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It is no secret that men dominate most industries, especially the film industry. But after a summer of Greta Gerwig 's record breaking 'Barbie', here are 24 female filmmakers that have broken the mold and succeeded in an industry of men. Lina Wertmüller Lina Wertmüller was born in Italy in 1928. She studied theater at the Faculty of Arts in Rome. At the very beginning of her career, she became close to the highly acclaimed filmmaker Federico Fellini and was his assistant on ‘8 ½’ (1963). ‘The Basilisks’ (1961) was her first feature and she made her mark with the clandestine love affair tale of ‘The Seduction of Mimi’ (1972). Not long after, her most acclaimed work, ‘Seven Beauties’ (1975), premiered. The film follows the life of a not very successful crook who essentially makes his living out of "protecting" his seven sisters, who is arrested for murder and ends up in the army...

Prior to becoming an actor, Giancarlo Giannini, who on March 6 will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, studied electronic engineering, a skill he’s been known to put to good use even on movie sets.

“I was meant to start working on the first artificial satellites, or on the first computers at Ibm,” the Italian film and theater thesp recalls. But then Giannini enrolled in acting school and soon was given major roles, first by Franco Zeffirelli and then by Lina Wertmüller, with whom he went on to make nine movies that brought them both international fame.

“I owe it to Lina that I will be getting the star. The only other Italian actor who has one is Rudolph Valentino,” he notes.

Before traveling to Los Angeles, Giannini spoke to Variety about his career journey and what he learned from Anna Magnani, Marlon Brando and Marcello Mastroianni.

Giancarlo Giannini, who was the late great Lina Wertmüller’s muse, helmer Gabriele Muccino (“The Pursuit of Happyness”), and Teresa Saponangelo, star of Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” are among top honorees of the seventh edition of Filming Italy — Los Angeles, the bridge between Italy and Hollywood set to run as a hybrid event Feb. 28-March 3.

The celebration of Italy’s top film and TV titles is headed by longtime Italian industry promoter Tiziana Rocca, a former chief of the Taormina Film Festival. She proudly points out that its physical screenings, starting on March 1 in L.A.’s Harmony Gold Theater, are among the first inperson events in Los Angeles as ceremonies open up in the city.

Thanks to Rocca’s dogged determination Giannini, who starred in nine Wertmüller films, starting with sex comedy and social satire “The Seduction of Mimi,” is to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Lina Wertmüller in Behind the White Glasses (2015).Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller, the first woman to be nominated for a directing Oscar (for 1975's Seven Beauties), died on December 9. After working as an assistant director for Federico Fellini on 8 1/2, Wertmüller went on to become a prolific and distinctive filmmaker in her own right, combining politics and sex and humor in films like The Seduction of Mimi and Swept Away. In an interview with Criterion, she stated: "I consider myself a director, not a female director. I think there’s no difference. The difference is between good movies and bad movies. We should not make other distinctions." The prolific critic and theorist bell hooks has died today. In addition to her many writings on the feminist movement and cultural politics, hooks was also an important media theorist.

Lina Wertmüller, the first woman to score a Best Director nomination at the Academy Awards, died on Thursday in Italy. She was 93.

Wertmüller’s death was reported in the Italian press. According to a friend, the writer and director died “peacefully at home, next to her daughter and loved ones.”

Born in Rome, Wertmüller claimed she was expelled from dozens of Catholic schools as a child and developed an early love of comic books (especially “Flash Gordon”) and Soviet theater. Through friends, she was introduced to legendary film director Federico Fellini who quickly became her mentor.

Fellini hired Wertmüller as an assistant director on “8½” in 1963, the same year in which she made her directorial feature debut with “The Basilisks,” which went on to win her her first award for Best Director at the Locarno film festival.

In 1972 she made her Cannes debut with “The Seduction of Mimi,” a satirization of the male libido,...

