Discoveries from Italy World Cinema

A young widow flees from Rome during WWII and takes her lonely twelve-year-old-daughter to her rural hometown but the horrors of war soon catch up with them.

She hates men, he hates complications - but after one passionate night ties them together, these two irreconcilable opposites are forced to coexist... working at the same school, with a baby on the way! Can a staunch feminist and an oblivious chauvinist find common ground?

A mute gunslinger fights in the defense of a group of outlaws and a vengeful young widow, against a group of ruthless bounty hunters.

In the early days of Nazi Germany, a powerful noble family must adjust to life under the new dictatorship regime.

A gripping and chilling thriller that brings us to a hazy mountain village where an enigmatic detective is investigating the sudden disappearance of fifteen-year-old girl.

A love coach helps six different people navigate their insecurities and emotional difficulties, guiding them toward greater emotional awareness.

Florentine is a young, beautiful and passionate woman with a desire for love. Feeling abandoned by her husband's impotency, she searches for outside affection and seduction within brief, but often passionate encounters. During this web of desire she encounters Dorothy. Unknown to Florentine she is her husband's accomplice. In this twisted, frenzied fantasy her husband Jake becomes excited and aroused by the seduction of his wife. With his secret darkrooms and two-way mirrors he begins to desire his wife once more. Florentine, with the help of their adopted son, discovers his world of distorted fantasy. Amazed, but realising that Jake still loves her, she must act.

Exposed to radioactive waste, small-time crook Enzo gains super-strength. A misanthropic, introverted brute, he uses his powers for personal gain until he meets Alessia, a mentally ill girl who believes Enzo is the hero from her favorite anime, Steel Jeeg.

Isaac's son Jacob deprives his brother Esau of his birthright and has to flee for his life. He finds shelter with his uncle Laban, but is himself deceived. Finally, Jacob has to face both his uncle and brother.

John, a 35-year-old window cleaner, has dedicated his life to bringing up his 4-year-old son, Michael, after the child's mother left them soon after giving birth. When John is given only a few months left to live, he attempts to find a new, perfect family for Michael, determined to shield him from the terrible reality of the situation.

After returning to Catania after a long period of time, Giuseppe reunites with his old lover, Caterina. Her 15 year-old daughter, Graziella begins to seduce her mother's lover and he soon breaks down and begins an affair with her. As time passes Caterina begins having sneaking suspicions about Giuseppe's & Graziella's relationship.

An Italian diplomat's son follows and seduces English lovers in Venice.

February 20, 1958: the Italian Parliament approved Law No. 75, the "Merlin Law": the end of an institution of Italian society for ages: the brothel. The Italian writer Dino Buzzati likens the event to the fire in the library of Alexandria in Egypt. The brothel is an institution that has spanned the centuries,thru different aspects, different forms. It is an institution that, in Italy, at least officially no longer exists. But it is also an institution that in other countries, still exists. The doc offers a journey that will start from the ruins of Pompeii brothel to get to the lights of Artemis in Berlin, with its soft drinks and its attention to the well-being and to the erotic papyrus from the Egyptian Museum of Turin and the giant Paradise in Girona, that El Pais has called the biggest brothel in Europe.

Marina is a woman who never says no...to men, money and fame! Determined to climb the social ladder, she works her way up from a marriage of a millionaire prince. At last, she's living the life of wealth and glamour she's always dreamed of. Then Love comes along and ruins everything! A starving artist steals her heart and seduces her away to his bohemian world. Will Marina manage to stay happy living a lifestyle out of the fast lane?

In Italy, the gambler and professor of poetry Daniele Dominici arrives in the seaside town of Rimini and is hired to teach for four months in the local high school replacing another teacher. His relationship with his partner Monica is in crisis and he spends most of the time with his new acquaintances and gamblers Giorgio, Marcello and Gerardo. In classroom, he meets the gorgeous nineteen years old student Vanina Abati, who is Gerardo's girlfriend.

A decadent countess, middle-aged but still attractive, forces her young and timid daughter to marry a rich butcher. But the couple’s sexual relation is troubled, because the girl has her fair share of inhibitions. So she abandons her house and seeks refuge at her sister’s place. During her absence, her husband finds consolation in his mother in law’s arms.

A widowed English heroine recalls her life, from marriage to an affair with the gamekeeper.

Five short stories loosely dealing with the roles of women in society. A superstar actress travels to a mountain resort, only to evoke jealousy from women and lust from men. A woman offers to take an injured man to the hospital. A widowed father and his son seek for a new wife/mother. A man seeks revenge for a woman's honor. A bored housewife tries to explain to her husband that he's not as romantic as he used to be.

Purehearted teen Lazzaro is content living as a sharecropper in rural Italy, but an unlikely friendship with the marquise’s son will change his world.

Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano's bullet-riddled corpse is found facedown in a courtyard in Castelvetrano, a handgun and rifle by his side. Local and international press descend upon the scene, hoping to crack open the true story behind the death of this young man, who, at the age of twenty-seven, had already become Italy’s most wanted criminal and celebrated hero.

By his dying father's last wish Joe is sent to the Wild West to become a real guy. The dreamy young man despises guns and fights likes poems and prefers bicycles to horses. Now his three teachers footpads all of them shall teach him otherwise. This doesn't work until Joe has to defend himself against gunman Morton who's jealous of Joe's love to rancher Ohlsen's beautiful daughter.

Three tales of supernatural horror include a woman plagued by threatening phone calls, a family targeted by vampiric monsters, and a deceased medium who wreaks havoc upon the living.

In the decadent Roaring Twenties, a beautiful woman engages in affairs with two men, playing them against each other.

A newsman works with a blind puzzle-solver to uncover a deadly conspiracy linked to a genetic research facility.

Married couple, Ethan and Zeena, are in need an extra hand around the house due to Zeena's debilitated body and constant illness. The young woman who joins them is a beautiful, spirited person. She and Ethan fall in love much to the dismay of Zeena.

Two robbers on the run end up in the clutches of a doctor who experiments on people to navigate the afterlife. What seems to be an innocuous foray into a scientific and existential revolution for humanity soon takes a turn for the worse.

A documentary made by Italian television with behind-the-scenes footage of the making of Federico Fellini's AND THE SHIP SAILS ON and extensive interview footage of Fellini.

Caesar brings the Egyptian queen Cleopatra to Rome, but their intense passion for each other has started to cool. As others prepare seek to bring about a conspiracy against Caesar and Cleopatra, every night Cleopatra begins to dream the same dream: her former lover is killed by his close associates. Her high priest states that the dream is one of prophecy, and no action can stop the march of events. Despite this, the Egyptian queen sends her messengers to Caesar, seeking to warn him that the fatal wounds will be inflicted by Brutus.

While waiting for the brain surgery of his daughter Angela, victim of a motorcycle accident, the surgeon Timoteo recalls his torrid affair with and passion for Italia, a simple woman from slums in the periphery of the big city where he lives. The ghost of the beloved and sexual object of desire Italia chases him in his memories.

As the Roman Empire slowly declines, Caesar Nero indulges himself in every known debauchery, including incest with his mother.

A high-rise apartment populated by models, nightclub dancers and call girls becomes the focus of a mysterious serial killer. When a young model named Jennifer and her friend Marilyn move into one of the victims' former apartments, Jennifer becomes the next target and the pair try to identify the killer.

Expert conman Joe Thanks teams up with half-breed Bill and naive Lucy to steal $300,000 from the Indian-hating Major Cabot. Their elaborate plan is full of disguises, double-crosses, and chases, but Joe always seems to know what he's doing.

While vacationing on the crowded beaches of Riccione, a group of teenagers becomes fast friends as they grapple with relationship issues and romance.

A priest-doctor chasing a man with supernatural regenerative abilities, who has recently escaped from a medical lab, reaches a small town where the mutant goes on a killing spree.

At an isolated frontier outpost, a colonial magistrate suffers a crisis of conscience when an army colonel arrives looking to interrogate the locals about an impending uprising, using cruel tactics that horrify the magistrate.

On the eve of their final exams, a group of Roman high school students find themselves experiencing their last great adventure together: secret loves, betrayals, tested friendships, and desperate plans to deceive the school's most feared teacher.

Francesco and Marta run a husband-and-wife design company in Rome. When Francesco's aunt dies in Istanbul he travels there to sort out the hamam Turkish steam bath that she left him. He finds a love and warmth in his relatives' Istanbul home that is missing from his life in Italy.

The story of the young Franco Battiato’s journey, from Sicily to his arrival in Milan, exploring the encounters and pivotal moments along the path to success, right up to his return to his beloved Sicily. The account of an inner journey in which the artist’s nature, already inclined towards spirituality, evolves into a more conscious quest.

While a Mexican revolutionary lies low as a U.S. rodeo clown, the cynical Polish mercenary who tutored the idealistic peasant tells how he and a dedicated female radical fought for the soul of the guerrilla general Paco, as Mexicans threw off repressive government and all-powerful landowners in the 1910s. Tracked by the vengeful Curly, Paco liberates villages, but is tempted by social banditry's treasures, which Kowalski revels in.

Two brothers part company only to be reunited when one is hired to stop a thief who turns out to be his sibling.

Three friends, Beppe, Umberto, and Gigi, await the arrival of young Toni to celebrate his newfound freedom. After an evening of heavy drinking at the village bar, the car they're about to drive home in hits something. Or rather, someone. Setting off a series of relentless bad decisions, the four flee and take refuge at Umberto's house. It will be a long night of plot twists, paradoxical and ridiculous situations, encounters and clashes between the protagonists and other improbable figures who populate that interminable day. Until the most unimaginable of solutions arrives at first light.

