Blaxploitalian: 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema (2016)

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Sonaggios

In the Sardinian town of Tonara, where the ancient art of crafting cowbells teeters on the edge of extinction, a family battles to preserve their heritage, passing down skills to a new generation while grappling with personal struggles and the pull of modernity. English subtitles.

Sexo en el plató

How are the sex scenes filmed? What tricks are used to fake the desire? How do the interpreters prepare and feel? Spanish actors and directors talk about the most intimate side of acting, about the tricks and work methods when narrating exposed sex. In Spain the general rule is that there are no rules. Each film, each interpreter, faces it in very different ways.

The Real Beauty and the Beast

It's a condition known as "hypertrichosis" or "Ambras Syndrome," but in the 1500s it would transform one man into a national sensation and iconic fairy-tale character. His name: Petrus Gonsalvus, more commonly known today as the hairy hero of Beauty and the Beast.

Sherlock Holmes Against Conan Doyle

130 years after he was created, Sherlock Holmes is a literary character who exceeded his author's expectations and is known throughout the world. Find out the true story behind the author, Conan Doyle, and his struggle to come to terms with the phenomenon that is Sherlock Holmes.

Prampolini-Menarini Express

A found footage / object film: the colorful 1960s in Italy, a joyful time, live-giving coating of born-again found images, re-animated, examined, reviewed in a past time, revisited.

Visioni di case che crollano

The countryside around the Po delta is dotted with abandoned houses and farmhouses. The landscape appears desertic, almost humanless. Some people shares stories about their bond with the land while the italian writer Gianni Celati documents the tragedy and the loss of values in this new landscape of desolation, with a superb narrative style.

Eldorado

Drawing inspiration from his personal encounter with the Italian refugee child Giovanna during World War II, Markus Imhoof tells how refugees and migrants are treated today: on the Mediterranean Sea, in Lebanon, in Italy, in Germany and in Switzerland.

The Amanda Knox Saga

Amanda Knox served four years in an Italian prison for the murder of her British flatmate Meredith Kercher in Perugia in 2007, always insisting on her innocence. In 2011, she was acquitted on the basis of DNA evidence but prosecutors successfully appealed and her acquittal was struck down. In 2014 she was again found guilty in absentia after a retrial and sentenced to 28 years and six months in jail. The saga came to and end when Italy's highest court overturned the convictions of Ms Knox and her former boyfriend, Italian student Raffaele Sollecito in March 2015. Known burglar Rudy Guede was arrested a short time later following the discovery of his bloodstained fingerprints on Kercher's possessions. He was later found guilty of murder in a fast-track trial and is currently (as of 2019) serving a 16-year prison sentence.

Alpine Train at Christmas

Climb aboard the illustrious Bernina Express for a festive ride through spectacular Alpine landscapes, taking in snow-covered peaks, architectural wonders, and majestic glaciers.

Charlie Chaplin: A Tramp's Life

A biographical documentary about the great British actor and director Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), from rags to riches, from the slums of London to glory.

Il mio nome è Battaglia

Plot unavailable

Ferrari 312B

In a race against time and all odds, the revolutionary F1 racing car Ferrari 312B will get back on the Monaco circuit, 46 years later, under the wing of it’s creator, the genius engineer Mauro Forghieri.

About Max

The intimate and passionate portrait of the late Max Croci in a documentary that recalls the human and cultural depth with the testimonies of friends and colleagues.

Una festa per la città - Venezia 1973

Plot unavailable

Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder

A funny walk through the life story of Billy Wilder (1906-2002), a cinematic genius; a portrait of a filmmaker who never was a boring man, a superb mind who had ten commandments, of which the first nine were: “Thou shalt not bore.”