Lina Wertmüller, the masterful Italian filmmaker who created a sensation in the 1970s with her earthy mix of sex and politics seen in such classics as Seven Beauties, Swept Away and The Seduction of Mimi, has died. She was 93.

Wertmüller, the first woman to receive an Oscar nomination for best director (for 1975’s Seven Beauties), died on Thursday in Rome, the Italian Film Archive told The Hollywood Reporter.

In October 2019, she was given an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards.

“She would like to change the Oscar to a feminine name,” Isabella Rossellini said, translating as Wertmüller accepted her statuette. “She would like to call ...

Ask Lina Wertmüller if she’s pleased to be honored by Hollywood, and here’s the typical response you get from the groundbreaking director, who at 91 is still out to shock: “I certainly am. It beats a kick in the balls!”

Wertmüller, in 1976, became the first female director to receive an Academy Award nomination for helming grotesque Holocaust drama “Seven Beauties,” which received four nominations, including original screenplay for her, foreign-language film and lead actor Giancarlo Giannini. She will be celebrated on Oct. 27 with an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards ceremony, followed the next day by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Genoma Films, which funded the restoration of her Oscar winning “Seven Beauties,” and Sardinia Film Commission are spearheading a retrospective of her films at the American Cinematheque on Oct. 20 and 25.

Wertmüller has always been a free spirit. After being kicked out of 11 convent schools, by her count,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made statements about inclusion, diversity, gender equity and creative risk-taking on Sunday night at the 11th annual Governors Awards, but it also learned a big lesson as it was making those statements.

The lesson: Sometimes, it doesn’t matter what else you do, because somebody is going to come along and steal the whole damn show.

In this case, that somebody was Lina Wertmüller, the 91-year-old Italian director who was given an Honorary Academy Award for provocative, groundbreaking films that included “The Seduction of Mimi,” “Love and Anarchy,” “Swept Away” and “Seven Beauties,” the 1977 film for which she became the first woman ever nominated for Best Director.

Also Read: Every Female Director Nominated for an Oscar, From Lina Wertmuller to Greta Gerwig (Photos)

On a night that also bestowed honorary Oscars on director David Lynch and actor Wes Studi and gave the...

Honorary Oscars for 2019 will be presented this Sunday, October 27. That’s earlier than ever due to a much short Academy Awards season this year. Trophies will be presented at the Governors Awards in Hollywood to actress Geena Davis, director David Lynch, actor Wes Studi and director Lina Wertmuller. Members of the Academy board of governors chose and announced these four recipients back in the early summer.

Davis is receiving the Jean Hersholt Award for her humanitarian work. She won the Best Supporting Actress trophy for “The Accidental Tourist” (1988) and was also nominated for “Thelma and Louise” (1991). Other films in her career have included “The Fly,” “Beetlejuice,” “A League of Their Own” and “Speechless.”

SEEGeena Davis movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Lynch has received three directing nominations in his career for “The Elephant Man” (1980), “Blue Velvet” (1986) and “Mulholland Drive” (2001). He was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Elephant Man.

These four Hollywood veterans will be feted with honorary Oscars:

Wes Studi

Though actor Wes Studi is known for playing men of few words who often let their actions do the talking for them — think Magua in “Last of the Mohicans,” or his roles in “Avatar,” “Dances With Wolves,” “Heat” and “Geronimo: An American Legend” — he doesn’t hold back his enthusiasm for his 2019 Honorary Award, which will be the first given to a Native American performer.

“To get one is freaking fabulous,” he says.

Studi is grateful for the recognition of his peers for a career that has spanned more

than two decades and touched on a diverse array of not only film and television projects.

It most recently has included recurring roles on “Penny Dreadful” and “Hell on Wheels,” as well as such features as “A Dog’s Way Home” and “Hostiles,” and also turns as writer, producer and director,...

