Discoveries from Italy World Cinema

A half-breed Marine takes on greedy industrialists in the Amazonian rain forests. Marvelous Marvin proves his ability as a fighter!

A heartless brother, a cruel sheriff, 8 minutes of short film and almost 9000 drawings handmade by the talented Stefano Pullano. The story of Valerio Scanu, taken from the book "The secrets of Santa Claus' kingdom", becomes an animated short, the result of a long and meticulous artistic work, directed by Giovanni Carpanzano.

Another spoof from the Franco and Ciccio team in which the boys, who are running a scam pretending to be bounty hunters, are 'persuaded' to help a real bounty hunter discover a treasure by claiming to be the heirs of a deceased lawman.

A young girl comes to prison and experiences the entire prison subculture. The inmates she befriends vary from big tough dangerous dames to smaller submissive ladies who are totally lost in prison life.

Freely adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Seymour Hersh, this film recounts the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and the story of a platoon of American soldiers led by Second Lieutenant Wm. Calley. Falling into an ambush, they come under enemy fire and in the disastrous fight that ensues, two young soldiers lose their lives; a third is so badly injured that Sgt. Cowen is forced to put him out of his hopeless agony.

On the way to Rome, a thief captures the Duke of Riviera y Fuentes and decides to take advantage of the opportunity to impersonate him. The thief makes his way to Rome in the duke’s place and seduces the mysterious Lucrecia Borgia who always wears a mask. He’s in for an erotic time at Lucrecia’s palace.

Willy is involved in a fatal car accident. Willy takes on the responsibility of supporting the dead man's pregnant girlfriend and the child, after it's birth.

An Italian laborer foils anyone who tries to stop him from selling espresso on the Milan-to-Naples night train.

A nerdy film student and lifelong voyeur begins to believe that two lovely young strangers may have conspired to commit a brutal murder.

The 1978 kidnapping and assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by Red Brigades terrorists.

Ludovico accepted the last choice of his wife, out of love. Now he has to find the courage to reveal this to his daughter.

The ruthless Roman tribune, Vadio, joins forces with the evil Morakeb to take over the throne of Aristea, usurping King Krontal and stealing away his lovely daughter in the process. Meanwhile, Marco Aulo, now a Roman centurion, comes to Aristea to learn where his legions war funds have gone. Vadio has him framed for treason and is thrown into the arena to fight a group of six formidable gladiators. During the fights, Marco refuses to kill those he defeats until finally, he himself loses after exhaustion takes its toll. Admiring this man, the six warriors join him and together they escape Vadio's clutches and plot to free the kingdom from the two conspiring killers. Edited from Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules

14-year-old Siddharta, wise beyond his age, has to deal every day with his heroin-addict mother Silvia and an absent father. One day, his four-year-old sister Domitilla accidentally pricks her finger on one of Silvia's used needles without her noticing. Seeking advice on the Internet, Siddharta is told to have her tested for hepatitis and AIDS. Thus he embarks on a odyssey of medical bureaucracy and both kind and uncaring adults.

In 1967 the director Vittorio Cottafavi produces the TV movie Le Troiane from Euripides. He uses the classical Italian translation by Enzio Cetrangolo, but creates an original way of film adaptation, inspired by the Brechtian conception of staging the ancient theater. He does not use costume or set design, but is based only on the simple performance of the actors, highlighted by the shooting technique. The absolute sense of tragedy is perceived by the public through emotional engagement and imagination. So, the Trojan war is all the wars and the pain of the Trojan women is the pain of all the victims of any war.

"Mondo Inferno"- This shockumentary takes us on visits to a restaurant that serves up delicious dog meat dishes, mud-wrestling clubs, a chastity belt store. We get to see bizarre funeral rites, snake charmers, bloodsuckers and a hidden-camera expose into the local baby selling and slave markets!

Two couples live their erotic fantasies out until one of the women is murdered.

Returning from his honeymoon, Marcella finds out she is pregnant. The to-be grandparents fight on where the baby will be born and on his name. The parents of the baby, tired of those fights, run away to Milan.

How will the Germans react to the armistice of the 8th of September 1943, due to which Italy betrays them and sides with the allied forces? This is the distressing questions that a group of 16 Italian - Greek Jews evacuated at The Meina Hotel ask themselves.

