Catherine de Médicis

The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance

February 2004 •English

From a small Italian community in 15th-century Florence, the Medici family would rise to rule Europe in many ways. Using charm, patronage, skill, duplicity and ruthlessness, they would amass unparalleled wealth and unprecedented power. They would also ignite the most important cultural and artistic revolution in Western history -- the European Renaissance. But the forces of change the Medici helped unleash would one day topple their ordered world.

The Conclave

February 2007 •German

In 1458, five years after the fall of Constantinople to the Turk, eighteen cardinals meet to elect a new pope. Rodrigo Borgia, a 27 year old cardinal learns to play a very dangerous game.

Prince of Foxes

November 1949 •English

In 1500, Duke Cesare Borgia hopes to marry his sister to the heir apparent of Ferrara, which impedes his conquest of central Italy. On this delicate mission he sends Andrea Orsini, his sister's lover and nearly as unscrupulous as himself. En route, Orsini meets Camilla Verano, wife of the count of Citta' del Monte, and sentiment threatens to turn him against his deadly master, whom no one betrays twice...

The Inventor

September 2023 •English

The insatiably curious and headstrong inventor Leonardo da Vinci leaves Italy to join the French court, where he can experiment freely, inventing flying contraptions, incredible machines, and study the human body. There, joined in his adventure by the audacious princess Marguerite, Leonardo will uncover the answer to the ultimate question – "What is the meaning of it all?"

Romola

December 1924 •English

In Renaissance Florence, a Florentine trader meets a shipwrecked stranger, who introduces himself as Tito Melema, a young Italianate-Greek scholar. Tito becomes acquainted with several other Florentines, including Nello the barber and a young girl named Tessa. He is also introduced to a blind scholar named Bardo de' Bardi, and his daughter Romola. As Tito becomes settled in Florence, assisting Bardo with classical studies, he falls in love with Romola.

The Profession of Arms

May 2001 •Italian

In autumn of 1526, the Emperor, Charles V, sends his German landsknechts led by Georg von Frundsberg to march towards Rome. The inferior papal armies, commanded by Giovanni de'Medici, try to chase them in the midst of a harsh winter. Nevertheless, the Imperial armies manage to cross the rivers along their march and get cannons thanks to the maneuvers of its Lords. In a skirmish, Giovanni de'Medici is wounded in the leg by a falconet shot. The attempts to cure him fail and he dies. The Imperial armies assault Rome. The film is beautifully but unassumingly set, and shows the hard conditions in which war is waged and its lack of glory. It ends straightforwardly with the declaration made after the death of Giovanni de'Medici by the commanders of the armies in Europe of not using again fire weapons because of their cruelty.

Bride of Vengeance

April 1949 •English

The tiny independent duchy of Ferrara is located between Casare Borgia's Rome and Venice, and Borgia has plans to conquer Venice via Ferrara. He murders his sister's husband and makes it appear that Alfonso D'Este of Ferrara was behind the killing. To avenge herself against Ferrara and D'Este, Lucretia Borgia marries D'Este and intends to poison him. But...she falls in love with him.

Tales of Canterbury

January 1973 •Italian

Father of English literature, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, involved in storytelling a rainy night at an inn.

If Paris Were Told to Us

January 1956 •French

Historical film directed and written by Sacha Guitry follows the the history of Paris from its founding through the significant events in the city's history.

Lorenzino de' Medici

November 1935 •English

Lorenzino de 'Medici manipulates Alessandro ruler of Florence to save his beloved Bianca.

Patrimonium

August 2021 •English

Short story from Renaissance period dedicated to fulfillment of duty, friendship and passing the heritable patrimony on.

Monna Vanna

January 1973 •Slovak

Geniale Frauen - Malerinnen von der Renaissance bis zum Klassizismus

April 2024 •German

Poor Cecily

February 1974 •English

Cecily is a lovely young woman, so lovely in fact people can't help but be drawn to her beauty. This becomes a problem for the naive girl once her Uncle passes away and she is sold off to pay for his debts. Once living simple life of pleasure, Cecily becomes the object of pleasure once the people she encounters decide to make her their sexual goal.

Leonardo Da Vinci The Tragic Pursuit of Perfection

April 1953 •English

A portrait of the artist as a "sublime demon with the archangel's face", with an innovative musique concrète soundtrack.

Man's Skin

February 2026 •French

Bianca is a young woman in Renaissance Italy who is promised in an arranged marriage. She inherits a strange power passed down by the women in her family: a magical skin that allows her to transform into a man. Under the guise of Lorenzo, Bianca explores the masculine world, discovers love, and questions the norms imposed by patriarchal society.

Francis the First

February 1937 •French

Honorin is the simple and naive stage manager of a traveling theatre troupe, whose one ambition is to once play the role of the cavalier in the opera "Francis I, or the Loves of the Beautiful Ferroniere". A hypnotist puts him to sleep and in his dreams he is transplanted to the days of the Renaissance. There, among other items, he is made a Duke by Henri VIII, fights a duel and survives a series of medieval tortures, while also bestowing some 20th century blessings on the court of Francis I.

Raffaello – Il giovane prodigio

November 2021 •Italian

Botticelli

September 2015 •German

Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is both a cultural icon and a lasting source of artistic inspiration. His famous female figures, like Venus and Primavera, have become part of our shared visual memory and influence artists worldwide. Berlin director and art historian Grit Lederer explores Botticelli’s life and work, focusing on the Gemäldegalerie’s impressive collection. The film examines how his iconic paintings continue to inspire art and advertising today. Experts reveal what makes his style unique and why his work was forgotten for centuries after his death. Contemporary artists such as French artist Orlan and American Michael Joaquin Grey present works inspired by Botticelli. The documentary traces Botticelli’s enduring impact from Florence through Paris and New York to Berlin.

The Occult Philosophy

January 1983 •German

An attempt to visualize a secret knowledge about the nature of man —a philo-clip—, through the use of structures of dissociated geometry and laser beams, with direct references to the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci and the work of Agrippa von Nettesheim.