
Directing
Vittorio De Seta
Born — Died
1923-10-15 — 2011-11-28
Place of birth
Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Known for
Directing
Credits
49 titles
Vittorio De Seta (15 October 1923 – 28 November 2011) was an Italian cinema director and screenwriter, considered one of the Italian cinema's great imaginative realists of the 1960s. De Seta made ten short documentaries between 1954 and 1959, before directing his first feature-length film, Banditi a Orgosolo (Bandits of Orgosolo). His early documentaries focus on the everyday life of many of Sicily's poorest workers, and are notable for their lack of voice-over narration, quiet mood, and striking color.
Known for
6.5In this documentary, giants of italian cinema such as Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini and Zavattini talk about the importance of cinema after WW2, and about huge moments of social rebellion. This movie gives the floor to the creators of italian neorealism.
Cinéma et Réalité
1967
6.9The first light of dawn. The sound of a boat and the screech of birds fill the wide expanse of sea. Black rocks emerge from the water, the “sciara” – the volcanic scoria – of Stromboli, the underwater sulfurous emanations, the layers of reddish rock eroded by the sea. The roar of the volcano can be heard, the flames and the liquid lava are thrown skyward. As nature unleashes itself, the fishermen row toward the shore, the sheep stray and the women return home.
Islands of Fire
1955
7.9In a school on the extreme outskirts of Rome, a young teacher, instead of neglecting his half-empty classroom, decides to tackle the problem looking for the children who do not attend classes.
Diary of a Teacher
1973
7.5A Sardinian peasant is implicated in the murder of a policeman and, although innocent, he doesn’t give himself up, lacking faith in the judicial system and fearing that he may lose his sheep while awaiting trial.
Bandits of Orgosolo
1961
6.1Sicily, Granitola, 1955. At the first light of dawn, the fishermen set out in their boats for open water, timing the rhythm of their oars to murmured chants. They set their nets in the sea, regulate the cords, organize the boats in a square. The men’s work becomes increasingly harder as the tuna are hoisted onto the boats, wriggling, beating their tails until death arrives and the water is tinged with blood.
Sea Countrymen
1955
5.2Documentary about the Soviet film director and his changing fortunes during the Stalin years.
Mark Donskoy, King and Jester
2011
Film credits
2010s · 2 titles
5.2Documentary about the Soviet film director and his changing fortunes during the Stalin years.
Mark Donskoy, King and Jester
2011
NRThis portrait of a film director unlike any other attempts to capture the essence of Vittorio de Seta’s rapport with the humble people he filmed and elegantly brought to Cinema Scope’s big screen in color from the 1950s onwards. From his home in Calabria, the film director looks back over his epic films.
Vittorio De Seta: The Filmmaker Is an Athlete
2010
2000s · 4 titles
7.0Until the 1970s, Italian cinema dominated the international scene, even competing with Hollywood. Then, in just a few years, came its rapid decline, the flight of our greatest producers, a crisis among the best writer-directors, the collapse of production. But what are the true causes and circumstances of this decline? In an attempt to provide an answer to this question, Di Me Cosa Ne Sai strives to depict this great cultural change. Begun as a loving examination of Italian cinema, the film transformed into a docu-drama that alternates between interviews with the great names of the past and fragments of cultural and political life of the last 30 years. It is a travel diary that shows Italy from north to south, through movie theatres; television-addicted kids; Berlusconi and Fellini; shopping centers; TV news editors; stories of impassioned film exhibitors and directors who fight for their films; and interviews with itinerant projectionists and great European directors.
What Do You Know About Me
2009
Alan Lomax (1915-2002) was a song collector who recorded ordinary people, who gave their heart and soul in front of his microphone. The film maker decides to search for people Lomax recorded, travelling through Europe in an old Volkswagen. His journey leads him past desolate Scottish islands, through the withered interior of Spain and to isolated Italian mountain villages. The search is combined with conversations with colleagues and friends of Lomax. Throughout the movie, every now and then we return to a frail but happy 86-year old Lomax. In this passionate and musical roadmovie we slowly discover why folk music can be so pretty and what could have once possessed the legendary Alan Lomax.
Lomax the Songhunter
2004
7.0By tracing the places of Vittorio De Seta films and looking for people who had contact with him, as the Cozzo Disi sulfur miners, Ganzirri swordfish fishermens and shepherds who attended in drama Banditi a Orgosolo, the documentary focuses on great change started in local cultures of the Southern Italy from 1945. The film includes an interview with De Seta, conversations with the film directors Luciano Tovoli, Franco Maresco, Gianfranco Pannone, writers Vincenzo Consolo, Goffredo Fofi, Eugenio Turri and the critic Marco Gazzano. Set in Calabria, Sardinia and Sicily, the film was shot in 35mm film and digital, contains stock footage and images taken by De Seta.
Détour De Seta
2005
No synopsis available yet.