A gang of landgrabbers, led by Mexican bandit Manuel, terrorizes the small town of Landford City. The sheriff asks the army for help, which orders Captain Mike Jackson to see what is going on in his old home town and also search for a government agent who has disappeared in that area. Jackson immediately finds himself in the middle of fistfights and shoot-outs with the bandits, who not only have a tight grip on the local farmers but also force Mary, the woman Jackson once intended to marry, to work as a saloon girl.

19 years old Neve sees women out of focus - but he can see them properly when they are recorded on magnetic tape or film. This is why he wears a special pair of camera-glasses which, recording every single moment of his life, allow him to see everything correctly. His life actually becoming one of the movies he has been watching since he was a child. Until the day he meets the one and only woman he can see at naked eye.

Pierrette, an active labor activist, marries Mario. He had little sympathy for his wife's political activities. Nevertheless, he takes part in a strikers' demonstration she leads, where he is bludgeoned to death by the CRS.

Ruthless businessman Luciano reconnects with his estranged family from a previous marriage, only to use their youngest son, awkward and starry-eyed Baldo, as the fall guy for his failing endeavor.

Giacomo befriends a con man, believing that he is the reincarnation of his dead father.

World War II Italy...1943. After parachuting behind enemy lines on an espionage mission, an American soldier is imprisoned by the enemy. He escapes with four Italian prisoners, enlisting their aid in exploding a bridge.

Twenty years after the end of the war, a German submarine has not yet surrendered and continues to wander the seas. Its travelers include a half-witted officer, a meager and dazed crew, and Ombrina, a girl rescued from a shipwreck when she was only one year old and adopted by the men of the strange vessel.

A young man catches the eye of another in a public park. The dance begins, the public toilets beckon. For one of them, this is one of many such encounters. For the other, it's the first time.

Young Daniela (Ursula Heinle) travels to the city to stay with her widowed uncle, who wrestles with temptation as his pretty house-guest flaunts her sexuality by showering with the door open and casually walking around nude. Meanwhile, much to her uncle's dismay, Daniela finds herself drawn to the womanizing pilot in a nearby apartment who previously lusted after her late aunt

Luciana is a factory worker married to the love of her life. She is living the simple and quiet life she’s always desired: she works and she is deeply in love with her husband Stefano, even if he doesn’t always have a job and they both need to struggle to keep on going. They are happy and always on each other’s side, but shortly after she finds out she’s pregnant, she gets fired and her world starts falling apart. After having tried to have a baby for years, the joy of impending motherhood lasts only a few months. Begging for help but with no one ready to listen to her, completely desperate and shattered, Luciana decides to kidnap the managing director of her former company, asking for the justice she deserves.

Stefano, a singer struggling for success, falls for Maria who, however, is pregnant with a child from another guy. Stefano leaves her but when he becomes a star, he looks for her and marries her.

The Prince of Homburg, disobeys orders and leads a cavalry charge in battle against the Swedes, which leads to victory. He is court martialled however for disobeying orders and sentenced to death. His love who is now to be betrothed to the King of Sweden, following his execution appeals to the Elector, her uncle, on his behalf, as do his comrades in battle. He must also contend with his own desire to live and conflicting sense of honour.

In a small western town our hero Durango delivers his prisoner to the jailhouse and then goes to the local saloon where the lady saloon owner Joanne has eyes only for him. But Durango only has eyes for his bride-to-be Lucy. Four masked men attack Lucy's father's farm and steal Lucy's dowry. They kill Lucy and her parents after the father strips the face mask from one of the bandits. A pocket watch is stripped from one of the bandits by Lucy's father and this is the only clue that Durango will have to revenge his love... With Joanne's help can Durango avenge himself?

Old and forgotten, comedian Aldo is brought by his sons into a nursing home called Reuma Park where he finds his old friends and partners Giovanni and Giacomo.

During a high-stakes investigation into corporate and banking elites tied to organized crime, a police chief and his team are murdered for refusing a bribe. Meanwhile, another officer finds his bank account credited with a large sum and receives anonymous instructions on how to handle the subsequent inquiry.

Bloom discovers she is a fairy. She gets the chance to attend Alfea College with her new BFFs: Stella, Flora, Tecna, and Musa.

Antonio and Peppino live in a small town in central Italy: Peppino is the barber, Totò is maintained by the rich but avaricious wife Teresa.

A quartet of stories unfold across four holidays as family members, friends and colleagues face hard decisions, career setbacks and life-changing events.