In the still American-led realm of the Academy Awards, it’s unusual for the helmer of a film not in the English language to score a Best Director nomination. It’s far rarer still, meanwhile, for a woman to be nominated in the category at all: just five have done so in 91 years. Only one director, however, has broken both those barriers: in 1977, Italy’s Lina Wertmuller made history as Oscar’s first distaff Best Director nominee, for her darkly comic, baroquely nightmarish Holocaust survival odyssey “Seven Beauties.”

She lost, of course, though the nomination was really the remarkable feat: not just because it came at the expense of Hollywood names like Martin Scorsese and Hal Ashby, but because “Seven Beauties” was — and remains — such an abrasive, discomfiting vision, a million miles removed from the epic, ennobling Second World War stories that pundits like to think of as awards bait.

The Academy announced today that its Board of Governors voted to present Honorary Awards to David Lynch, Wes Studi and Lina Wertm&#252ller, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Geena Davis. The four Oscar&#174 statuettes will be presented at the Academy's 11th Annual Governors Awards on Sunday, October 27, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center&#174. Said Academy President John Bailey.

"These Governors Awards given by the Academy each year recognize individuals who have devoted themselves to a lifetime of artistic accomplishment and brought outstanding contributions to our industry, and beyond. It is with great pleasure that we announce this year's recipients."

Born in Missoula, Montana, in 1946, Lynch is a filmmaker, musician and artist. He wrote, produced and directed his first full-length feature film, Eraserhead, in 1977. With editing, scoring and sound design also led by Lynch, the film continues to draw a large cult following. Its success brought...

Honorary Oscars for 2019 will be going to actress Geena Davis, director David Lynch, actor Wes Studi and director Lina Wertmuller. Members of the Academy board of governors have chosen these four people over the weekend for Academy Awards that will be given out a special Governors Awards ceremony in October.

Davis is receiving the Jean Hersholt Award for her humanitarian work. She won the Best Supporting Actress trophy for “The Accidental Tourist” (1988) and was also nominated for “Thelma and Louise” (1991). Other films in her career have included “The Fly,” “Beetlejuice,” “A League of Their Own” and “Speechless.”

SEEGeena Davis movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Lynch has received three directing nominations in his career for “The Elephant Man” (1980), “Blue Velvet” (1986) and “Mulholland Drive” (2001). He was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Elephant Man.” Other films have included “Eraserhead,” “Dune,” “Wild at Heart,” “Lost Highway” and “The Straight Story.

Awards to be presented at 11th Annual Governors Awards on October 27

David Lynch, Wes Studi and Lina Wertmüller will receive honourary awards from the governors at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and Geena Davis will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

The Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s 11th Annual Governors Awards in Hollywood on October 27.

“These Governors Awards given by the Academy each year recognize individuals who have devoted to a lifetime of artistic accomplishment and brought outstanding contributions to our industry, and beyond,” said Academy president John Bailey. “It is with great...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors voted Saturday, three months earlier than usual, to select their choices for the 11th annual Governors Awards. The Academy moved up the date for the Governors Awards from November 16 to Sunday, October 27. The nearly three-week jump backward reflects a similar shift for the February 9, 2020 Oscars.

The non-televised awards program always draws a number of Oscar contenders to the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland to celebrate the honorary Oscar winners as well as the occasional Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and Irving J. Thalberg Memorial Awards.

This year’s selection reflects the Academy’s current emphasis on diversity, as Oscar-nominated Italian director Lina Wertmüller (“Seven Beauties”) and Native American actor Wes Studi (“The Last of the Mohicans”) join long-overdue director David Lynch to accept Honorary Oscars. Oscar-winner Geena Davis (“The Accidental Tourist”) will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award...

David Lynch, Wes Studi and Lina Wertmüller will receive honorary Oscars, and Geena Davis will be honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s 11th annual Governors Awards on Oct. 27, and the selections are part of a wider shift by the organization behind the film prizes to recognize women and members of underrepresented groups.

