Surf Film

In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex is assaulted by something no one could believe—a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance.

After shooting to fame with Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” (1960), actor Marcello Mastroianni (1924-1996) starred in more than 160 films in his nearly half-a-century career. Directors Mario Canale and Annarosa Morri look into the melancholic charm of one of the most famous Italian actors through interviews with his two daughters, Barbara and Chiara; directors Fellini and Luchino Visconti; actresses Claudia Cardinale and Anouk Aimee; and in archival footage of Mastroianni himself. The subject matter ranges from Mastroianni’s passion for kidney-bean pasta and his addiction to the telephone to his famous laziness, humility and talent. Shown in black-and-white, Mastroianni — elegantly holding a cigarette in between his fingers — is undeniably the dandy.

In 1952, Ernesto Guevara, then a medical student aged 23, and his friend Alberto Granado, a biologist of 29, began a long journey through the South American continent. During their tour, which began with an old motorcycle to continue after hitchhiking, they witnessed the harsh living conditions of the population of the countries they travelled. Guevara, soon to be known as Che, recorded his impressions in a diary. In 2002, the Brazilian director Walter Salles began shooting a film about that odyssey, "The Motorcycle Diaries". This documentary follows the making of that movie in detail, incorporating interviews with various participants.

When he wins a contest, seventeen-year-old Daniel Montero gets to spend a night in Buenos Aires with his favorite adult movie star, Sabrina Love. However, getting there will be half the trouble of meeting Sabrina.

Documentary exploring the formidable life and career of Italian film star Sophia Loren. With interviews with the actress herself, as well as thoughts from colleagues and admirers, including Woody Allen.

The life and work of master Italian filmmaker Mario Monicelli (1915-2010).

During the invasion of Ethiopia in 1936, a wounded Italian soldier ends up stranded in the desert after a truck wreck. He makes his way to the nearest army hospital, losing his sanity in the process.

A group of boys with a strong desire to escape from their hometown and discover the rest of the world. They escape on a boat called "The Last Cut". However, they find a man on board and they hire him as a sailor. The guys ignore the past of the man. The sailor is actually the former owner of the boat, and ten years earlier had allegedly killed his wife...

A documentary on the public and private life of the great actor Ugo Tognazzi.

The documentary focuses on Marco Ferreri and shows an unconventional man, extreme, provocative in ways, always a step ahead in its work, and often considered a visionary and experimental. The documentary honors the memory of a filmmaker too soon forgot that left an indelible mark in the seventh art.

A labor of love documentary, in which a daughter, with the help of various talking heads, looks back on the life work of her father.

Franco Elica is a film director casting a remake of a pious melodrama in Rome. He's melancholy, heading south for a break. On a beach, he meets a man who films weddings and is roped into helping film the wedding of the daughter of a severe and imperious prince. The wedding is one of convenience - the prince needs money, the groom is a mama's boy. Elica is attracted to the bride, Boda, and tries to convince her not to marry. No matter how outrageous his behavior, the prince keeps Elica on as the wedding director. As the wedding approaches, what's real blurs with Elica's imagination. Is he mad?

A documentary about Vittorio de Sica with clips of his films and testimonials from friends and family.

It is 1942 and the conflict between the U.S. and Germany is getting heated, U.S. Intelligence soon discovers that the Natzis are planning to capture Winston Churchill. In order to protect him they send commando Al Cooper to guard Churchill who is going by train to Casablanca where he will meet with Roosevelt and Stalin.

Speaking of serious things by making you laugh has always been the characteristic of Ettore Scola’s cinematic style. With the same intent, his daughters Paola and Silvia, using Pif’s verve as an interviewer, retrace their father’s career.

Tarantino reveres them, and for good reason. Welcome to the world of the kings of the Italian B-Movie.

This brisk, engaging documentary surveys the life, work, and legacy of Vittorio Gassman, the Italian screen icon who began his illustrious career as a serious dramatic stage actor before going on to subvert that image in classic works of commedia all’italiana by Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street), Dino Risi (Il Sorpasso), and Ettore Scola (We All Loved Each Other So Much). Through a wealth of interviews, film clips, and archival footage, Sono Gassman! reveals how Gassman’s comedic screen persona cannily reflected and critiqued mid-20th-century Italian society, while shedding light on the complex inner life of the man himself.

An Italian movie crew goes to London to make a documentary about a murder case that took place a few years before.

A London-based Italian assassin is sent to Africa to complete a job, where he is driven by a beautiful young English tour guide. But are the people who hired him all that they seemed?