Discoveries from Italy World Cinema

Stop-motion short by Massimo Ottoni. Follows the story of some soldiers during the Great War in an Austrian trench on the Italian front.

This propaganda film was partly inspired by the story of the first Italian heavyweight champion Primo Carnera who, after winning the title with Al Capone’s help in 1933, was beaten the following year by the Jewish Max Bear and then again by the ‘Brown Bomber’ Detroit Joe Lewis in June 1935, on the eve of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. This match provoked numerous racial skirmishes on the streets of Harlem between the Black community and pro-Fascist Italian-Americans. The film overturns historical facts and here, obviously, it is the white boxer who wins in order to demonstrate the superiority of the “Aryan Italians” over the “sinister Jewish entrepreneurs” and the “savage Afro-American fans in Yankee Stadium”. In the film, these were played by South African prisoners-of-war interred in a work camp, which the German and Italian propaganda ministries had set up near Cinecittà “for cinematic purposes”.

A finishing-school graduate learns about her late mother's affair with the handyman.

In Italy, immediately subsequent to the war, a group of people who lost all they possessed during the conflict, settle in a village in ruins. They intend to restore the city from the rubble and re-start life, in imitation of the women of Messina who rebuilt their city, destroyed as it was by an earthquake. Oscillating between respect and suspicion, co-existence between group members is tense. Things become complicated when an envoy from the government arrives to say that nothing there belongs to them. The film is a free adaptation of fragments of the novella ‘The Women of Messina’, by Sicilian writer Elio Vittorini.

Mid-1980s Italy. 12-year-old Aida suspects her father of shady dealings due to his frequent business trips and unexplained absences. She teams up with new friend Daniel to investigate Adriano's secretive import-export job.

A diplomatic incident threatens to break out a war inside Europe that only an unlikely couple of bickering lovers seems able to stop.

Through the anecdotes and stories of actors, directors, critics and experts, this documentary traces the career of Lamberto Bava, from his first steps in cinema with his father Mario to his 1980 debut with "Macabro" to his collaborations with Dario Argento to the big TV series successes of "Fantaghirò," "Desideria" and "Sorellina."

An Italian reporter is travelling on the Instabul-Athens train. A woman is murdered with the reporter's letter-opener so that makes him the main suspect. With the help of his Swedish girlfriend he starts investigating in order to prove his innocence.

The film has three stories. First is about local village idiot Paletta, who can not afford the services of a whore and so steals a locket from a holy shrine belonging to local mafia don. Second shows the story of betrayal of Pitrinu (who's dead now) by his lover Fefe. Final episode is about lowlife Lazarus. He is killed by mob boss Toto, but raised from the dead by a local messiah, who is also known as Toto (and is played by same actor).

Turi, a young Sicilian, makes ends meet by doing some occasional work and singing in taverns in a popular district of Rome.

1600, Southern Italy is under the Spanish Government. A few years before an attempt at rebellion, inspired by the preaching of the philosopher and monk Tommaso Campanella, is severely quelled by the Government. Campanella, under the charge of the plot, is put into a prison in Naples and waits for the conclusion of an endless process. Throughout the Calabrian countries his name is wrapped up in legend, he becomes almost a myth. Someone believes he has escaped from prison and wanders about under a false name.

Hoping to avoid the fate of his anti-Fascist father, an Italian leaves his community to marry a nobleman's daughter.

This fast-paced film stars (Conrad Nichols) as the tough Captain Williams, head of a crack commando squad who goes into Afghanistan to save the U.S.S.R. -- and indirectly, the U.S. -- from some very bad publicity. A journalist and his daughter have evidence that the Russians are using biological and chemical weapons in their war in Afghanistan. The unit of five commandos smuggle themselves into Afghanistan through its neighbor Iran, bribing the leaders of that country with some spare parts for its war planes (shades of Iran-Contra!). Once inside the country they discover that the journalist has already died from exposure to nerve gas, and his daughter is already getting sick. Williams starts to guess that they are all being set up because everything is going just a little too well, and he adjusts his plans accordingly. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A group of five people is going to vacation on the island of Rhodes: among them is the good-natured Augusto, who intends to bring a cactus to the grave of his uncle Michael.

