Gianni Quaranta

The Man Who Drew God

The rise and fall of a blind artist who has the extraordinary gift of making true-to-life portraits just by listening to human voices, and of becoming a TV-junk star. A fable on the need to rediscover the miraculous power of dignity in a world where media's noise has solved the problem of man's imperfection simply by removing the problem itself.

Havana Kyrie

Against the fascinating backdrop of an ever marvellous Havana, Vittorio Arditi De Bellis, an aging Italian orchestra conductor once celebrated for specialising in Rossini's compositions, has fallen on hard times. However, some remember he delivered some of the best renditions of the Rossini-Kyrie, and he soon finds himself reluctantly on the way to Havana, Cuba, to conduct the Children's Cuban National Choir. Starting on the wrong foot he quickly finds himself on the verge of losing everything. Rossini's Cuban style and the choir's children are also protagonists in this heart-warming and nostalgic tale of living, loving, growing old and being unexpectedly surprised when he meets the Son he never knew he fathered years ago - Vittorio's past adds new purpose to his present, allowing an otherwise quirky old man to feel his passion and taste the 'spice of life' once again.

Verdi: Aida

Aida (2009) Metropolitan Opera. Verdi / Italian. Live from the Met 2009.

Renzo e Lucia

Loose adaptation of Italy's national epic, Alessandro Manzoni's “The Betrothed”. In war-torn 17th century Italy, shady feudal lord Don Rodrigo eyes young and beautiful Lucia, who loves—and is reciprocated by—commoner Renzo. The two lovers plan to marry in secret, but Rodrigo discovers it and they are forced to flee their village, becoming separated and each facing many dangers, including the Plague.

Maria Josè, l'ultima regina

Maria Josè was the daughter of the king of Belgium and she was betrothed to Umberto di Savoia, the son of Vittorio Emanuele III, the king of Italy. The movie tells her story from her teens, when she was a Red Cross nurse during World War I until her exile in 1946.

Mirka

The isolated lives of people on a farm at the top of the mountains are changed by a ten-year-old child named Mirka.

Indiscretion of an American Wife

An American diplomat's wife meets an Italian vintner at an embassy soirée. He sees her as more than just her "husband's hostess". Her husband has been so focused on advancing his career that he has forgotten how to see her as a woman, which the Italian reminds her that she is.

Marquise

Marquise is a drama about the rise and fall of a beauteous actress. As cheerfully portrayed by Sophie Marceau, the eponymous heroine is an engagingly ribald, but perhaps rather too modern, character. She rises from an impoverished background to become a favourite of the Sun King, Louis XIV, and the mistress of the celebrated Racine, who wrote roles especially for her; but her fate, in the end, is a tragic one.

Ardena

Summer 1969 is very special for Andrea a 13 year-old boy who is about to leave, with his family, for a little village on the hills surrounding a great lake in Northern Italy. There he finds, like every year, his uncles, aunts, cousins, a fascinating mother, a father always away on business trips, a grandfather who does not want to grow old and a granny who talks to trees. During this summer he makes his first discoveries about life and love and abandons the illusions and the magic of childhood.

Naja

Five soldiers and their punishment.

Peggio di così si muore

In this deliberately campy, slightly slapstick European parody of Alfred Hitchcock films from the 1950s, a newlywed couple returns from their honeymoon to discover that they have accidentally switched suitcases at the airport. They know the bag they have isn't theirs because it is stuffed with 500 million lire. At first they put out an ad for the owner; then they decide to keep it for themselves. Mayhem ensues when the bag's thuggish owners suddenly show up at the couple's housewarming party and demand they give every penny back. Later when one of them returns to threaten the bride, she accidentally kills him. His partner and a policeman chase the couple into the mountain retreat of the bride's brother, a frustrated writer. He finds the mess inspiring, and then is assisted by the gangster's ghost, who becomes his muse. The ghost gives them the advice they need for the couple to safely escape.

Farinelli

The life and career of Italian opera singer Farinelli, considered one of the greatest castrato singers of all time.

The Comfort of Strangers

An Italian diplomat's son follows and seduces English lovers in Venice.

Aida

AIDA, an Ethiopian princess, is captured and brought into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radamès, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, Radamès is loved by the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris, although he does not return her feelings. Sonja Frisell’s production captures all the grandeur and excitement of Verdi’s monumental opera, particularly the great triumphal scene where the Egyptian army, led by Radamès (Plácido Domingo), returns victorious from war. Aprile Millo is Aida, the slave girl whose love for Radamès has her squaring off with Amneris (Dolora Zajick), the Egyptian princess who also loves him. Sherrill Milnes is Amonasro, and James Levine leads The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus, and Ballet.

Guglielmo Tell

Live from La Scala Wednesday 14 December 1988.

Magdalene

Father Joseph Mohr, a newly appointed priest in the town of Oberndorf (near Salzburg), meets the beautiful prostitute Magdalene. He struggles to change her situation and make a new life for her, and while doing so, they fall in love. Mohr struggles with his feelings for her, versus his commitment to God. Meanwhile, the Prior, Mohr's superior, whose corrupt dealings with the Baron von Seidl are threatened by Mohr's integrity and honesty, works (unsuccessfully) to falsely accuse Mohr of sexual misconduct with Magdalene, and thereby remove him from office. Meanwhile, Mohr and local schoolteacher Franz Gruber compose the hymn "Silent Night".

The Legend of the Holy Drinker

Andreas Kartak, a homeless man living under the bridges of Paris, is lent 200 francs by a stranger as long as he promises to repay it to a local church when he can afford to. Kartak is determined to pay back his debt but circumstances, and his alcoholism, forever intervene.

Waxwork

Wealthy slacker college student Mark, his new girlfriend Sarah, and their friends are invited to a special showing at a mysterious wax museum which displays 18 of the most evil men of all time. After his ex-girlfriend and another friend disappear, Mark becomes suspicious.

Dancers

A successful aging dancer takes a young female protegee.

Otello

Based on Shakespeare's play, Verdi's opera depicts the devastating effects of jealousy, "...the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds upon". Believing Otello has promoted the fast-rising Cassio over himself, Iago plots to destroy both Cassio and Otello. Iago convinces the jealous Otello that his beautiful wife Desdemona is unfaithful, and that Cassio is her lover. Jealousy is followed by tragedy, then retribution, "Has Heaven no more thunderbolts?"

A Room with a View

When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperon Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation. Meeting the Emersons could change Lucy's life forever but, once back in England, how will her experiences in Tuscany affect her marriage plans?

Hajji Washington

Hajji Hossein-Gholi Noori (Haji Baba) goes to Washington D.C. as the first Iranian (Persian) ambassador to the United States of America. After he opens the embassy, he is unable to invite statesmen to visit him. Haji fires the embassy staff due to the inability of the Persian government to meet the embassy's needs. One night he is visited by President Grover Cleveland.

Tempest

A sobering mid-life crisis fuels dissatisfaction in Philip Dimitrius, to the extent where the successful architect trades his marriage and career in for a spiritual exile on a remote Greek island where he hopes to conjure meaning into his life - trying the patience of his new girlfriend and angst-ridden teenage daughter.

Verdi: Rigoletto

Rigoletto is a jester in the court of the Duke of Mantua. He has a hunch-back and he's rather unattractive, but he's good at his job of humiliating the courtiers for the amusement of the Duke. The courtiers, of course, are not amused. The Duke is a ladies man who feels his life would be meaningless if he couldn't chase every skirt he sees. In fact, we learn as the opera begins that he's recently been noticing a young lady every Sunday on her way to church, and he's vowed to have his way with her. What nobody realizes is that the girl is the jester's beloved daughter, Gilda, and that Gilda has seen the Duke every Sunday and is smitten with him. Suddenly Count Monterone appears at court, furious that the Duke has seduced his daughter. Rigoletto ridicules Monterone, the Duke laughs, and Monterone casts an awful curse on both of them. Later, the courtiers discover that Rigoletto is secretly living with Gilda...

The Day Christ Died

A dramatization of the events from the Last Supper through the arrest and trial of Jesus to the Crucifixion.

The Day Christ Died

A dramatization of the events from the Last Supper through the arrest and trial of Jesus to the Crucifixion.

1900

The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth century Italy, as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.

All Screwed Up

A group of workers from the south of Italy live collectively in Milan, where money isn't everything, it's the only thing, in 1974.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

In his delirium from his return from war, Francesco Bernardone goes back in his memories to the days when he lived for parties and carnal pleasures. He slowly recovers, but after the illness he is no longer the Francesco that everybody knew. Instead of spending hours in taverns, he meditates on the beauty of God's creatures, soon renouncing his riches and his family with plans to rebuild an abandoned church and his life.

That's Amore!

Nick Venere has never been married and his best dating years are well behind him. He’s never heard the words "I love you” and figures he never will. Patty Amore has her share of problems, as well. Shy and introverted, she’s filled with various tics and nervous habits. A secret from her past, combined with her over-protective father, have caused her to withdraw from the dating game. But when Nick and Patty meet, literally bumping into one another, they share an immediate connection.