Dreams Die at Dawn

A documentary film directed by seven famous directors, and narrated by several famous Hollywood actors. The film attempts to give the general filmgoing public a taste of art history and art appreciation.

The documentary focuses on Giotto's frescoes in Padua.

A text read by the narrator traces the vicissitudes of the crucifixion of Jesus, while the objective of the two directors investigates the style of Piero della Francesca by exploring his frescoes in the Arezzo church of San Francesco.

Three directors collaborated on the Italian documentary Continente Perduto. The "lost continent" of the title is Asia, specifically Indonesia, here lovingly photographed in Ferraniacolor by Mario Craveri, Giannni Rafaldi and Franco Bernetti. Highlights include a Cantonese wedding aboard a floating junk, the annual wheat and rice harvest, the animal-sacrifice rites at the rim of a volcano, a ceremonial chariot race, and a bevy of Balinese dancers. Though there's no story to speak of, the film has the rhythm and pace of a "continuity" picture. Continente Perduto was the winner of a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

A short documentary describing of some of the paintings of Vittore Carpaccio at a gallery in Venice depicting the life of Sant Orsola (Saint Ursula).

The first art film by Emmer and Gras dedicated to Giotto's frescos in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. By capturing the humanity of the figures that populate the story of the life of Jesus, the two Directors treat the series of paintings like a true canvas, isolating the single scenes from the context of the work, and then re-composing them in a new synthesis. The film was re-edited in 1946 and entitled Il dramma di Cristo.

A documentary on the paintings of Gerolamo Bosch.

This is a documentary film on the romantic and decadent atmosphere of Venice at the end of the 18th century. A vigorous comment by Jean Cocteau tells us of the sick souls and the sorrows of literary characters and musicians who lived the dream of this city. It is the Venice of Lord Byron, Alfred de Musset, George Sand, d'Annunzio; a Venice made of precious images, palaces reflected in the water, mysterious moonlights, little squares where unhappy lovers wander under the music of Richard Wagner.

A short Italian film from Luciano Emmer & Enrico Gras using paintings to tell a story of warriors.

A documentary about the Venetian lagoon, with the words of Diego Fabbri narrating scenes of strips of land swallowed up by the sea, of small boats sailing on the water, of men and women concentrating on their work in a world which is "a false sea and a false land."

Soledad and Miguel are two young people in a romantic relationship. Don Ramón, a wealthy stranger, arrives in their small town and marries Soledad. Miguel leaves town and wanders aimlessly throughout the region with a peddler.

Colorful widescreen travelogue along the Amazon River jungle of Peru, featuring an indigenous village carnival and a snake dance.

The cult of the patron saint of Naples is characterized by forms of tribal and popular religiosity.

Tells the story of the Chief of the Orientals from a few elements: paintings, monuments and proclamations, managing in many passages to create a strong sense of movement and reality.

Tribute to Ricardo Guiraldes, the writer who knew how to find the best human excellences in a man of the people.