Verso l'ora zero is an Italian television film from 1980. It is based on the Agatha Christie novel Towards Zero.

Totò, the mythical comedian of Italian stage and screen, was the illegitimate child of a noble man in one of Naples's poorest neighborhoods. As a child, he enlisted in the army simply to eat three square meals a day. Later, his dizzying success in show business brought him riches he had never dreamed of, plus stories of love and jealousy, the most important being with 16 year old Diana who eventually became his wife, only to leave him and inspire the Italian classic torch song Malafemmina, meaning bad woman.

The film tells Caselli’s story in her own words, as the artist herself shares anecdotes and reflections on her life and career. What emerges is a portrait of a woman who has made her great passion—music—her entire life.

It's the story of a double trip. A physical journey, the one in which the chemist Albert Hoffman really took his bicycle to go back home in the 1943's spring under the effects of an unknown substance he was testing (lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as Lsd). But it's also the symbolical journey, inside the scientist's mind, representing the feelings he may have felt. Our bet is to narrate this event researching new images, creating our own version of a '40s styled psychedelia.

The real masterpiece, among these early works by Risi, is certainly 1848 . Made to order for the centenary of the Milan uprising against Austrian rule, the film opens with a group of soldiers apathetically attending the dress rehearsal for a ballet at La Scala. Who knows if Visconti remembered it for the opening of Senso at the Fenice in Venice - when he certainly had in mind a little film directed by Corrado D'Errico in 1941, La Compagnia della teppa , in which a group insurgents use a Rossini premiere at La Scala to launch leaflets against the Napoleonic occupation.

After leaving school and failing various work experiences, Pierino decides to go to work as a helper at the bar run by his uncle Nino. He comes across different situations, sometimes involving his friend Pantera, who is able to imitate various sounds, or the girl Marisa, with whom Pierino is madly in love, until he decides to leave for a trip to Austria.

Marco, raised in the countryside with dreams of grandeur, bets everything on PHA, a revolutionary biodegradable polymer. Ten years later, his startup is a financial unicorn worth over a billion on the stock market, and he is the king of the world. Until Gabriele, a frosty and infallible short seller from New York, decides to bring him down. Specialized in crashing inflated stocks, Gabriele exposes him in a video commentary, accusing Marco's company of being nothing but a scam. For Marco, it is the beginning of a nightmare. What follows is a fierce, deeply personal clash made of dossiers, drones, private detectives, and a livestreamed showdown that keeps Italy holding its breath. Two mirror-image, obsessed men destroying each other in pursuit of the very same mirage.

Sara, a young and diligent elementary school teacher, is about to marry Andrea, but two more men are competing for her. She needs a friendly hand to help her manage work, friends and love.

Three teenagers are involved in a savage and meaningless beating of a street artist

Nemorino is hopelessly in love with Adina but she is attracted to a dashing captain.

First violin in the orchestra of a big city, S. has an extraordinary memory, which leads him to remember every detail of what falls under his attention. When he realizes that he can no longer read a score, because the notes before his eyes explode into moving and colorful points, he decides to contact Professor L., an internationally renowned psychologist.

Feature-length documentary including interviews with co-writer/producer/director Dario Argento, and many of the cast and crew members.

Pietro, Ivan and their friend Fabio, aka "Cosmic," live in the once-prosperous Po Valley. Post-crisis, this is a vast and alienating landscape of abandoned factories and petty crimes committed by the infamous Candelabra gang. The 19-year olds resist the authority of their parents and their teachers, and resign themselves to a listless fate of foreclosed opportunities. When news breaks of a large asteroid being monitored by the local astronomical station, the boys become convinced that it will collide with earth and destroy mankind.

A well known actor comes to off-season Capri to unwind and meets a young man. The attraction is immediate and mutual but before their relationship can get off the ground, an alluring woman with a spontaneous sexuality and care free attitude joins the triangle and the boy is slowly pushed out of the picture.