Azzurri: Road to Wembley

A docu-film that traces the victorious ride of Mancini's Azzurri, from the debut match to the final against England. A troupe lived with the Azzurri for a month, to bring the spectators into the lives of the players and all the members of the staff, between training sessions, matches, travels and celebrations. An adventure told through the voices of the protagonists, who confided dreams, joys, pains and hopes to the cameras. "Blue Dream, the road to Wembley" is the completion of a project started a year ago together with the FIGC, to tell the national team's approach to the European Championships through the 4 episodes aired in the days immediately preceding the European Championship, bringing the new television language of the docu-series to one of the most important time slots of the first generalist network. "Blue Dream, the road to Wembley" is a project of the New Formats Development Department

La trattativa

What are we talking about when we talk about negotiations? About the state's concessions to the Mafia in exchange for ending the massacres? About who assassinated Falcone and Borsellino? Of the eternal coexistence between the Mafia and politics? Between the mafia and the church? Between the Mafia and law enforcement? Or is there more? A group of actors enacts the most relevant episodes of the affair known as the Mafia-state negotiation, impersonating mobsters, secret service agents, high officials, magistrates, victims and murderers, Freemasons, honest and courageous people, and courageous people up to a point. Thus one of the most intricate events in our history becomes an exciting tale.

Die Ludolfs - Der Film

The four brothers Peter, Uwe, Manni and Günter live together in the German town of Dernbach and run what is probably the most chaotic car recycling business in Germany. Nothing is the same here as in other junkyards. Over four million spare parts lie in huge piles in the brothers' warehouse. Nevertheless, they manage to find just the right spare part time and time again and get a car back into shape.

Belmondo, le magnifique

With more than 70 films and 160 million cumulative tickets in France, Jean-Paul Belmondo is one of the essential stars of French cinema.

For the Love of Cats

In the small mountain town of Barga, Italy, a group of four filmmakers speak with local cat lovers and immerse themselves in the unique world of street-trotting felines and Gattaras.

The Celluloid Closet

Exuberant, eye-opening movie that serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Film contains fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s.

Tour de Pise, l'inébranlable édifice

Plot unavailable

ciao Aracà

"...a charming depiction of life as I knew it with my grandparents in my own village..." Clara Caleo Green, Cinema Italia UK "The sum of the individual fates and life choices paints a picture, the validity of which extends far beyond this village." Joachim Manzin, Black Box This documentary records the thoughtful and emotional confrontation with time, change, loss and hope related by the members of a small community in the idyllic Ligurian countryside who are dealing with a rapidly changing agricultural industry, transformed by globalisation and technological advances and an increasing number of foreigners buying the empty houses in their village. Forgoing the use of music and voice over, the film lets Aracà's inhabitants tell their own stories and allows the audience to dive into the rich soundscape of the ligurian alpine countryside.

The Eyes of Dante

He is considered the greatest European poet of the Middle Ages and his work unfolds the whole panopticon of occidental education – theology, philosophy, sciences, politics and literature. But who has really read it, the “Divine Comedy”? Who knows more of its creator Dante Alighieri than that he had an eagle-like profile and was in love with a woman named Beatrice? 700 years after Dante’s death, the filmmaker Adolfo Conti travels through Italy with Dante’s words in mind and eyes to see the world as Dante did. As the film encounters the beauty of arts and the Tuscan landscape, the forces of nature, a dramatic life story is unfolded.

100 Years of Japanese Cinema

The story of the first century of Japanese cinema from the point of view of the controversial Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Ōshima.

My Voyage to Italy

World-renowned director Martin Scorsese narrates this journey through his favorites in Italian cinema.

Forza Jannik: Sinner and the Rise of Italian Tennis

Forza Jannik pulls the curtains back on the tennis renaissance taking place in Italy. This isn't just a story about tennis; it's a tale of national pride, of young athletes against the odds, and of a country's relentless quest to dominate the sport.

Suddenly, Last Winter

Luca and Gustav, two men in their 30s, have been a stable couple for eight years. Nothing to get worked up about in a western European country, you would think – and you’d be wrong. Even in Euroland there are places where the acknowledgment of the basic civil rights of same-sex couples is a hot issue. Suddenly, Gustav’s and Luca’s quiet private life has been turned upside down. When the Italian center-left coalition initiates legislation about same-sex partnerships in Italy, a national debate is triggered instantly. In a matter of days it turns into the hottest political and cultural issue on the national agenda while intolerant homophobic attacks increase dramatically.

Sad Hill Unearthed

Province of Burgos, northern Spain, October 2015. A group of fans undertake the titanic task of restoring the location of the last scene of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the mythical spaghetti western directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone in 1966.

Caravaggio: The Soul and the Blood

An exciting and unsettling cinematic journey through the life, work and torments of Caravaggio.