Vittorio De Seta, la grammatica del documentario
2008
1990s · 2 titles
Behind the camera
6.9The first light of dawn. The sound of a boat and the screech of birds fill the wide expanse of sea. Black rocks emerge from the water, the “sciara” – the volcanic scoria – of Stromboli, the underwater sulfurous emanations, the layers of reddish rock eroded by the sea. The roar of the volcano can be heard, the flames and the liquid lava are thrown skyward. As nature unleashes itself, the fishermen row toward the shore, the sheep stray and the women return home.
Islands of Fire
1955
6.9The first light of dawn. The sound of a boat and the screech of birds fill the wide expanse of sea. Black rocks emerge from the water, the “sciara” – the volcanic scoria – of Stromboli, the underwater sulfurous emanations, the layers of reddish rock eroded by the sea. The roar of the volcano can be heard, the flames and the liquid lava are thrown skyward. As nature unleashes itself, the fishermen row toward the shore, the sheep stray and the women return home.
Islands of Fire
1955
6.9The first light of dawn. The sound of a boat and the screech of birds fill the wide expanse of sea. Black rocks emerge from the water, the “sciara” – the volcanic scoria – of Stromboli, the underwater sulfurous emanations, the layers of reddish rock eroded by the sea. The roar of the volcano can be heard, the flames and the liquid lava are thrown skyward. As nature unleashes itself, the fishermen row toward the shore, the sheep stray and the women return home.
Islands of Fire
1955
7.9In a school on the extreme outskirts of Rome, a young teacher, instead of neglecting his half-empty classroom, decides to tackle the problem looking for the children who do not attend classes.
Diary of a Teacher
1973
7.9In a school on the extreme outskirts of Rome, a young teacher, instead of neglecting his half-empty classroom, decides to tackle the problem looking for the children who do not attend classes.
Diary of a Teacher
1973
7.5A Sardinian peasant is implicated in the murder of a policeman and, although innocent, he doesn’t give himself up, lacking faith in the judicial system and fearing that he may lose his sheep while awaiting trial.
Bandits of Orgosolo
1961
7.5A Sardinian peasant is implicated in the murder of a policeman and, although innocent, he doesn’t give himself up, lacking faith in the judicial system and fearing that he may lose his sheep while awaiting trial.
Bandits of Orgosolo
1961
7.5A Sardinian peasant is implicated in the murder of a policeman and, although innocent, he doesn’t give himself up, lacking faith in the judicial system and fearing that he may lose his sheep while awaiting trial.
Bandits of Orgosolo
1961
6.1Sicily, Granitola, 1955. At the first light of dawn, the fishermen set out in their boats for open water, timing the rhythm of their oars to murmured chants. They set their nets in the sea, regulate the cords, organize the boats in a square. The men’s work becomes increasingly harder as the tuna are hoisted onto the boats, wriggling, beating their tails until death arrives and the water is tinged with blood.
Sea Countrymen
1955
6.1Sicily, Granitola, 1955. At the first light of dawn, the fishermen set out in their boats for open water, timing the rhythm of their oars to murmured chants. They set their nets in the sea, regulate the cords, organize the boats in a square. The men’s work becomes increasingly harder as the tuna are hoisted onto the boats, wriggling, beating their tails until death arrives and the water is tinged with blood.
Sea Countrymen
1955
6.8Vittorio De Seta travels to Alessandria del Carretto, a small town in the province of Cosenza, to capture a unique celebration known as the “Feast of Silver.”
The Forgotten
1959
6.8Vittorio De Seta travels to Alessandria del Carretto, a small town in the province of Cosenza, to capture a unique celebration known as the “Feast of Silver.”
The Forgotten
1959
6.5The story of a young Senegalese man who treks the Sahara, takes an immigrant boat bound for Italy, the attempts to eke out a living there - finally deciding to return to his native place. Vittorio De Seta's first fiction feature since 1969.
Letters from Sahara
2006
6.5The story of a young Senegalese man who treks the Sahara, takes an immigrant boat bound for Italy, the attempts to eke out a living there - finally deciding to return to his native place. Vittorio De Seta's first fiction feature since 1969.
Letters from Sahara
2006
6.5A young writer descends into madness. Alienated, neurotic, and plagued by guilt, Michele retreats from reality, loses interest in work, and comes to the brink of suicide before being sent to an asylum for shock therapy. Escaping from the asylum, Michele returns to his boyhood home, where he learns the reasons for his present mental state.
Almost a Man
1966
6.5A young writer descends into madness. Alienated, neurotic, and plagued by guilt, Michele retreats from reality, loses interest in work, and comes to the brink of suicide before being sent to an asylum for shock therapy. Escaping from the asylum, Michele returns to his boyhood home, where he learns the reasons for his present mental state.
Almost a Man
1966
6.5A young writer descends into madness. Alienated, neurotic, and plagued by guilt, Michele retreats from reality, loses interest in work, and comes to the brink of suicide before being sent to an asylum for shock therapy. Escaping from the asylum, Michele returns to his boyhood home, where he learns the reasons for his present mental state.
