The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the "Big Five" International film festivals worldwide, which include the Big Three European Film Festivals, alongside the Toronto Film Festival in Canada and the Sundance Film Festival in the United States. The Festivals are internationally acclaimed for giving creators the artistic freedom to express themselves through film. In 1951, FIAPF formally accredited the festival.
The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney films Pinocchio and Fantasia.
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on Carlo Collodi's 1883 Italian children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, it is the second Disney animated feature film, and the third animated film overall produced by an American film studio, after Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fleischer Studios' Gulliver's Travels. With the voices of Cliff Edwards, Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Walter Catlett, Charles Judels, Evelyn Venable, and Frankie Darro, the film follows a wooden puppet Pinocchio, who is created by an old woodcarver Geppetto and brought to life by a blue fairy. Wishing to become a real boy, Pinocchio must prove himself to be "brave, truthful, and unselfish." Along his journey, Pinocchio encounters several characters representing the temptations and consequences of wrongdoing, as Jiminy Cricket, who takes the role of Pinocchio's conscience, attempts to guide him in matters of right and wrong.
The Battle of Pindus took place in the Pindus Mountains in Epirus and West Macedonia, Greece, from 28 October – 13 November 1940. The battle was fought between the Greek and the Italian armies during the first stages of the Greco-Italian War. The elite Italian 3rd Alpine Division "Julia" invaded Greece from the Pindus sector. After its initial advance, the division was surrounded by the Greek army and forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses. In the aftermath, the Greeks were able to push back the Italians, advancing deep into Albanian territory.
Telefoni Bianchi films, also called deco films, were made by the Italian film industry in the 1930s and the 1940s in imitation of American comedies of the time in a sharp contrast to the other important style of the era, calligrafismo, which was highly artistic. The cinema of Telefoni Bianchi was born from the success of the Italian film comedy of the early 1930s; it was a lighter version, cleansed of any intellectualism or veiled social criticism.
A list of some notable films produced in the Cinema of Italy ordered by year and decade of release For an alphabetical list of articles on Italian films see Category:Italian films.
Italian-occupied France was an area of south-eastern France and Monaco occupied by Fascist Italy between 1940 and 1943 in parallel to the German occupation of France. The occupation had two phases, divided by Case Anton in November 1942 in which the Italian zone expanded significantly. Italian forces retreated from France in September 1943 in the aftermath of the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, and German Wehrmacht forces occupied the abandoned areas until the Liberation.
Mario Soldati was an Italian writer and film director. In 1954, he won the Strega Prize for Lettere da Capri. He directed several works adapted from novels, and worked with leading Italian actresses, such as Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida.
Carmine Gallone was an early Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer, who was also controversial for his works of pro-Fascist propaganda and historical revisionism. Considered one of Italian cinema's leading early directors, he directed over 120 films in his fifty-year career between 1913 and 1963.
Room for Two is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Frances Day, Vic Oliver and Greta Gynt. The film was written by Gilbert Wakefield, based on his 1938 stage farce. The film's Italian setting was overtaken by events, as by the time of its release Fascist Italy had entered the Second World War against Britain.
Pinocchio is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan village. He is created as a wooden puppet, but he dreams of becoming a real boy. He is known for his long nose, which grows when he lies.
Amedeo Nazzari was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Although he emerged as a star during the Fascist era, Nazzari's popularity continued well into the post-war years.
Mario Mattoli was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 86 films between 1934 and 1966.
The Siege of the Alcazar or L'Assedio dell'Alcazar is a 1940 Italian war film directed by Augusto Genina about the famous siege of the Alcázar during the Spanish Civil War, set in Toledo, Spain. The film won the Mussolini Cup in Venice Film Festival for being the Best Italian Film. The film runs more in the Spanish dubbed version, it was restored by Filmoteca Española and released in DVD in Spain by Divisa Home Video. The film was shot in Cinecittà with Italian, French and Spanish actors. In the Italian version all three non-Italian actors spoke their lines in Italian. They were dubbed by Italian actors afterwards.
Attilio Dottesio was an Italian film character actor and singer. He appeared in 170 films between 1940 and 1985.
Lux Film was an Italian film distribution company founded by Riccardo Gualino in 1934.
The "8th" annual (void) Venice International Film Festival was held from September 1 to September 8, 1940, less than three months after Italy had belatedly entered the Second World War as Germany's ally. The events were held in places far away from the Lido, and very few countries participated due to World War II and directors that were members of the Rome–Berlin axis. In fact the Festival lost its ‘international’ designation that year, as the war had reduced the number of participating nations to just three: Italy, Germany and, in a sparring role, Hungary. It became therefore the "Manifestazione cinematografica italo-tedesca", to reflect its Italo-German character. The two countries participated with seven feature films each, while Hungary had three. Additionally, a strong fascist political meddling from the Italian fascist government under Benito Mussolini had led to Italy experiencing a period of cultural depression oppressed by fascist propaganda.
The "9th" annual (void) Venice International Film Festival was held from 30 August to 14 September 1941. Together with the 1940 and 1942 it is 'considered void- as if they did not happen', as the events were carried out in places far away from the Lido, and very few countries participated due to World War II, with an absolute monopoly of institutions and directors that were members of the fascist Rome-Berlin axis. Additionally, a strong fascist political meddling from the Italian fascist government under Benito Mussolini had led to Italy experiencing a period of cultural depression oppressed by fascist propaganda.
The following events occurred in December 1940:
