Best Italian documentary movies

Fire at Sea (2016)

Capturing life on the Italian island of Lampedusa, a frontline in the European migrant crisis.

Ennio (2022)

A portrait of Ennio Morricone, the most popular and prolific film composer of the 20th century, the one most loved by the international public, a two-time Oscar winner and the author of over five hundred unforgettable scores.

The Truffle Hunters (2020)

In the secret forests of Northern Italy, a dwindling group of joyful old men and their faithful dogs search for the world’s most expensive ingredient, the white Alba truffle. Their stories form a real-life fairy tale that celebrates human passion in a fragile land that seems forgotten in time.

Caesar Must Die (2012)

Inmates at a prison in Rome rehearse for a performance of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Mondo Cane (1962)

A documentary consisting of a series of travelogue vignettes providing glimpses into cultural practices throughout the world intended to shock or surprise, including an insect banquet and a memorable look at a practicing South Pacific cargo cult.

My Name Is Francesco Totti (2020)

Francesco Totti retraces his entire life while watching it on the silver screen together with the audience. Images and emotions flow among key moments of his career, scenes from his personal life and memories he has never shared before.

Love Meetings (1965)

Pier Paolo Pasolini sets out to interview Italians about sex, apparently their least favorite thing to talk about in public: he asks children if they know where babies come from; asks old and young women if they support gender equality; asks both sexes if a woman's virginity still matters, what do they think of homosexuality, if divorce should be legal, or if they support the recent abolition of brothels. He interviews blue-collar workers, intellectuals, college students, rural farmers, the bourgeoisie, and every other kind of people, painting a vivid portrait of a rapidly-industrializing Italy, hanging between modernity and tradition — toward both of which Pasolini shows equal distrust.

Mia Martini - I Am Mia (2019)

The movie is a biopic about Mia Martini, an italian singer who died in 1995.

The Blue Planet (1982)

A look at the passage of time through the changing seasons, human evolution and everyday life.

S Is for Stanley (2016)

The incredible story of the Italian Emilio D'Alessandro, personal driver of the great director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), who met Emilio by chance in London in 1971 and hired him, thus establishing a deep friendship that lasted thirty years and helped create four masterpieces of cinema. A moving tale about two seemingly opposing people who found their ideal travel companion far away from home…

Peter Gabriel: Secret World Live (1994)

Filmed in Modena, Italy across two nights in November 1993 as part of Peter Gabriel's acclaimed Secret World Live tour in support of the Us album, the show is elaborately presented and choreographed with two stages joined by a narrow pier. Peter Gabriel has always been a charismatic live performer with the ability to draw his audience into the onstage world he has created and rarely has this been better captured than on Secret World Live.

Chiara Ferragni: Unposted (2019)

Chiara Ferragni, the first fashion influencer in the world, reveals how the digital revolution has changes business world, communication, fashion, culture, through a portrait in which she's the protagonist, both as a woman and as digital entrepreneur.

Laura Pausini – Pleased to Meet You (2022)

It's the movie that retraces the Laura’s life in a wholly original way. Through never-seen-before footage of her real and fictional life, the artist shows us her essence, giving an honest and bold analysis of her life and how it could have been without that victory at Sanremo that, in 1993, changed her destiny forever.

Sergio Leone: The Italian Who Invented America (2022)

To mark the recent thirtieth anniversary of Sergio Leone’s death, this documentary sets out to pay tribute to one of the great legends of world cinema. The singular artistic vision of Sergio Leone has transcended national borders, creating the Spaghetti Western genre and transforming the international cinematic panorama forever with his innovative stylistic and narrative solutions, which have now become part of the language of the movies. The film, which is enriched with precious archive footage from the Cineteca di Bologna, including rare audio recordings and film clips shot behind the scenes, sees for the first time the direct participation of the Leone family and has interviews both with Leone’s longtime collaborators and with icons of Hollywood who have been profoundly influenced by his work.

Ferro (2020)

One of the most famous Italian singers opens up about his music and his journey through love and addiction.

