People of the Po Valley

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat(fr)

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.

Night and Fog(fr)

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

Donner, Blitz und Regen(de)

Short film about light and weather phenomena

The Gratinated Brains of Pupilija Ferkeverk(sh)

Plotless and wordless, beautifully edited shots of young (often naked or semi-naked) people in various positions, illustrating different emotions, actions and situations, underlined by rock music.

Children of Silence(fr)

This film looks at the world of children with hearing loss and the importance of early diagnosis. With its straightforward, rigorous cinematic style and intimate approach to the subject, the film focuses on the human rather than the technical side of the problem of hearing impairment.

Morte e Vida Severina(pt)

The story of Severino, a man who tries to escape the misery and the drought prevailing in the rural backcountry of the Northeast of Brazil. He heads for Recife, passing through desert and forest regions, expecting to find a better life.

Rocky Jumped a Park Bench(en)

A location tour of the Rocky filming locations in Philadelphia.

For Your Convenience(en)

In this short film's four segments, "Bowery Beautician", "Chutes", "Home Brew", and "Girth Control", the viewer is shown how certain conveniences and inventions aid the user.

Modelování(cs)

You Don't Back Down(en)

In Nigeria, a young Canadian doctor serves in a local mission hospital and learns much from the experience. Stationed abroad under the Canadian University Service Overseas Plan, Dr. Alex McMahon and his schoolteacher wife find every day a fresh challenge. An interesting study of intercultural help.

Afrocentricity(en)

On the surface, this collection of shorts by up-and-coming African American filmmakers arrived at a perfect time. The cutting-edge products of the New Black Cinema of the early '90s had disappeared, giving way to embarrassingly stereotypical, scatological fare such as Booty Call and Next Friday. This feature-packed compilation (which includes production notes, interviews with all of the filmmakers, and audio commentary by four) attempts to prove that African American cinema is intent on moving past the lowbrow humor, as six of the seven shorts steer clear of any comedy.

The Big Swim(en)

This short documentary shows Canada's top swimmers in training for the 1964 Olympic Games. Under the critical eye of coach Ed Healy, they practice long hours in the gym and in the pool to build strength and stamina.

Vios(en)

“At which point do you let go?…” – This is the central question of “Vios”, a short documentary that tracks the last days of a dog suffering from terminal cancer and how its owners struggle with the critical decision: whether or not to euthanise her. Shot over a 6-month period by the owners, Wendy and Ler, this intimate documentary is an unfettered access into the lives of the flmmakers, exposing their deepest vulnerabilities in face of this crisis, which had crushed their fnances and strained their relationship. Through their personal story, Wendy and Ler hope to create more awareness for dogs with cancer in Singapore and around the world.

Quest for the Ring(en)

There in the Sky(es)

Two farmers are stripped, without warning, of a large part of the land they work.

We Can't Breathe(en)

After the killing of George Floyd, a queer black woman in Los Angeles is determined to capture the spirit of a mass social movement, so she hits the streets, camera in hand.

Have We Met Before?(en)

Short docudrama exploring the history of sex in the homosexual community from the 1970s to the present day, and how the internet has changed the way gay men meet forever.

Black Crowns(es)

The hairstyles of four Afro-descendant people from Mexican - Senegalese families, represent the starting point to reflect, through memories that emerge from their past and present, what it is like to live in México wearing a Black Crown and the consequences that implies.

The End of Stories(en)

The End of Stories is an animated documentary dome film about our inability to understand the present or imagine the future. The 4th installment in the “Corona Voicemails” series, the film showcases a collage of 37 perspectives from around the world of people coping with the turbulence of pandemic life.

Letter of Sanabria(es)

At the end of 1954, Eduardo Ducay, Juan Julio Baena and Carlos Saura travelled to the region of Sanabria (province of Zamora) to make a commissioned documentary on the construction of a system of reservoirs. Much of the filmed material was unusable due to a technical problem, but Ducay rescued part of it and combined it with voice-over to construct a work on absences.

Monsieur Verdoux(en)

The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine.