“These Governors Awards given by the Academy each year recognize individuals who have devoted themselves to a lifetime of artistic accomplishment and brought outstanding contributions to our industry, and beyond,” Academy president John Bailey said. “It is with great pleasure that we announce this year’s recipients.”

Davis, an Oscar winner for “The Accidental Tourist” and the star of “Thelma & Louise,” will be recognized for her advocacy of gender equality in media. David is the...

Directors David Lynch and Lina Wertmüller and actors Geena Davis and Wes Studi have been named recipients of this year’s Governors Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy announced on Monday.

Lynch, Wertmüller and Studi will receive honorary Oscars and Davis will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at a ceremony at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland on Oct. 27.

The Academy’s Board of Governors chose the recipients at a special meeting on Saturday, with the announcement delayed until AMPAS President John Bailey could reach all the recipients to tell them of the honor.

Also Read: 2019 Emmy Contenders, From Sophie Turner to Richard Madden (Exclusive Photos)

The four awards reflect the Academy’s recent push for a more international and diverse membership. Wertmüller followed Agnes Varda, Hayao Miyazaki and Jean-Luc Godard as non-American directors to win the award. Studi was awarded as a pioneering Native American actor,...

In another show of increasing diversity for all things Oscar, actors Wes Studi and Geena Davis and directors David Lynch and Lina Wertmuller are the winners of the 11th Annual Governors Awards. The honors, as voted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Board of Governors in a special Saturday session, were announced today.

Native American actor Studi, four time Oscar nominee Lynch, and two time Oscar nominee Wertmuller will receive Honorary Oscars for career achievements, while Davis, a past Oscar winner for Supporting Actress in 1988’s The Accidental Tourist as well as a 1991 Best Actress nominee for Thelma And Louise, will receive The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The board met three months earlier than usual to choose the Governors Awards recipients, as I exclusively reported on Friday, and the ceremony itself will be three weeks earlier than its usual mid-November date at the Roy Dolby Ballroom.

“It can’t always be about money,” says the infatuated Carletto (Nino Bergamini) to the object of his affection, a country-girl-turned-city-woman named Adelina (Sara Rapisarda) who rejects his marriage proposal because they haven’t yet reached the economic level she desires. In All Screwed Up, Adelina’s refusal to marry a man because of his position, and his violent reaction towards the rejection (he rapes her as she tries to save the new television set she bought for the apartment she shares with other girls) might very well represent the conflict that was at the center of all of Lina Wertmüller’s films, the clash between money and virtue, or more specifically can people be in possession of both?

In films like Swept Away, Seven Beauties and The Seduction of Mimi, Wertmüller displayed a worldview that changed the way people thought about female filmmakers, she made films so bold, unique...

Above: 1976 Us one sheet for Let’s Talk About Men (Lina Wertmüller, Italy, 1965).In the 1970s, when there were no shortage of things to be excited about in world cinema, Italian director Lina Wertmüller was a bona fide sensation. A small measure of her success can be seen in the poster above (for an early film of hers which was belatedly released in the U.S. after her two major smash hits) in which her name is the most prominent feature of the design. She was impersonated on Saturday Night Live (can even Pedro Almodóvar or Michael Haneke boast that?) and in 1975 she became the first woman to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Director. (There have been only two others in the 40 years since.)She was a polarizing figure back then, but today she is a neglected one. Young cinephiles have probably barely even heard of her, let...

“Behind the White Glasses” screened at the 2016 Venice Film Festival. Now, the documentary about the iconic Italian writer/director Lina Wertmüller will screen at New York City’s historic Quad Cinema to coincide with the theater’s reopening this month.

Helmed by Italian director Valerio Ruiz, the documentary explores the career of Wertmüller, who in 1977 became the first woman ever to receive a Best Director Academy Award nomination for her film “Seven Beauties.” The international success of her movies “The Seduction of Mimi,” “Love and Anarchy,” “Swept Away” and “Seven Beauties” in the 1970s made her an icon of Italian cinema.

