Discoveries from Italy World Cinema

Judge Pennisi deals with a lot of citizens every day, some of them criminals, but almost always ordinary people, suffering from a wide range of problems.

John Chandler is sentenced to death only to re-emerge as his own brother, courtesy of the CIA who have arranged the subterfuge so they can use him as a double agent.

A Chinese immigrant, recently arrived in America, fights to free Mexican slaves from their cruel master.

A married man who killed the wife of his best friend during a tryst feels compelled to turn himself in.

Aliens from the constellation Hydra crash-land on the island of Sardinia. A prominent scientist, his daughter, several young technicians, and a pair of Oriental spies are taken hostage by the beings so they can use them to repair their spaceship's broken engine. With that done, they take off towards their home planet, taking the earthlings with them. However, the humans attempt to mutiny against their captors, inadvertently sending their tiny spaceship hurtling into the infinite beyond...

Léopold, valet de chambre to the avocat général Maître de Royssac, starts studying the penal code and, during his leave, becomes a judge in a "middle" court. His decisions are recognized as final. Léopold falls in love with Agnès, engaged to the two-faced Doctor Ventoux, who becomes "Le chat" when he plays the gangster. Léopold will help "Le chat" pull off the heist of the century, if he remains free to court Agnès. "Le Chat" doesn't play along. A fight breaks out between Léopold's gang and "Le Chat's" gang. The law must prevail.

Scientists try to prevent a collision between Earth and a planet that is heading for it.

Alboino, the Lombard ruler, wants to marry the daughter of a neighboring king, but she loves another. Her father arranges the marriage to Alboino, which he believes will be beneficial to him, only to have Alboino kill him and leave Amalchi, his daughter's real love, beaten and left for dead. Amalchi recovers to lead a revolt against the murderous Alboino and reclaim his woman.

United by an uncompromising struggle as members of the infamous 1970s far-left terrorist group Prima Linea, fugitive couple Sergio and Susanna have become increasingly alienated from the real world. Their luck runs out when Susanna is captured and thrown in jail. Putting his life on the line, Sergio embarks on a radical plan... Loosely based on the memoir by Prima Linea's 'commander' Sergio Segio.

Gwen, who is married to Torito, an Indian, she escapes from a rape attempt and is found wandering in the wilderness by Johnny, who leaves her with a missionary Father Ryan. A difficult situation emerges involving warring families and those who had assaulted her, still on their trail.

Armed with gadgets and an atomic sub, a crook (Philippe Leroy) and his gang target a Latin dictator and Soviet gold.

Also known as The Sinner on UK VHS, this one could almost be mistaken for a D'Amato Black Emanuelle film (as well as Jess Franco who also had a film with the same video title). The Italian title translates as The Moon-Skinned Girl, a reference to the amazingly attractive Zeudi Araya, who made two other films with the same director. As a film it really typifies the 'eurotika' of the 1970s - the story concerns a couple with marital problems who escape to the Seychelles and the husband meets - and has an affair with - the title character. The wife meanwhile meets an ex-pat living there (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart!) with whom she has a fling. The couple realise their love for each other and return home stronger for it.

A television movie based on the animated series and settled between the first and the second season aired, in Italy, on 23 April 2011. The movie focuses on the Angels attending the Summer School at the Sunny College in Alpinville, where Raf hopes she will not meet Sulfus. The Devils show up at the school and Raf tells Sulfus she has fallen in love with someone else. Meanwhile, the Earthly ones receive the task of refurbishing the Theatre of Princes (Italian: Teatro dei Principi) and organising a play, Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare. However, they are attacked by a mysterious hooded man who wants them to leave the theatre. The Angels and the Devils decide to investigate and find out the truth about Tyco and Sai's fate. At last, Raf and Sulfus conclude that they'll decide what to do about their future together once returned to the Golden School for the new term.

Cristina lives a peaceful life until her older brother Ciro, who has to attend a trial, asks to spend house arrests at Cristina’s home.

Amanzio Rastelli appointed several of his relations to managerial positions in his firm. They decided to think internationally and now business is heavily in debt. Luckily for the Rastellis, Bolta the accountant uses all the tricks of his art to cook the books, but catastrophe awaits.

A divorced high school PE teacher falls in love with a single mom before learning that her daughter is the student who's been hitting on him between classes.

A defense counsellor and a judge are at loggerheads and the latter thinks his liver condition depends on the lawyer's ploys to get his clients acquitted.

Against the backdrop of the French revolution, young Caroline tries to reunite with her first love, despite her arranged marriage to an older politician.

A secret agent is charged with preventing a crime syndicate's plot to assassinate a young heiress.

Not America, nor Africa, but the Lazio countryside provides the backdrop for this intricate story of death and more or less incestuous love affairs, inspired by the successful American film Mandingo.

The story of a man who sets out on his motorcycle from Italy on a trip to the Spanish desert to find himself there. But the encounter with the young Maryam changes the plans of the adventure sustainable.

Elections are approaching and things don't look too good for the opposition. Their leader can't stand the pressure and disappears. To avoid a scandal, the upper echelons of the party concoct a risky plan: to replace him with his identical twin, a philosopher with BPD, whose eclectic ideas and direct approach unexpectedly make the party surge in the polls.

