To Arms, We’re Fascists!

All'armi siam fascisti!

A hundred years after the March on Rome, this is one of the most beautiful documentary films by Mangini – Del Fra, supported by the critic Lino Micciché, with commentary by Franco Fortini. Half a century of history, from the 50th anniversary to the Centenary of the Unification of Italy, reconstructed with exclusive repertory documents: from the Libyan war to the Peace of Versailles, from the turmoil of the post-war period to the fascist terror and corruption, up to the Resistance and the events of July 1960. The film – made 16 years after the end of the Second World War – ends with a still relevant question: is fascism really over?
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Lino Del Fra, Cecilia Mangini, Lino Miccichè
Script: Lino Del Fra, Cecilia Mangini, Lino Miccichè
Editing: Georgy Urschitz
Sound: Renato Cadueri
Music: Egisto Macchi
Actors: Léon Blum, Eva Braun, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Roberto Farinacci, Francisco Franco, Hermann Göring, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler, King Victor Emmanuel III, Vladimir Lenin, Benito Mussolini, Haile Selassie, Joseph Stalin, Lev Trotskiy
Production: Universale Film
Narration: Giancarlo Sbragia, Emilio Cigoli, Nando Gazzolo
Format: DCP
Color: B/W
Production Country: Italy
Production Year: 1962
Duration: 114'
Contact: Minerva Pictures

Lino Del Fra

Pasqualino Del Fra was born in Rome. He graduated with a degree in philosophy and pedagogy at the faculty of letters of the Capitoline University. In the early 1950s he worked as a film critic in the pages of the newspaper L'Avanti and the magazines Cinema Nuovo and Bianco Nero. He began his career as a documentary filmmaker in the 1960s, taking part in the 1962 collective documentary To Arms, We Are Fascists!. In 1961, he won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival for the short film Fata Morgana, which deals with southern Italian emigrants to Northern Italy. He won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival for the 1977 film Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison, his cinematographic work was marked by the collaboration with his wife Cecilia Mangini.

Filmography

1961 Fata Morgana (short doc)
1962 To Arms, We're Fascists! (doc, co-direction)
1963 La statua di Stalin (short doc, co-direction)
1973 Cake in the Sky
1977 Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison

Cecilia Mangini

Born in 1927 in Mola di Bari, Italy, Mangini moved with her family to Florence at age six, when her father's leather business failed. She then moved to Rome in 1952 and worked in a film club federation, where she met and eventually married Lino Del Fra, with whom she collaborated on several film projects. In 1958, her first documentary was released, titled Unknown to the City. Written by Pier Paolo Pasolini, the film focused on adolescents in Rome's suburbs after World War II. She is considered the first female documentary filmmaker in Italy.

Filmography

1958 Unknown to the City (short doc) 1962 To Arms, We're Fascists! (doc, co-direction)
1963 La statua di Stalin (short doc, co-direction)
1965 Being Women (short doc)
1974 The Bridle on the Neck (short doc) 2013 My Travels with Cecilia (doc, co-direction)
2020 Two Forgotten Boxes (doc, co-direction)

Lino Miccichè

Born in Caltanissetta, Miccichè graduated in political sciences at the University of Florence. He made his debut as a film critic in 1956, working for various magazines and newspapers, notably L' Avanti!, as well as for radio and television programs. In 1964, he co-founded with Bruno Torri the Pesaro International Film Festival, which he directed for 25 years. In 1997 he briefly served as director of the Venice Film Festival, before becoming director of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. He was professor of history and critic of cinema at the Universities of Trieste, Siena and Roma Tre. Miccichè also directed several short films and the 1962 documentary film To Arms, We Are Fascists!.

Filmography

1962 To Arms, We're Fascists! (doc, co-direction)