Almost a Man
1966
6.8A short anthropological documentary from 1954. Director De Seta was fortunate enough to document swordfish fishing; by 1956 it no longer existed.
The Age of Swordfish
1955
6.8A short anthropological documentary from 1954. Director De Seta was fortunate enough to document swordfish fishing; by 1956 it no longer existed.
The Age of Swordfish
1955
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Quando la scuola cambia
1979
6.1When her husband returns from his work abroad with a guest, a young girl, his wife suspects a liaison. She leaves her home. Her boss takes her to the Côte d'Azur. They get closer during the long voyage and the man invites her to his marital home.
The Uninvited
1969
6.1When her husband returns from his work abroad with a guest, a young girl, his wife suspects a liaison. She leaves her home. Her boss takes her to the Côte d'Azur. They get closer during the long voyage and the man invites her to his marital home.
The Uninvited
1969
6.1Harshness and beauty exist side by side in this look at the lives of sulfur mine workers and their families in southern Italy.
Sulfur Mines
1955
6.1Harshness and beauty exist side by side in this look at the lives of sulfur mine workers and their families in southern Italy.
Sulfur Mines
1955
NRCollective film for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with 30 directors each helming a segment about one of the 30 articles of the Declaration.
All Human Rights for All
2008
NRCollective film for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with 30 directors each helming a segment about one of the 30 articles of the Declaration.
All Human Rights for All
2008
7.0Robert and his fiancée Lucienne were due to go on vacation together to a tented village in Sicily. Robert is forced to postpone his trip and only joins Lucienne a few days later, taking advantage of the departure of a following group. During the train journey, he befriends Thérèse, a young Sicilian living in Paris, who wants to make a pilgrimage to the land of her ancestors. Lucienne is away from the camp when Robert arrives, so he can continue to see Thérèse, and little by little they discover that they love each other. When Lucienne returns, an explanation and reconciliation take place, then Robert changes his mind and, with the vacations over, leaves Lucienne alone to live in Sicily with Thérèse, who wants to stay in her family's homeland.
Magic Village
1955
6.8Against the background of flocks of sheep at pasture, mules walking down unpaved roads, tractors in the fields, and isolated figures in a deserted village, a caption explains that Barbagia is a vast region in Sardinia; Orgosolo, Oliena and Mamoiada are villages of shepherds and the men spend most of the year far away, with their flocks. This is why the houses and the children are entrusted to the women, who cut the wood, work the fields and prepare bread, shepherds’ bread.
A Day in Barbagia
1958
6.8Against the background of flocks of sheep at pasture, mules walking down unpaved roads, tractors in the fields, and isolated figures in a deserted village, a caption explains that Barbagia is a vast region in Sardinia; Orgosolo, Oliena and Mamoiada are villages of shepherds and the men spend most of the year far away, with their flocks. This is why the houses and the children are entrusted to the women, who cut the wood, work the fields and prepare bread, shepherds’ bread.
A Day in Barbagia
1958
6.8Against the background of flocks of sheep at pasture, mules walking down unpaved roads, tractors in the fields, and isolated figures in a deserted village, a caption explains that Barbagia is a vast region in Sardinia; Orgosolo, Oliena and Mamoiada are villages of shepherds and the men spend most of the year far away, with their flocks. This is why the houses and the children are entrusted to the women, who cut the wood, work the fields and prepare bread, shepherds’ bread.
A Day in Barbagia
1958
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Dedicato ad Antonino Uccello
2003
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Dedicato ad Antonino Uccello
2003
6.4The striking landscapes of rural Sardinia provide the backdrop to this lyrical look at the hardscrabble lives of the region’s shepherds in winter.
Orgosolo’s Shepherds
1958
NRThe subsea well constructed in Gela in 1959 by Eni was the first of its kind in Europe. The facility consisted of two interdependent complexes: a steel platform on the sea floor and a support ship. The very viscous oil gushed from the Sicilian land to flow to collection centers.
Gela 1959: Pozzi a mare
1960
NRThe subsea well constructed in Gela in 1959 by Eni was the first of its kind in Europe. The facility consisted of two interdependent complexes: a steel platform on the sea floor and a support ship. The very viscous oil gushed from the Sicilian land to flow to collection centers.
Gela 1959: Pozzi a mare
1960
6.4The unpredictable nature of the sea governs the world of Sicilian fishermen as they work, rest, and seek refuge from a storm.
Fishing Boats
1958
6.4The unpredictable nature of the sea governs the world of Sicilian fishermen as they work, rest, and seek refuge from a storm.
Fishing Boats
1958
NRA desert village perched on a mountain of Aspromonte. A young farmer teaches the craft to a laborer from Senegal. The next day the farmer will have to emigrate to the North in search of work and leave his mother and his homeland. Against the backdrop of evocative landscapes, filtered by the look of a master of our cinema, there are the fates of immigrants and emigrants.
Articolo 23 (Pentedattilo)
2008
5.9A short film which retells the story of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.
Easter in Sicily
1955
5.9A short film which retells the story of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.
Easter in Sicily
1955