Read More: ‘Leaning Into The Wind’ Is A Worthy Sequel To Documentary Smash ‘Rivers And Tides’ — Sf Film Festival Review

The title of the documentary refers to Wertmüller’s signature white eyeglasses. The film features interviews with filmmaker Martin Scorsese and actors Giancarlo Giannini, Sophia Loren, Harvey Keitel, Rutger Hauer and Nastassja Kinski,...

Next month will mark the return of New York City’s Quad Cinema, a theater reshaped and rebranded as a proper theater via the resources of Charles S. Cohen, head of the distribution outfit Cohen Media Group. While we got a few hints of the line-up during the initial announcement, they’ve now unveiled their first full repertory calendar, running from April 14th through May 4th, and it’s an embarassment of cinematic riches.

Including the previously revealed Lina Wertmüller retrospective, one inventive series that catches our eye is First Encounters, in which an artist will get to experience a film they’ve always wanted to see, but never have, and in which you’re invited to take part. The first match-ups in the series include Kenneth Lonergan‘s first viewing Edward Yang‘s Yi Yi, Noah Baumbach‘s first viewing of Withnail and I, John Turturro‘s first viewing of Pather Panchali,...

Forty years after its theatrical release, Michael Schultz’s poignant early title Cooley High (1975) comes to Blu-ray. A prominent figure in film in the 70s and 80s thanks to iconic titles like the progressive Car Wash (1976), martial arts film The Last Dragon (1986), and the excellent 1977 Richard Pryor film Which Way is Up? (a remake of Wertmuller’s The Seduction of Mimi), Schultz tends to get left out of deserving discussions as concerns black filmmakers.

References to this 60s period piece concerning a group of friends growing up in the Chicago housing projects is often referred to as the black American Graffiti, a thankless distinction, to be sure. Operating outside of the Blaxploitation paradigm, Schultz and screenwriter Eric Monte (apparently portions of this are autobiographical) simply recreate a certain period wherein two friends learn hard lessons as they grow to realize the cruelty of the world around them. Less dramatic than...

The Academy Originals series continues to provide viewers a behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood. This time, they asked actors, screenwriters, directors and producers what their favorite movie is that they think no one else has seen. Many, including actors Mark Whalberg and Jennifer Garner and director David O. Russell answered the tough question. Highlights from the video include Ralph Fiennes, who says, "A film I've seen recently that really effected me is an Iranian film called 'Manuscripts Don't Burn.'" Jonah Hill, having starred in "The Wolf of Wall Street," answers with another Martin Scorsese film: "The King of Comedy" from 1982. Screenwriter John Ridley chooses the 1969 Francis Ford Coppola film "The Rain People," calling it "an astonishing piece of work." David O. Russell answers with an impressive three films: "Love and Anarchy," "The Seduction of Mimi" and "Seven Beauties." Have you seen...

Blu-ray Release Date: Aug. 12, 2014

Price: Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Twilight Time

Anthony Quinn (l.) drinks to his health--not Hardy Kruger's--in The Secret of Santa Vittoria.

Producer-director Stanley Kramer’s 1969 wartime comedy The Secret of Santa Vittoria arrives on Blu-ray for the very first time from Twilight Time.

Set towards the close of World War II, the movie stars Anthony Quinn (Zorba the Greek) as the mayor of an Italian wine-making village that finds its age-old economy imperiled as the Nazis close in. Those nasty Germans are determined to plunder a million-bottle cache of valuable vino, while the villagers are just as determined to keep their treasure safe.

A warm-hearted comedy with dramatic touches, Santa Vittoria also features Anna Magnani (Bellisima), Virna Lisi (Queen Margot), Giancarlo Giannini (The Seduction of Mimi), and Hardy Kruger (Sundays and Cybèle) in the cast.

