Italian Cinema Today

The extraordinary documentary shorts made by Italian director Vittorio De Seta in the fifties stand alone from the films of his contemporaries for the rigor of their observational eye. Shot in locations around Sicily, Sardinia, and Calabria, these vivid, colorful, narration-free nonfiction works alight on the daily labors and traditional customs of rural workers and their families, bringing out their rituals with such focused determination that they become almost dreamlike. Watching these films together creates a mesmeric immersion into a time, place, and cinema itself. Titles include  Lu tempu di li pisci spata  (1954),  Isole di fuoco  (1954),  Pasqua in Sicilia  (1955),  Surfarara  (1955),  Contadini del mare  (1955),  Parabola d’oro  (1955),  Un giorno in Barbagia  (1958),  Pescherecci  (1958),  Pastori di orgosolo  (1958), and  I dimenticati  (1959). Restored by the Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Ge

From daily news to feature stories and in-depth profiles, Rome Reports is an invaluable resource for everything about the Vatican. With offices located on Via della Conciliazione, the street leading directly to St. Peters Square, the international news agency specializes in providing correspondents for television stations and subscribers around the globe.  The English-language website, which is brimming with interesting stories and live streams from the Vatican, also broadcasts a half-hour weekly news program.  The “Other Topics” tab on the website contains stories on arts, culture, technology and places of interest when visiting Rome.  For those of us who can appreciate a good nonfiction film, the agency's documentary division offers nearly a dozen productions to stream via an online store. Topics include an inside look at Pope Pius XII’s role in helping Jews escape Nazi persecution during the Holocaust, the resistance of one Iraqi town against the country's pe

Photo By LV Imagery Toronto-based filmmaker Michelle D'Alessandro Hatt followed her heart when she was young and had dreams of working in theatre. She performed onstage as an actress and behind the scenes as a playwright. Before long, cinema came calling and she was cast in independent films like  the 2015 award-winning comedy "Guess Who’s Not Coming to Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner? ,"  the 2017 dramatic short  " Friends on Facebook" and  Justin McConnell’s 2018 " Lifechanger ." As a producer, she's co-produced several theatre productions and over 50 video productions.  In 2018, she made her  directorial debut with the short film " Brave Little Army."  T he first of a trilogy, the film follows a group of girlfriends from grammar school through adulthood as they develop a bond and support each other in times of difficulty. The film has been shown at festivals all over the world, including Basilicata, Italy, the region of her family&#