Best Italian documentary movies

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.

Mia Martini - I Am Mia (2019)

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

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.

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.

Ferro (2020)

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

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.

Ultimo - Vivo coi sogni appesi (2023)

A documentary about Italian singer Ultimo.

Genesis, When in Rome 2007 (2007)

Annalisa - Tutti in Arena (2024)

Fabrizio De André e PFM - Il concerto ritrovato (2020)

This documentary explores the partnership between the prolific singer-songwriter and pioneering rock band — and their historic 1979 Genoa concert.

Mahmood (2022)

A docufilm that tells the life of Mahmood between Milan and Egypt, his dearest loved ones, the music, the victories in Sanremo, Eurovision, the European tour, the backstage of the his works. An inner journey that has music as its backbone and where love and absence find their way to coexist. Thanks to his music we explore Alessandro's world, his search for something, which led him to have more than he could dream of and which always accompanies his distant gaze, as if every time he had to go home from a trip or leave. for a new goal.

Gli Squallor (2012)

A documentary about Squallor, Italy's first and most successful "ghost band" project, created by four big bosses of 70's-80's Italian music business.

Ezio Bosso - Le cose che restano (2021)

Ezio Bosso reveals his real self and takes us into his world and his imagination, as if were a diary.

DeAndré#DeAndré - Storia di un impiegato (2021)

Verdi: Requiem (2013)

This is an exhilarating experience both visually and aurally. How wonderful that Barenboim is havng such success with Verdi this late in his career.The excitement and power is there in all the big movements and the tempi shouldn't upset anyone. There is clarity and drive in all the big choral fugues and the climaxes will knock your socks off. But it was the quiet moments I found most moving. The incredibly detalied camera work increases this sense of intimacy and the video quality is excellent. Really.

Frei.Wild - 15 Jahre mit Liebe, Stolz und Leidenschaft (2016)

#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.

Django & Django: Sergio Corbucci Unchained (2021)

A tribute to Italian filmmaker Sergio Corbucci (1926-90), presented by American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.

Belluscone: A Sicilian Story (2014)

This film tells the story of three defeats: Berlusconi’s political and human defeat in his “twilight”, the one of Ciccio Mirra, Berlusconi’s unconditional supporter, deeply rooted in an ancient culture that dies hard, and the director’s artistic defeat in an Italy that recognised itself in this “Berlusconian culture” for a long time, and probably still does.

Vajont 9 ottobre '63 (1997)

Bandite (2009)

Il delitto Mattarella (2020)

January 6, 1980. President of the Sicily Piersanti Mattarella is going to Mass with his family when a young man approaches his car and shoots him in cold blood, killing him. The young Deputy Prosecutor on duty that day is Pietro Grasso, future General Anti-Mafia Prosecutor and President of the Italian Senate. His investigations are continued by Giovanni Falcone, who uncovers dangerous connections between the Mafia, the ruling Christian Democratic Party, neo-fascist terrorists, and secret services.

Gramsci 44 (2016)

Between 1926 and 1927, the Italian intellectual and Communist political figure Antonio Gramsci spent 44 days imprisoned on the island of Ustica, off the northern coast of Sicily. Together with his fellow prisoners, he founded a school. This unique institution was open to all, welcoming people of all ages and social backgrounds, even the illiterate. Ustica still remembers this revolutionary school. Ustica, remote and neglected, still waits patiently at the harbor, hoping that the boat from the mainland will come.

Leonardo: The Man Who Saved Science (2017)

New evidence suggests that many of Leonardo da Vinci's ideas can be traced to other scientists as far back as 1700 years. This film was used as the S16E5 episode of the PBS TV series Secrets of the Dead broadcast on 2017/04/05.

Pompeii: Disaster Street (2020)

Archaeologists have just uncovered entirely new areas and villas in ancient Pompeii… the first excavation there in 70 years. Get exclusive access to the dig and see how new artifacts and new DNA science are changing history. And through the use of sophisticated Hollywood production techniques and reenactments, discover the real stories of what happened to the unfortunate souls who didn’t escape to the city gates. This is the devastating account of the final hours of that fateful day in October 79AD.

Fire at Sea (2016)

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

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.