A prostitute is brutally killed by the road side by a maniancal killer. Nearby a horror film is being produced but the director is worried that the script is too passé for a modern audience and so he plans to include a séance scene - he hires a real medium to carry out a ceremony with the cast and crew to help inspire the script but she is attacked by an evil spirit. Meanwhile members of the cast are being picked off one by one and police detective Walter is desperate to stop his girlfriend, the lead actress Jennifer, becoming the next victim...

After ending up in jail, a thief in Naples with a beautiful fiance and a good friend has to decide which path his life should take.

The grand scale and magnificent acoustics of the Roman arena in Verona are ideally suited to the pageantry of Verdi's Egyptian opera, presented here in a staging that is true to the original 1913 production, framed by obelisks and sphinxes and filled with chorus and dancers. Chinese soprano Hui He has won international acclaim for her portrayal of the eponymous slave girl whose forbidden love for the war hero Radamés (Marco Berti, the experienced Verdi tenor) brings death to them both.

A man drives his car off a cliff in an apparent suicide. One insurance investigator is not so sure it was an accident or suicide and gets 48 hours to prove his case.

Pio and Amedeo, friends and partners in a strange funeral home, are forced to leave Foggia because of a sex tape circulating online, which ruins Pio's wedding to Rosa. After a stop in Rome at Amedeo's wealthy uncle's, the two continue their road trip before returning to Foggia, passing through Milan and Amsterdam.

The Film centers around an American-style fast food restaurant in Milan, the employees who work there and the clients that frequent the place.

Fabrizio, a fashion photographer, Maregalit, a nympho model; Anna, Fabrizio's wife and Valeria, her sister, land on deserted islet for a photo-shoot. When Fabrizio temporarily leaves the women alone to buy some fuel for their yacht, a young man, Marco, joins the trio.

Believed dead, a husband poses as his own brother, to cash in on an insurance policy.But when his former boss,a rich man, asks the so called brother for help in wooing the widow, the new fortune from the insurance loses some of its appeal.

An engineer invents a revolutionary machine capable of automating all industrial production, thereby eliminating the need for human labor. His groundbreaking innovation, intended to free humanity from work, instead leads to his abduction and brainwashing by unknown forces. He is then left to wander the city, stripped of his memories and identity.

A team of researchers investigates a European castle that was used for sadistic tortures during the inquisition, as well as horrifying and abominable Nazi experiments on innocent people. Riddled with history, the demonically possessed castle overtakes the crew turning their nightmares into a terrifying reality.

Michele is a young filmmaker frustrated by the lack of understanding his work receives and at odds with the film industry, especially a colleague making a musical on the '68 student protests. As he struggles to complete his own film about Freud's mother, Michele's insecurity and creative block manifest in a series of unsettling nightmares. Nanni Moretti's self-inquiry into cinema, political ennui, and men's relationships with their mothers.

Loose adaptation of Italy's national epic, Alessandro Manzoni's “The Betrothed”. In war-torn 17th century Italy, shady feudal lord Don Rodrigo eyes young and beautiful Lucia, who loves—and is reciprocated by—commoner Renzo. The two lovers plan to marry in secret, but Rodrigo discovers it and they are forced to flee their village, becoming separated and each facing many dangers, including the Plague.

A chief police inspector investigates the disappearance of a 25-year-old woman, the daughter of a lonely widower. After she turns up dead, the cops race to find the killers before the grieving father does

Around 1850, in Paris. At a soirée, Alfredo Germont, a young man from a respectable Provençal family, falls in love with Violetta Valéry, a courtesan. Deeply in love, Violetta gives up her profession and devotes herself entirely to Alfredo. However, Mr Germont senior, in the name of bourgeois respectability, persuades her to break up with his son. Violetta then writes a letter of separation to Alfredo without revealing the real reason for her decision. The fatal illness from which she was already suffering then flares up once more. A month later, Alfredo learns from his father that Violetta never stopped loving him... ‘La traviata’ is a 3 act opera by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on the novel ‘The Lady of the Camellias’ by Alexandre Dumas, fils (1848) and its stage adaptation (1852). Premiered on 6 March 1853 at La Fenice in Venice. From the 27-opera Verdi box set “Tutto Verdi”. Recorded live at the Teatro Regio in Parma on 4 April 2012.

Gaetano, a young Neapolitan, decides to leave home, work and friends, to look for other moments of life and meet other people.

A young woman is forced into a convent. However, due to her nobility she rises to be an abbess. She has to deal with corruption in the church.