With a mysteriously enchanting soundtrack by Nicola Piovani and a black raven donned with a chiming bell flying over the timeless medieval villages perched defiantly on the mountains of Girgenti on the southern coast of Sicily – the brothers Taviani weave together five tales based on novels by 1934 Nobel prize in Literature laureate, Luigi [...]

It’s a story told many times of a family that leaves home to find a better life elsewhere.  In this masterpiece Visconti overlays this basic premise in Italy of the Economic Boom of early 60’s, the cultural dissonant emerging from a Southern family from Lucania trying to assimilate in big city Milan, and above all [...]

Do you believe dreams can come true?
In this masterpiece, adapted from a Russian short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Luchino Visconti provides a resounding yes. Or at least it appears like it.

The film was shot in Cinecitta’ studio 5 where 3 years later Fellini would shoot his incredible La Dolce Vita. The choice for filming on [...]

Ever wondered what started the Oscar for Best Foregin Language Film category? It was Shoeshine, Vittorio De Sica’s fifth film that initially received a Special Academy Award in 1948 and two years later for his masterpiece The Bicycle Thief.
Shoeshine is a special film for many reasons. First, it marks the start of one of the [...]

Known as the father of neorealism in Italian cinema, specifically due to his widely acclaimed masterpiece, Rome Open City – Roma, città aperta (1945), in this film director Roberto Rossellini continues his theme of personal human stories embedded in the rough realities of Italy during WWII.
Portraying a common phenomenon at the time by zooming in [...]