Elvira Notari - Pioneer of Italian Cinema

Elvira Notari is widely considered Italy’s first female director and created a large number of highly successful silent melodramas, often based on popular Neapolitan songs. Although most of her films are now lost, recent research has emphasized her importance as a key figure in early Italian genre cinema, establishing her as a cult name in film history.

This Blu-ray/DVD combo set features restorations of three complete films by Elvira Notari ('A Santanotte, E' piccerella, Fantasia 'e surdate), as well as fragments of other lost works (View of Avellino / View of Trevico, L'Italia s'è desta, Carmela, la sartina di Montesanto). The edition also includes an 80-page booklet in Italian and English.

Newly commissioned scores recreate the original multimedia experience that made these works so successful both in Italy and internationally.

Films:

• 'A Santanotte (1922, 61 min.)
• E' piccerella (1922, 63 min.)
• Fantasia 'e surdate (1927, 34 min.)
• View of Avellino / View of Trevico (1923, 14 min., newsreel) – Blu-ray only
• L'Italia s'è desta (1927, 9 min., fragment) – Blu-ray only
• Carmela, la sartina di Montesanto (1916, 16 min., fragment) – Blu-ray only