happiness of the woman he loves?

Collective film for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with 30 directors each helming a segment about one of the 30 articles of the Declaration.

On December 24th the Orient Express gets snowbound near a little mountain village and its passengers are forced to spend some time there, mingling with the local people, upsetting their usually monotonous daily lives.

Award-winning Irish actor Gabriel Byrne explores the life, works and passions of George Bernard Shaw, a giant of world literature, and - like Byrne - an emigrant Irishman with the outsider's ability to observe, needle and puncture.

Claudia and Flavio were once passionately in love, but all of that is over. Now, in their fifties, they must venture anew into the world of love and dating once more but for Claudia confronting the end and accepting a new beginning isn’t so easy. Claudia is unwilling to let go and forget the life she’s built with Flavio, while Flavio, eager to move on, soon finds himself in a relationship with a much younger woman. Claudia soon reconnects with Nina, a student from her days as a professor.