The history of Italian cinema began with a few seconds footage of Pope Leo XIII blessing the camera. Historical dramas were most popular in these early years before sound. During and after WWI, funds were short and nothing much of interest was made until the 1920s. With the rise of fascism the film industry was encouraged and in 1937 Cinecitta was built on the outskirts of Rome. Literally a 'cinema city', it contained everything a film maker could need or want, including theatres, and even a cinematography school. The slogan on posters at the time read "Cinema is The Most Powerful Weapon". Newsreels and propagandistic documentaries were filmed here but by 1939, feature film productions were underway. Visconti ('Ossessione'), Rossellini (Rome, Open City') and De Sica ('Bicycle Thief') all began their careers here. Post-war, two distinct trends emerged in Italian cinema: on the one hand, the neo-realist films of Rossellini and De Sica, made chiefly on location in the streets of Rome and surrounding towns; and on the other, the American megaproductions, filmed almost entirely on sets constructed in the Cinecitta studios. In 1948, 'Quo Vadis?', 'Roman Holiday (1952), 'Three Coins in a Fountain' (1954), 'Farewell to Arms' (1957), 'Ben Hur' (1958) and 'Cleopatra' (1961), to cite only the most famous. Federico Fellini shot most of his films, at least in part at Cinecitta and to this day the studios are used for television and film productions. Mention must also be made of Pasolini, Bertolucci, Zeffirelli, Antonioni, Sergio Leone - Italy has given cinema some of its greatest individuals and auteurs. Pictured: The lost kisses from 'Cinema Paradiso'
An exciting fast-paced thriller about a little Sicilian boy (well played by Manuel Colao) who finds himself immersed in Mafia warfare and is forced to... Read more
A.k.a. "Francis, God's Jester". Roberto Rossellini and co-writer Federico Fellini lovingly render the very spirit of Franciscan teaching in this extr... Read more
With a lineup of non-professional actors and made in the neo-realist style, this lyrical view of Germany in the immediate postwar period has some magn... Read more
The #1 smash-hit comedy success of the 2015 Lavazza Italian Film Festival, this wildly entertaining and multi award-winning debut feature is the story... Read more
This lavish, epic romantic drama is set at the dawn of the 20th century where an Italian widower (Vincenzo Amato) makes the momentous decision to upro... Read more
Matteo Garrone's stark, shocking vision of contemporary gangsterdom, is one of cinema's most authentic depictions of organized crime. A tour de force... Read more
Before you know it, the honeymoon's over! John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth) and his wife, Mildred (Laura Betti), run an exclusive salon devoted to... Read more
Working from a script by late filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski ("Three Colours" trilogy), director Tom Tykwer ("Run Lola Run") directs Cate Blanchett as... Read more
The Recchi family are a well-bred and well-moneyed family of Milan whose lives are grand and cold as a museum - but all that's about to change. Eduard... Read more
This early Fellini masterpiece, and one of the great works of Neo-Realism, deals with the young, restless men in a small town on the Adriatic who are,... Read more