The film is supported by an Oscar-nominated score by Ernest Gold, which...

So last month, when Spike Lee released his list of essential films (Here) many people were perturbed that, of the 87 films he listed, none were directed by women.Spike, however, has listened to those complaints, or, as he said yesterday on his Kickstarter blog, "Thank You For That Coat Pulling," and added seven films directed by women to his essential films list, four of them directed by the same person.Those women-directed films are:The Piano, Jane Campion (1993)Daughters of the Dust, Julie Dash (1991)The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow (2008) The Seduction of Mimi, Lina Wertmuller (1972)Love and Anarchy, Lina Wertmuller (1973)Swept Away, Lina Wertmuller...

DVD Release Date: Sept. 17, 2013

Price: DVD $24.98

Studio: Screen Media

Bobby Kennedy III travels to Italy and finds himself EuroTrapped.

A strange little English-language production from Italy, the comedy film EuroTrapped is written by and stars Bobby Kennedy III, grandson of Bobby Kennedy and grand-nephew of John and Ted Kennedy. Alongside first-time star and writer Kennedy, the film features a notably off-center cast that includes Alec Baldwin (Rock of Ages), Giancarlo Giannini (The Seduction of Mimi) and Eva Amurri (Saved!).

Fresh out of college and eager to explore Europe, Charlie (Kennedy) takes a leap of faith and arrives in Italy without plans, friends or even a place to stay. Things get even worse after Charlie’s money is stolen and his father (Baldwin) refuses to fund his trip, leaving Charlie to fend for himself in a completely foreign world. Things begin to look up when he gets involved with two women...

Versatile Italian actor known for her roles in Lina Wertmüller's films

Mariangela Melato, who has died of pancreatic cancer aged 71, was one of Italy's most versatile and vivacious actresses, working in theatre and cinema with some of the leading directors of her time. She won international cult status for three films directed by Lina Wertmüller in which she co-starred with Giancarlo Giannini: The Seduction of Mimi (1972), Love and Anarchy (1973) and Swept Away (1974), in all of which the controversial Wertmüller mixed sex and politics. Melato had no qualms about submitting with great good humour to the sometimes humiliating situations and explicit dialogue inflicted on the two stars.

Those Wertmüller films made Melato well-known, but she liked to be recognised as an actor rather than a star. Born in Milan, she trained at the city's Brera Academy. One of the first companies to sign her up was that of the...

Italian actress Mariangela Melato, known for her critically acclaimed performance as a spoiled socialite stranded with a sailor she had tormented in the 1974 film comedy Swept Away, has died in a Rome hospital at age 71.

The Antea hospital said she died Friday. The Lapresse news agency said she was suffering from pancreatic cancer.

The blond actress had most success in a series of films in the 1970s directed by Italian Lina Wertmuller, including The Seduction of Mimi and Love and Anarchy.

One of the most acclaimed was the role of a socialite who finds herself stranded with Giancarlo Giannini. Her...

Rome -- Italian actress Mariangela Melato, known for her critically acclaimed performance as a spoiled socialite stranded with a sailor she had tormented in the 1974 film comedy "Swept Away," has died in a Rome hospital at age 71.

The Antea hospital said she died Friday. The Lapresse news agency said she was suffering from pancreatic cancer.

The blond actress had most success in a series of films in the 1970s directed by Italian Lina Wertmuller, including "The Seduction of Mimi" and "Love and Anarchy."

One of the most acclaimed was the role of a socialite who finds herself stranded with Giancarlo Giannini. Her role was played by Madonna in a 2002 remake.

Melato had less success in Hollywood roles, which included a supporting part in "Flash Gordon" in 1980.