Bahram is a 40-year-old filmmaker who’s spent his entire career making films in Turkish-Azeri, none of which have ever been screened in Iran. His latest work, once again denied permission by the Ministry of culture, pushes him to the edge of defiance. With his sharp-tongued, Vespa-riding producer Sadaf by his side, he embarks on an underground mission to showcase his film to an Iranian audience, dodging government censors, absurd bureaucracy, and his own self- doubts.

Two linen fabric dealers with their shops close to one another, battle against each other for more and more costumers. Umberto constantly loses clients because of the tough competition brought by Leone, who offers the best prices in the neighborhood. But they leave differences aside when the rise of Fascism places Anti-Semitic politics which rigidly control business like the one conducted by the Jewish Leone, and those new regulations are viewed by Umberto as completely unfair. The long rivalry soon becomes a great friendship.

At the end of the 19th century, during the British rule of India, the goddess Kali commits a number of murders, among which the man who was conducting a cargo of serum to a village infected with disease. Worried with the vast number of fatalities that will result from stopping this shipment, Dr. Palmer asks for help from Major Talbot. The Major suspects about the murderer turn onto the doctor, and he must take refuge in the jungle, after faking his own death by a tiger. Help does come in the shapely form of Amrita, a native dancer, who will give him shelter, and will even free him from a gang of robbers. Dr. Palmer still has a number of real and fantastic adventures until he sees an end to his tribulations...

A tribe of vicious female warriors terrorizes the countryside, and especially the males, until one day the men and some local villagers decide to fight back.

Movie director Niccolò has just been left by his wife. Subsequently he embarks on an obsessive relationship with a young woman who eventually leaves him and disappears while searching for her, he meets a variety of other willing girls. This gives him the idea of making a movie about women's relationships. He starts to search for a woman who can play the leading part in the movie.

Anthony Steffen, as a young gunman who works as a circus performer, witnesses the killing of some outlaws, carried out by their leader and is credited with the deed. Steffen suffers from a complex which blocks him in front of any violence and makes him appear cowardly, so when a young boy is kidnapped he must find a way to regain his composure.

California, 1847. The territory is about to be incorporated into the United States. Parker, the new governor, is a cruel man who believes that the time has come to get rich regardless of the means, but he will soon find a mysterious opponent driven to end his tyranny.

Federico, his girlfriend Laura and her cousin, Caterina, are three young people full of hope, united by a great friendship that seems indissoluble. The three work in a department store but, when Caterina decides to attempt a musical career, given her vocal skills, everything changes. Caterina becomes a successful singer and Federico falls in love with her. Caterina, who however does not want to make her cousin Laura suffer, pretends not to reciprocate the young man by making him put his head in order. Meanwhile, the plots of various secondary characters evolve, in particular the fresh marriage between the security guard Antonio and the secretary of the department stores Adelina.

Vlada Koza sells her house in the Carpathians and flies to sunny Sicily to live with her daughter and help take care of her grandson. But no one expected her mother to arrive. After a quarrel with her daughter, Vlada accidentally finds herself at the villa of the once powerful Italian mafioso Don Fredo, now a widower who is experiencing deep crises - personal, family and financial. Vlada gets a job as a cleaner, but becomes the salvation of this house.

A commando rescues his squad leader from heroin smugglers in Burma.

An immigration agent is torn between the job and his humanity.

Rome chafes under the rule of the Emperor Domitian and his Egyptian mistress, Artamne. A mysterious champion arises to fight against the Emperor -- a masked man known as the Red Wolf. In fact, the Red Wolf is Valerius Rufus, one of the Emperor's trusted centurions who's aided by none other than the Emperor's court jester, the diminutive Elpidion. Rebels in league with Valerius kidnap Artamne, planning to exchange her for two of their imprisoned colleagues, but Artamne escapes and soon both Valerius, (now exposed as the Red Wolf), and his fiancee, Lucilla, are sentenced to be immersed in a cauldron of molten lead. Valerius's friends, however, rise up to rescue him and to liberate Rome.

Set at the end of the 19th century in Canada's gold rush Klondike area, wolf-dog White Fang teams up with a prospector when his master is killed. Together they try to avenge his death.

The life of Italian journalist and writer Oriana Fallaci.

A mechanic falls in love with a girl who aspires to become a diva.

Edoardo meets and immediately falls in love for Edith. They soon decide to marry. During the wedding Edoardo knows Anna, Edith's best friend and wife of her brother. This last is a fake marriage since Sacha is homosexual. Incredibly Edoardo loses his mind for Anna, and they become soon lovers. The two couples spend time together in Venezia. Edoardo is continuously shared between Edith and Anna. But this won't take long.

An outcast Confederate soldier protects a woman from bandits trying to steal her gold mine.