Po(it)

November 14, 1951, the left bank of the Po river a few hundred meters from the Padua-Bologna railway bridge breaks. The tide invades the Polesine's lands in a few minutes, one of the poorest regions in Italy at the time. Thousands people, men, women and children flee while the water remains stagnant for months between the houses and the countryside. Today, 70 years later, the children of that time remember those months immortalized by the films perfectly preserved in the Istituto Luce's archives.

Frisky(it)

The relationships between a veteran marshal, his bride-to-be, a rookie and his fiancée are severely tested when the young carabiniere is temporarily sent to a distant town.

Just Friendship(pl)

A multi-layered, touching comedy about a group of friends whose relationships - in the face of life adversities - are exposed to more than one test. Filip risks his face and career for the whim of a crazy collector of Jadźka buttons. The sedate professor refuses his friend's indecent request, but he secretly kidnaps himself in a virtually reckless way. Meanwhile, a close-knit group of friends go to the mountains every year. There they discover a mystery that will change their lives forever. What will they choose? Loyalty or money? Friendship or love? Truth or lie? Own or other luck? Every choice for the heroes of the comedy "Just friendship" means trouble. Who will help them? We know: friends. Because friendship, like no other investment, always pays off.

Amarsi un po'...(it)

In an accident the young mechanic Marco Coccia meets Cristiana. The two fall in love with one another. Cristiana confesses only later that she is a genuine princess. For Marco it is not a problem, but for Cristiana's parents it is a very big problem. The two must separate. When one evening Cristiana calls Marco and lets him know about her forthcoming wedding, Marco with the car races toward Paris and has an accident...

Barefoot(cs)

Story of a small boy is forced to move out of Prague during World War 2 to a small village of Slavonice where he meets the rest of his family. He needs to make new friends and get used to a new life which is immensely different from what this city boy was used to.

Reel(sv)

It is the last day before Victor has to move to another city with his parents. So he and his best friend Robert do all the things they liked to do together so much: skateboarding, spraying, hanging out. But something is different this time.

The Mill on the Po(it)

In the Po Valley during the 19th century, a rich girl engaged to a well-to-do farmer ends up penniless and is forced to work for her fiancé’s relatives. Peasant unrest, carried to extremes by both workers and landowners, leads to violence and tragedy.

Barboni(it)

A documentary.

Citizen Kane(en)

Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.

State and Main(en)

A movie crew invades a small town whose residents are all too ready to give up their values for showbiz glitz.

Design for Living(en)

An independent woman can't choose between the two men she loves.

After Hours(en)

Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman.

Holy Man(en)

In a world governed by commerce, Ricky and Kate, dedicated employees, find their lives forever changed when they encounter the enigmatic stranger G. As they navigate the realm of commerce, their paths intertwine in a surreal dance of love, loss, and redemption. G's presence, amplified through the pervasive influence of globalized television, casts a spell that reverberates beyond Ricky and Kate, impacting the lives of those who bear witness to their intertwined destinies.

Nimic(en)

A professional cellist has an encounter with a stranger on the subway which has unexpected and far-reaching ramifications on his life.

Black Sabbath(it)

Three short tales of supernatural horror. In “The Telephone,” a woman is plagued by threatening phone calls. In "The Wurdalak,” a family is preyed upon by vampiric monsters. In “The Drop of Water,” a deceased medium wreaks havoc on the living.

Late Spring(ja)

Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters(ja)

A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, combining dramatizations of three of his novels and a depiction of the events of November 25th, 1970.

The Family Friend(it)

Geremia, an aging tailor/money lender, is a repulsive, mean, stingy man who lives alone in his shabby house with his scornful, bedridden mother. He has a morbid, obsessive relationship with money and he uses it to insinuate himself into other people's affairs, pretending to be the "family friend". One day he is asked by a man to lend him money for the wedding of Rosalba, his daughter. Geremia falls in love at first sight with the bewitching creature and and soon indulges in a "beauty and the beast" relationship...

Drunken Angel(ja)

Doctor Sanada treats gangster Matsunaga after he is wounded in a gunfight, and discovers that he is suffering from tuberculosis. Sanada tries to convince Matsunaga to stay for treatment, which would drastically change his lifestyle. They form an uneasy friendship until Matsunaga's old boss Okada returns from prison.