Other Biographies

PAPA GIOVANNI (DVD) (JOHN XXIII)
YEAR: 2002 (Original Luxvide)
2008 (US Ignatius Press)
PUBLISHER: RAI Trade
BUY: DVD Amazon (US), CD (IT)
THEME: POPE BIOGRAPHY - FILM
Cardinal Roncalli, Patriarch of Venice, arrives in Rome to the death of Pius XII, without any 'intention' to become Pope and dedicates his entire life to others, in full harmony with the Gospel message, without personal ambition. In Rome, the Conclave which must appoint a new Pontiff is more complex than expected: no cardinal manages to reach the two-thirds quorum. Slowly, the candidacy of Roncalli begins to take shape. In a short time John XXIII launches the Second Vatican Council to renew the Church. He 'intrudes' in the conflict between the USSR and the U.S. during the Cold War , directs with the encyclical 'Pacem in Terris' not only to Catholics but to all men of good will' ... and above all, becomes the people's Pope: embracing the children, visiting the prisons and hospitals. He died after 4 years of his pontificate on June 3, 1963.

CALLAS & ONASSIS (DVD)
YEAR: 2005 (Original Luxvide)
PUBLISHER:
BUY: DVD Amazon (US –PAL format)
THEME: BIOGRAPHY - FILM
She, Maria, the greatest singer, adored by audiences, and he, Aristotle, one of the richest men in the world. The two, united by a Greek origin and a history of poverty and struggle, meet in 1957, both at the top of an overwhelming rise, and now is passion. A bond burning, an absolute love lived with enthusiasm, until Callas is found alone again, as one of its tragic heroines.

PAPA LUCIANI IL SORRISO DI DIO (DVD)
(POPE LUCIANI, THE SMILE OF GOD)
YEAR: 2006 (Original RAI Fiction), (US Ignatius Press)
PUBLISHER:
BUY: DVD Amazon – Italian, Spanish (US)
THEME: POPE BIOGRAPHY - FILM
Albino Luciani, in obedience to his calling, becomes a priest in his native country, Agordo in Belluno, and in time he earns the esteem of bishops and popes who call him to hold positions of increasing responsibility. As prophesied by Sister Lucia, only one of the three little shepherds of Fatima is still alive, in 1978 he was elected Pope with the name John Paul I. His papacy was short lived in the name of the Lord, preaching love for the weak and a return to a Church attentive to fundamental values. The intensity and the strength of his teachings are still alive in the hearts of the faithful.

PAOLO VI IL PAPA NELLA TEMPESTA (DVD) (PAUL VI THE POPE IN THE TEMPEST)
YEAR: 2008 (Original Luxvide) 2010 (US Ignatius Press)
PUBLISHER:
BUY: DVD Amazon (US)
THEME: POPE BIOGRAPHY - FILM
Paul VI is the Pope who ferried the church into modernity. The young priest Montini seemed to love only his studies, but discovers within himself a gift, the gift of dialogue. And so he becomes the Good Pope and he is chosen to lead the Church in a time full of shadows. He becomes Paul VI and begins to visit the dioceses of all 5 continents, as no one had ever done. And as the Pope of dialogue between religions: for the first time a pope visits Jerusalem, the Holy Land. History becomes tragic and complex: divorce, abortion, terrorism and the dilemma of forgiveness. He was an evangelical man who had the courage of testimony and love for the truth in a world that was changing forever.

GIOVANNI PAOLO II (DVD) (POPE JOHN PAUL II)
YEAR: 2005 (Original Luxvide)
2006 (US Ignatius Press)
PUBLISHER: Pesi&Misure
BUY: DVD Amazon (US), CD iTunes (US)
THEME: POPE BIOGRAPHY - FILM
The human and spiritual adventure of the Holy Father from 18 years up to his death is revealed in a two-part film. The drama shows the unwavering faith of Karol Wojtyla, his strength in the face of evidence that has marked his life from childhood in often dramatic scenes from history, the first steps of his pontificate, the World Youth Days, the Great Jubilee of 2000, the questions of the Pope in the face of the disease until he reaches his final Cross. With these words Pope Benedict XVI expressed his emotions after the screening of the film in the Paul VI Hall: "The vision of this film has renewed in me and in those who have had the gift of knowing the deep sense of gratitude to God for having given to the Church and the world a Pope of such high human and spiritual stature”.

EDDA CIANO MUSSOLINI (DVD)
YEAR: 2005 (Original Luxvide)
PUBLISHER:
BUY: DVD Amazon (US –PAL format)
THEME: BIOGRAPHY - FILM
Born in 1910, Edda was the eldest daughter of Benito Mussolini and Rachele Guidi. Twenty years married to Galeazzo Ciano follows a young hierarch to Shanghai, where he was sent as Consul. Back in Italy, Galeazzo scales the hierarchy of the regime becoming propaganda minister and, later, Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1943 Ciano votes for the motion of no confidence in Mussollini, a vote that will cost him his life. Edda, whose relations with her husband had always been complex, disregards her father renouncing his name, and becomes simply Edda Ciano.

PUCCINI (DVD)
YEAR: 2008 (Original RAI Fiction)
PUBLISHER: Universal Music
BUY: DVD not available, CD iTunes (US), Amazon (US)
CLICK TO LISTEN ONLINE
THEME: BIOGRAPHY - FILM
The drama traces the musician's artistic and human adventure in Lucca. It starts from the end. We are in Vienna, in 1924. Giacomo Puccini is now a world-famous artist. He is a guest in the Austrian capital for a concert in his honor, courted and praised by fans; however, he is a man in crisis concerned about the physical health affects of throat cancer that will lead him to his death at the age of 66, but especially for his new opera, Turandot, which he will never be able to conclude. A young Viennese journalist convinces him to release an 'interview as an opportunity to tell his life story’.