The Stranger happens across a murdered postal inspector and a gang of bandits set on a prize of stolen gold which should be transported in a stagecoach. The Stranger, a sharpshooter named En plein and a treacherous postal agent try to get their hands on the gold. Source: SWDB www.spaghetti-western.net

Shenandoah (Steffen) works his way into a band of highwaymen led by Rojo (Armando Calvo). His initiation consists of hunting down and killing a member of the gang who has 12 bullets while he is only given 2 bullets. When the bandits attempt to rob a wealthy rancher, whom Shenandoah knows, he warns him. The outlaws begin to suspect they were betrayed and commence to rough Shenandoah up. Shenandoah then reveals his true reason for joining the gang; one of them killed his wife and he is there for retribution.

Two linen fabric dealers with their shops close to one another, battle against each other for more and more costumers. Umberto constantly loses clients because of the tough competition brought by Leone, who offers the best prices in the neighborhood. But they leave differences aside when the rise of Fascism places Anti-Semitic politics which rigidly control business like the one conducted by the Jewish Leone, and those new regulations are viewed by Umberto as completely unfair. The long rivalry soon becomes a great friendship.

In Milan, in the winter of 1944, the ruthless Cane Nero leads the fascists against the partisans. Enne 2, one of the leading figures of the C.N.L., meets Berta, whom he loved three years ago, but Berta refuses to leave her husband for him. Enne 2 is pursued by the fascists of Cane Nero and, instead of running away to Turin, waits for Berta to rejoin him

The upright prof. Filippo Bottini Said Pippo is an "old-fashioned" teacher in a Roman school. He would like a Heart book-style school but clashes with the harsh reality of modern teaching and in particular with the turmoil of the seventies: strikes, occupations, armed students, feminist colleagues. Overwhelmed by events, he will find himself more and more in the maelstrom of the post-1968 protest until he becomes a drug courier. He will be arrested and incarcerated, but thanks to the release on bail provided by his colleague Lalla, with whom he had in the meantime started a relationship, he will be able to redeem himself.

A tribe of vicious female warriors terrorizes the countryside, and especially the males, until one day the men and some local villagers decide to fight back.

In order to placate the angry gods, who have allowed Thessaly to be overrun with barbarian invaders and beset with natural disasters, King Jason takes his Argonauts on a search for the fabled Golden Fleece. Meanwhile, back at home, his scheming regent is plotting to get his hands on the kingdom--and the queen.

Movie director Niccolò has just been left by his wife. Subsequently he embarks on an obsessive relationship with a young woman who eventually leaves him and disappears while searching for her, he meets a variety of other willing girls. This gives him the idea of making a movie about women's relationships. He starts to search for a woman who can play the leading part in the movie.

The training trip of 4 "special" boys, one narcoleptic, one internet-dependent, one suffering from Tourette's Syndrome and one obsessed with hygiene towards self-affirmation and acceptance of one's differences.

California, 1847. The territory is about to be incorporated into the United States. Parker, the new governor, is a cruel man who believes that the time has come to get rich regardless of the means, but he will soon find a mysterious opponent driven to end his tyranny.

Aurora Rumelin is happy because the noble writer Leopold Sacher-Masoch has asked for her hand. Little by little the marriage goes into crisis mainly because Leopold asks his wife to beat him before sexual relations and to treat him like a slave. Both spouses have lovers and, in the end, the marriage ends in divorce.

A laid-back journey in search of one of the world’s most fascinating families, observed and examined from within its most intimate relationships, where the truth and depth of a memoir meet the ironic tone of an indie comedy.

A famous TV host, who grew up without parents and with a painful past, sees his brilliant career and power called into question during a train journey from Rome to Milan.

Assunta, a commoner of Naples, is scarred by her lover Michele for jealousy.

Vlada Koza sells her house in the Carpathians and flies to sunny Sicily to live with her daughter and help take care of her grandson. But no one expected her mother to arrive. After a quarrel with her daughter, Vlada accidentally finds herself at the villa of the once powerful Italian mafioso Don Fredo, now a widower who is experiencing deep crises - personal, family and financial. Vlada gets a job as a cleaner, but becomes the salvation of this house.

An immigration agent is torn between the job and his humanity.

A mother and daughter rent a house for a getaway after suffering a sudden and tragic loss, little do they know the house is run by a secret cult.

Donatella is a simple and honest roman girl, daughter of a bookbinder and girlfriend of Guido, a gas station owner. One day she finds a woman's handbag containing valuables and documents, and decides to return it to her owner, a wealthy American lady, who offers Donatella a job as a secretary as a reward: she has to manage the lady's villa during her absences. There, Donatella casually meets Maurizio, a rich, elegant and well-educated young man, and ends up falling in love.

In a Roman high school, a jaded art professor who lost the spark for the job clashes with an ex pupil of his, an adjunct literature teacher who is trying to rescue an eccentric and rebellious student, while the stern headmistress deals with a student from a difficult background.

One livid dawn, a cold and damp wind blows as a man walks alone through the darkness. Deputy Police Superintendent Francesco Prencipe is on his way to meet his best friend, Judge Giovanni Mastropaolo whom he hasn't seen for almost two years. The men drive for two hours and exchange but a few words. Later that morning, the Judge is found dead, a single gunshot wound to his head. Francesco is the last person who saw him and his fingerprints are the only ones found in the house. But is he the murderer?