A richly documented, lyrical and visionary journey into an unknown universe: the origins of Italian silent cinema. An art and a dazzling industry that gave birth to the first international stars, to hundreds of peplum, melò and adventure films, and launched the first filmmakers. Its world of fasts and romantic deliriums, between Verdi’s symbolism and D’Annunzio’s decadentism, soon reached international fame, fascinating crowds, intellectuals and artists from all over Europe, reaching out to the United States and South America.