Moviefone's New Release Pick of the Week "Prometheus" What's It About? Ridley Scott returns to the world of "Alien" with an epic prequel about mankind's first contact with a mysterious alien race who may or may not be our makers, and may or may not have sinister purposes. See It Because: "Prometheus" pulled off a rare feat, adding a new layer of intrigue to the rich mythology of the "Alien" series. Not since "Inception" has a summer blockbuster come along with such audacious head-scratching concepts. And despite being filled with plot holes, it was still fun to argue about the film's big questions. Also, the always brilliant Michael Fassbender was terrific as David, an android servant with T.E. Lawrence-sized dreams of exploration. Watch Noomi Rapace's Screen Test for "Prometheus" - (Also Available on Amazon Instant Video | Netflix) Moviefone's Blu-ray Pick of the Week "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" What's It About?...

Italian auteur Lina Wertmüller is in a category all her own. After working as an assistant director for Federico Fellini on 8½, Wertmüller began a directing career that established her as a confrontational, no-holds-barred artist. Her films often mixed sex and violence, as well as humor and dark themes, to disturbing, challenging, and mesmerizing effects. She didn’t do this in the name of exploitation, or to deliberately discomfit her audience, but to illustrate how comedy and tragedy in life are often inseparable, and the all-too-comfortable categories that distinguish them in film genres are far too convenient to reflect this reality. Wertmüller’s best-known works are the international hit Swept Away (1974, but unfortunately better known today for the failed Guy Ritchie/Madonna remake) and the astounding Seven Beauties (1975), a film about a fascist-sympathetic Don Juan who spends time in a German concentration camp and attempts to seduce the camp’s imposing female officer-in-charge in order to gain food...

Yes, summer is a great time to get away to the multiplex to see the latest in Hollywood spectacle. But if you're not feeling like dealing with the crowds, sticky floors, audiences or even the heat on the way to and from the theater, why not kick back at home and catch up on some classic cinema you might have missed? Kino Classics can certainly fill that void, as later this month they'll be releasing the Lina Wertmüller Collection boxset featuring "The Seduction of Mimi" (1972), "Love & Anarchy" (1973) and "All Screwed Up" (1974) on DVD and Blu-ray.

Acclaimed as one of the leading filmmakers of the 1970s, Wertmüller demonstrates her equal skills at both rollicking comedy and rich drama with this trio of classics made during the height of her career. "The Seduction of Mimi" is a raucous sex comedy and a blistering satire of Italy in the 1970s that takes aim at a corrupt government,...

Well, the dog days of summer are fast approaching, and what better way to duck out of the heat than by spending a cool day inside, AC-blasting, with your Blu-ray player and an endless supply of chilled adult beverages. June sees the release of an Alfred Hitchcock classic (beautifully restored), a trio of Lina Wertmüller gems, a nearly lost Michael Curtiz effort, a movie about the sex lives of ghosts, and a plane crash survival tale sold on the, er, ample merits of its female lead.

“The 39 Steps” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)

Why You Should Care: Because “The 39 Steps,” a crackling (86 minutes!) spy thriller from Alfred Hitchcock, is one of the most beloved British movies of all time, coming in at fourth place in the British Film Institute’s poll of top British films, and more recently, named the 21st greatest British film of all time by movie magazine Total Film. The film,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 12, 2012

Price: DVD $59.95, Blu-ray $29.95 for each title individually

Studio: Kino Lorber

Kino Lorber’s Lina Wertmüller Collection is a three-dvd anthology of politically charged comedy and drama films by the noted Italian filmmaker: The Seduction of Mimi (1972), Love & Anarchy (1973) and All Screwed Up (1974)

Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato star in The Seduction of Mimi.

During the Seventies, Wertmüller was considered to be one of the most politically outspoken and iconoclastic members of the second generation of Italy’s postwar directors. She was also one of the first female directors to win international recognition and acclaim, becoming the first woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for her 1975 movie Seven Beauties.

The Seduction of Mimi (1972): Taking aim at a corrupt government, compromised labor leaders and the sexual politics of men in power, this comedy-satire looks at a Sicilian laborer, Mimi (Giancarlo Giannini...