Kreola arrives in Santa Domingo to join her photographer husband Andy. Although Andy is initially jealous of Marco, who is in town looking for his missing girlfriend who did not return from Santa Domingo with her coworkers after a girls getaway. When Kreola and Andy site the missing girl Iris in the company of their gruff, dominating sea captain Leon, Andy suggests Kreola distract him so that Marco has a chance of getting Iris back. Kreola scoffs at this but eventually does fall under Leon's spell. Andy's writer friend Jo Ann blames the island atmosphere for the tendency for puritanical Westerners to reject their inhibitions. When Andy and Marco cannot free their women from Leon's influence, things get drastic.

Nathan Hayes is a religious man trying to hold onto his farm and keep his family in line. A real estate developer is trying to buy most of the farm property in the area, including Mr. Hayes’ family farm, in the hope that the Tennesse Valley Authority will choose the town for the site of a new dam and recreational area. The night of a terrible storm, an unidentified, glowing object crashes on the Hayes farm and with it comes a horrible curse for the family and other members of the community.

From childhood to fatherhood, Piero learns things the hard way while growing up in a working-class neighborhood of Livorno.

Romulus and Remus, two shepherds and loyal brothers, end up taking part to a journey that will lead one of them to be the founder of the greatest nation ever seen. However, the fate of the chosen one will pass from killing his own brother.

Young lovers Orfeu and Eurydice run through the favelas of Rio during Carnaval, on the lam from a hitman dressed like Death and Orfeu's vengeful fiancée Mira and passing between moments of fantasy and stark reality. This impressionistic retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice introduced bossa nova to the world with its soundtrack by young Brazilian composers Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

1997: eight-year-old Linda drifts away from her wealthy grandmother's Swiss villa with her carefree mother Eva. In Italy, she meets Azzurra and Marta. A summer bond unites the three girls in a gang formed to protect each other, their youth, and their freedom. Around them swirl selfish parents chasing fragile dreams, gossiping neighbors, and a queer babysitter trying to find his place in a world that doesn’t want him either.

Angela is not happy about her daddy's choice for a new wife and does everything she can to destroy her stepmother-to-be.

An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all-out murder spree as relatives and friends attempt to reduce the inheritance playing field, complicated by some teenagers who decide to camp out in a dilapidated building on the estate.

Lucky Luke becomes the Sheriff of Daisy Town and runs out all the criminals. Then the Dalton brothers arrive and try to get the Indians to break the peace treaty and attack the town.

A chastity belt provides an endless amount of grief for a woman whose jealous husband has gone off to the Crusades.

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

In 1970s Rome, a filmmaker gathers actresses for a new project, which triggers memories of his past working in a Roman costume shop, run by Alberta and Gabriella, navigating personal and professional challenges while creating costumes for a major film.

Luca is a forty-year-old teacher experiencing a relationship crisis with his wife, Sara, who is much wealthier than him. During the lockdown, Luca finds himself a bystander in the life of his new neighbor, Amanda, and decides to bridge the distance between them, with disastrous consequences.

After a swift courtship, wealthy bachelor Judas Carmichael invites a topless dancer to live with him and his abundant collection of exotic snakes.

A student and her photographer boyfriend visit an island off of Massachusetts to research a hotel supposedly haunted by a witch.

Bill Meceita, a boy whose family was murdered in front of him by a gang, sets out 15 years later to exact revenge. On his journey, he finds himself continually sparring and occasionally cooperating with Ryan, a gunfighter on his own quest for vengeance, who knows more than he says about Bill's tragedy.

Leo and Nina lived happily out of wedlock until one day Nina asked Leo to marry him. Leo, hostile to conformity, had always been opposed to the idea and it looked as though Nina as well. But giving in to his companion's insistence, the young man agrees to an unconventional wedding, without the expensive white gown, without the traditional candy box, with gifts to charities instead of wedding presents, the lot. Nina agrees … or seems to.

In a tiny community enclosed by wheat fields, the adults shelter indoors, while six children venture out on their bikes across the scorched, deserted countryside. Exploring a dilapidated and uninhabited farmhouse, nine-year-old Michele discovers a secret so momentous, so terrible, that he dares not tell anyone about it...

A wealthy man suffers from impotence whenever he tries to make love to his wife. Since Viagara hadn't been invented yet, his swinging liberal doctor instead recommends a strong dose of infidelity. Before long he is rolling in the hay with a young lovely and needless to say his impotence problem is cured (it's amazing that he doesn't have a heart attack though). His wife is a little bitter, however, and decides to embark on her own affair. And if you're wondering with whom, well, just look at the title.