Written and directed by Sergio Pastore in 1969. Il diario proibito di Fanny is an anthology film starring Giovanna Lenzi as four different women, all named Fanny. The film touches upon all the hot-button issues of 1968: illegal immigrants from the Eastern bloc, the Prague Spring, the Italian star cult and even abortion.

'The True History of Marijuana' digs deep to expose a world-wide conspiracy, led by the petrolchemical industry, that has outlawed one of the most useful plants known to mankind. Cannabis has been used for thousands of years, in almost every culture, in ways you may never have imagined. This shocking documentary will change the way you think about marijuana forever.

A runaway coffin, a conservative wedding, an eccentric older man, two transsexuals, the police and an adorable puppy, collide on a humorous and heartwarming journey through the picturesque South of Italy. The "unexpected" death of 103 year-old Rosa creates an awkward family reunion the evening before what was to be a lush and opulent wedding. Rosa's grand-daughter, Chiara Gammarota, is set to marry the son of a wealthy general, much to the excitement of her conservative father, Nicolo. Francesco, Nicolo's "eccentric" brother caused a town scandal when he revealed his homosexuality 40 years earlier. He has returned for the wedding-turned-funeral and the two polar opposites see each other for the first time in decades. Acting on the final wishes of their mother the conflicting brothers reluctantly embark on drive through the countryside to bury their mother in their hometown; forcing them to confront family secrets...

The meeting between two women who are only apparently different from each other. Anna is in conflict with herself and her family, facing her illness alone; Cristi, on the other hand, flees from a war that keeps her away from home. Everyone advises Anna to follow her partner on a business trip, and Cristi to stay safe in Italy. The meeting between the two, although brief, will be a dive into freedom.

Mockumentary that looks at various 'unusual' sexual practices.

The warlike men of Kixos murder the king of Surupak and abduct his two daughters, Jia and Tuja. Jia's bridegroom Syros asks the mighty warrior Taurus for assistance. Taurus faithful companion Ubaratuta will give Taurus a hand to defeat the warlike tribe.

An Italian man emigrates to Sweden after getting tempted by the picture painted by his friend's letters but finds the reality quite different.

Master Sorran is obsessed by his search for an ancient civilization which, according to legend, holds the secret of immortality. After many years he lights upon the wreck of the civilisation's most powerful starship: the Resurrection. Sorran ignores the dangers and orders his crew to dock. The explorers and Sorran himself will face the mysteries of the Resurrection and the secret of the origins of the dark side.

Three anthological segments about sexcapades and erotic fantasies in middle-class Italy.

In the feature documentary, Summer 82 – When Zappa Came to Sicily, filmmaker and Zappa fan Salvo Cuccia tells the behind-the-scenes story of Frank Zappa's star-crossed concert in Palermo, Sicily, the wrap-up to a European tour that ended in public disturbances and police intervention. Cuccia had a ticket to the concert but never made it. Thirty years later, collaborating with Zappa's family, he re-creates the events through a combination of rare concert and backstage footage; photographs; anecdotes from family, band members, and concertgoers; and insights from Zappa biographer and friend Massimo Bassoli. The story is also a personal one, as Cuccia interweaves the story of Zappa's trip to Sicily with his own memories from that summer.

Young Ciro Priello, an ultra-skilled Neapolitan graphic, can not find a job that satisfies and appreciates him. After sending the curriculum practically everywhere, he just have to send a copy in space. He will thus be able to work for an alien society based on competence and meritocracy.

Two young girls, a hot, stifling summer, the desire to run away from a small provincial town. Luisa is full of life, uninhibited, unconventional. Renata is dark, angry and in need of love. The lives of two young women is a tale of blackmail, of a love betrayed, of violence: Luisa uses her Albanian boyfriend, Bilal; Renata uses Luisa’s body to orchestrate her revenge. Both want to leave the small community where they have grown up among village festivals and independence gatherings, helpless families and new generations of migrants targeted by those who feel increasingly threatened. Luisa, Renata and Bilal will risk loosing themselves, loosing a precious part of themselves, of those they love, ultimately loosing their own lives.