In 1962, in the wake of anti-fascist clashes that left protestors dead in Italy, Cecilia Mangini, with her husband Lino Del Fra and Lino Miccichè, directed the feature documentary All’armi siam fascisti!. A landmark piece of political filmmaking in post-war Italy, the film interrogates the Catholic Church’s role in the rise of fascism and doesn’t hesitate to call out how right-wing politics were still present in the country. Using archival footage with poetic narration, All’armi siam fascisti! remains essential viewing today.

Directors: Lino Del Fra, Cecilia Mangini, Lino Miccichè. Cast: Giancarlo Sbragia, Emilio Cigoli, Nando Gazzolo. 1962. 109 min. Italy. B&W. Italian. DCP. 

All film screenings of Rare Takes: The Works of Cecilia Mangini are available here.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.