The history of the peplum genre, known as sword-and-sandal cinema, set in Antiquity, from the silent film era to the present day.
A Place of Our Own
A behind-the-scenes documentary about director Michelangelo Antonioni as he's shooting his segment of The Three Faces, a vehicle for Soraya, the former empress of Persia. Featuring interviews with Monica Vitti, Tonino Guerra and more.
A fantastic journey through the world of Renato Casaro, one of the most important illustrators that the world’s film poster industry has ever known.
Cinecitta is today known as the center of the Italian film industry. But there is a dark past. The film city was solemnly inaugurated in 1937 by Mussolini. Here, propaganda films would be produced to strengthen the dictator's position.
Rome, Italy, June 1993. Antonietta De Lillo and Marcello Garofalo interview legendary Italian film director Lucio Fulci (1927-96).
Herculane Baths, one of the oldest resorts in Europe, the place where, a few centuries ago, kings and queens were diving in the healing waters, became a maze where people get lost while looking for something better. Relu, Mitica and Gelu, three masseurs, are tour guides through the maze of an Eastern Europe garden of Eden.
A personal and captivating account of the extraordinary life and work of Ingrid Bergman (1915-82), a young Swedish woman who became one of the most celebrated actresses in world cinema.
Ferruccio Castronuovo was the only authorized eye, between 1976 and 1986, to film the brilliant Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini (1920-1993) in his personal and creative intimacy, to capture the gears of his great circus, his fantastic lies and his crazy inventions.
The life of the legendary Italian photojournalist Paolo Di Paolo through his photographs, which capture the essence of a fascinating and turbulent Italy, the one inhabited by Anna Magnani and Pier Paolo Pasolini, a country that no longer exists.
Documentary on the filming of Novecento by Bernardo Bertolucci
The life and work of one of the great masters of Italian cinema, Sergio Leone (1929-89); a rich and fascinating portrait through unpublished testimonies of collaborators, actors, directors and critics who reconstruct every aspect of his creative activity.
In the first century A.D. Carthago Nova is a splendid city of the Roman Empire. The Albino prosperous family is obliged to enter into competition with the mighty Lucio Andro to achieve the award of works. A conflict that will last for several years and that will worsen with the economic decline of the city and the popular revival of gladiatorial games.
Documentary about the lost 1914 film "Sperduti nel buio". Film historian Denis Lotto journeys across Europe following the trail of the lost movie.
Bodybuilder Ed Fury stars as the legendary Ursus in this above-average sword-and-sandal adventure from veteran director Carlo Campogalliani. The plot concerns Ursus' attempts to rescue his kidnapped fiancee, aided by a pretty blind slave girl. Now an evil queen, Ursus' former love throws him into a gladiatorial arena with a bull, which manages to smack the slave girl in the head and restore her eyesight before Ursus defeats it and his enemies. The bullfight is particularly well-staged, and this exciting spectacle may be the highlight of Fury's erratic screen career. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
An evil bandit kidnaps a sultan's son and raises him but finds the son has magic powers.
An uproarious version of history that proves nothing is sacred – not even the Roman Empire, the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition.
In the late 1500s, forces of the Duke of Malaga topple the Sacred Obelisk in the North African city of Melida before they're defeated by the local Sheik. The Shiek's men then sail to Spain and kidnap the Duke's daughter, Isabella.
Don Fernando rallies peasants and townspeople to overthrow Moorish occupiers in medieval Spain.
A Chinese emissary is sent to the Gobi desert to execute a renegade soldier. When a caravan transporting a Buddhist monk and a valuable treasure is threatened by thieves, however, the two warriors might unite to protect the travelers.