#AnneFrank. Parallel Stories (2019)

One single Anne Frank moves us more than the countless others who suffered just as she did but whose faces have remained in the shadows-Primo Levi. The Oscar®-winning Helen Mirren will introduce audiences to Anne Frank's story through the words in her diary. The set will be her room in the secret refuge in Amsterdam, reconstructed in every detail by set designers from the Piccolo Theatre in Milan. Anne Frank this year would have been 90 years old. Anne's story is intertwined with that of five Holocaust survivors, teenage girls just like her, with the same ideals, the same desire to live: Arianna Szörenyi, Sarah Lichtsztejn-Montard, Helga Weiss and sisters Andra and Tatiana Bucci. Their testimonies alternate with those of their children and grandchildren.

Selfie (2019)

Naples, Trajan's district. Initially it was intended for the inhabitants of the shantytowns on the seafront of Naples, who were homeless after the war. But it soon became a kind of ghetto. Alessandro and Pietro are two teenagers who film with an iPhone to tell their difficult neighborhood, their daily life, the friendship that binds them.

Secrets of Her Majesty's Secret Service (0)

Four Roads (2021)

In the absence of any physical connection, this short explores alternative forms of contact among neighbors by making use of an old 16mm camera, a zoom lens, and a few meters of expired film.

Notturno (2020)

Shot over three years on the borders between Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon, the film depicts the everyday struggles of people attempting to rebuild their lives amongst the devastating effects of civil wars, dictatorships, foreign invasions, and the deadly presence of ISIS.

Ilary Blasi: The One and Only (2023)

In this documentary, Ilary Blasi shares the emotional and powerful story of the much-discussed end of her marriage.

Villeneuve Pironi (2022)

Villeneuve Pironi tells the astonishing story of Canadian Formula 1 legend Gilles Villeneuve and French star Didier Pironi, two fearless Ferrari Formula 1 racing drivers, forever torn apart by a historic and hugely controversial moment in time.

Raffa (2023)

An account of the life and artistic career of Raffaella Carrà (1943-2021), Italian pop star and television personality, told through the voices of those who knew her best.

Azzurri: Road to Wembley (2021)

A docu-film that traces the victorious ride of Mancini's Azzurri, from the debut match to the final against England. A troupe lived with the Azzurri for a month, to bring the spectators into the lives of the players and all the members of the staff, between training sessions, matches, travels and celebrations. An adventure told through the voices of the protagonists, who confided dreams, joys, pains and hopes to the cameras. "Blue Dream, the road to Wembley" is the completion of a project started a year ago together with the FIGC, to tell the national team's approach to the European Championships through the 4 episodes aired in the days immediately preceding the European Championship, bringing the new television language of the docu-series to one of the most important time slots of the first generalist network. "Blue Dream, the road to Wembley" is a project of the New Formats Development Department

Voyage in Time (1990)

The travels in Italy of director Andrei Tarkovsky in preparation for the making of his film Nostalghia.

Michelangelo Endless (2018)

A painter recounts the life of Michelangelo.

Africa Addio (1966)

A chronicle of the violence that occurred in much of the African continent throughout the 1960s. As many African countries were transitioning from colonial rule to other forms of government, violent political upheavals were frequent. Revolutions in Zanzibar and Kenya in which thousands were killed are shown, the violence not only political; there is also extensive footage of hunters and poachers slaughtering different types of wild animals.

September 11: The New Pearl Harbor (2013)

"September 11: The New Pearl Harbor" is a 5-hour documentary that summarizes 12 years of public debate on 9/11. While aimed primarily at a general, uninformed audience, the film also contains some new findings that may be of interest to advanced researchers.

Black and White Stripes: The Juventus Story (2016)

Set against the backdrop of 'the beautiful game', Black and White Stripes tells the epic story of Italy's legendary Agnelli family and their team, Juventus F.C., as they set out to capture an elusive gold star in order to avoid annihilation. As the inspirational journey unfolds, the film weaves in game-changing moments from their heart-wrenching legacy - revealing the profound passion between family and team. On and off the field it's love, war and breathtaking cinema.

Ultimo - Vivo coi sogni appesi (2023)

A documentary about Italian singer Ultimo.