Roma città aperta | Rome Open City: dir Roberto Rossellini (1945)

This harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome was shockingly authentic, conceived and directed amidst the ruin of World War II. The result has been cited as one of the greatest films ever made; certainly it’s a landmark of Italian neorealism, an important stepping stone for Italian filmmaking as a whole, and the launchpad for Rossellini, his principal screenwriter Federico Fellini, and his lead actress Anna Magnani. A genuine landmark in cinema art.