Every summer on Mondello Beach in Palermo, more than a thousand cabins are erected to house the same number of groups of bathers who will spend the season in them. For these people the “huts” are the perfect setting in which to hide behind the memory of a social status that the crisis of recent years has undermined. A family gets into debt to go on a seaside vacation and to look well-off among the bathers, three women sunbathe in order to feel as if they are still young and to become the stars of the summer, while on the same beach a barman thinks about earning as much money as possible to get through the winter. Everyone is waiting for the night of August 15 to play a leading role in the summer Vanity Fair and to keep on pretending that the economic crisis doesn’t exist.
"City of Baseball" is a documentary that explores both the past and the present of the Italian baseball league in the seaside resort of Nettuno near Rome. Through league pioneers, current players, fans, and local historians, "City of Baseball" captures the story of how the 1944 Allied invasion of Nettuno brought the American pastime to a town which embraced the sport with a passion that continues today.
After the World War I, Mussolini's perspective on life is severely altered; once a willful socialist reformer, now obsessed with the idea of power, he founds the National Fascist Party in 1921 and assumes political power in 1922, becoming the Duce, dictator of Italy. His success encourages Hitler to take power in Germany in 1933, opening the dark road to World War II. (Originally released as a two-part miniseries. Includes colorized archival footage.)
This documentary explores the tranquil history of Italian surfing along with the passion and dedication of the pioneers who shaped it.
In this special edition of Globe Trekker Chinatown, Lavinia Tan, Justine Shapiro and Megan McCormick travel worldwide to explore the magic and mystery of Chinatowns across the globe. Lavinia Tan begins the journey in Malaysia and Singapore where overseas traders led the earliest migrations of Chinese people. The journey continues from there to the United States, where Justine Shapiro visits San Francisco. Megan McCormick explores New York s Lower East Side, home to the largest Chinatown in the Western Hemisphere. After a short trip to London s Soho district, Lavinia Tan ends this journey with a visit to Hong Kong exploring the world famous film industry and the 21st century migration of Chinese back to their homeland.
Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.
Rudy can't get enough of the sheer vitality of Tokyo. Exciting, edgy, and full of life, Tokyo is shopping madness by day and a carnival at night. Join the throngs at one of the world's most exciting street intersections to witness its blazing neon and JumboTron shows. Greet the new day at the Tsukiji fish market, where a staggering 2,000 tons of seafood pass through each day. Get caught up in cherry blossom mania, visit distant neighborhoods via the subway, and wander the streets in search of new restaurants, a Tokyo obsession!
This documentary was written with passion and love for cinema, and on the other hand, he blamed her. Our fictional character for this documentary talks about her passion for cinema and how it affected her life and recounts the decades that passed on the cinema one after the other.
Merrilees Parker travels to Japan to learn about its unique food culture. She begins her journey in Tokyo, at Tsukiji, the world's biggest fish market. Master chef, Romeo teaches her how to make the ultimate sushi, an art that takes years to master. Then it's off to a ramen museum, where you can try various regional styles of the noodle soup. Escaping the city, Merrilees takes the bullet train to Matsusaka where she visits a farm that produces the most expensive beef in the world. She also visits Kyoto and Mount Fuji for the annual Summer Fire Festival to gorge herself on wonderful street food.
Narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi - star of the landmark television series "I, Claudius" - this documentary explores art and culture around the Bay of Naples before Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. The bay was then the most fashionable destination for vacationing Romans. Julius Caesar, emperors, and senators were among those who owned sumptuous villas along its shores. Artists flocked to the region to create frescoes, sculpture, and luxurious objects in gold, silver, and glass for villa owners as well as residents of Pompeii and other towns in the shadow of Vesuvius. The film concludes with the story of the discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum from the 18th century onward.
Located in the United Kingdom, the Principality of Wales, home to 2.5 million people, is filled with rolling mountains, and green valleys. Because of its culture and language, it is unique within the UK. Much of the economy is based on small independent farms, but also includes coal and slate mining. Its many castles - including Caernarfon and Conwy - comprise its most famous built landmarks. Another landmark is the Menai suspension bridge - spanning the Menai Straits - the longest such structure in the UK. As Wales is a largely coastal jurisdiction, the Welsh have taken advantage of water opportunities, whether it be for fishing, or for recreation at one of the many coastal resorts, such as the most famous, Llandudno. There are also mountain resorts, such as Betws-y-Coed. Mount Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales, offers great hiking and climbing opportunities.
The Andes Mountains travel the western side of South America. Unlike many other mountain ranges of their altitude, the Andes do support human life on their high altitude slopes. Modern life is slowly making its way to the high altitude Andes, but the natives for the most part continue with the traditional ways of their ancestors, growing limited crops such as beans and potatoes - where the crop originated - raising sheep and pigs, and living in crude huts. The llama is the most useful of their work animals. The most conspicuous aspect of the native dress is their derby hats, the origins which are unknown. Further down the slopes, agriculture and ranching is more productive and is carried out by descendants of the Spanish settlers. There is a famous lake district in the Chilean part of the Andes, where resort hotels are located.
Folding towels, straightening out sheets, taking bathrobes out of the dryer, stripping beds, cleaning up vomit. Fluffing pillows—making a dent for elegantly turned-up corners—and endless scrubbing, cleaning and clearing up messes. Behind the scenes of a hotel in the Italian Dolomites, the staff do everything they can to serve the guests and prevent complaints. The hotel has four stars, and a fifth is in sight.
William Friedkin attends an exorcism with Father Gabriele Amorth, as he treats an Italian woman named Cristina for the ninth time. Prior to filming, Cristina had purportedly been experiencing behavioural changes and “fits” that could not be explained by psychiatry, and which became worse during Christian holidays.
A 1962 West German documentary film directed by Hermann Leitner and Rudolf Nussgruber.
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.
Presenter and former England football captain Gary Lineker follows in the footsteps of his grandfather, Stanley Abbs, to explore a brutal but often overlooked chapter of World War Two.
David Griecos documentary showcases the underappreciated photography of Domenico Notarangelo, and through it, tells the story of Matera, it's people and it's history.
The film follows Vincent Schiavelli as he returns to Polizzi Generosa, the very town in Sicily his grandparents emigrated from in 1901.
A documentary that uncovers the careers of a population of entertainers never heard from before: Black actors in Italian cinema. With modern day interviews and archival footage, the documentary discloses the personal struggles and triumphs that classic Afro-Italian, African-American and Afro-descendant actors faced in the Italian film industry, while mirroring their struggles with those of contemporary actors who are working diligently to find respectable, significant, and non-stereotypical roles, but are often unable to do so. Blaxploitalian is more than an unveiling of a troubled history; it is a call-to-action for increased diversity in international cinema through the stories of these artists in an effort to reflect the modern and racially diverse Italy.