Aquila Films was a

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

-based Italian

film production Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...

and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations * Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

company of the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. It was formed in 1907. The company produced many

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

and

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

s, promoting them in a sensationalist way. The company's production expanded rapidly - rising from five films in 1907 to seventy three by 1911. Aquila established strong links with foreign distributors in Britain and France, and enjoyed commercial success in foreign markets. In 1909 it took part in the

Paris Film Congress The Paris Film Congress was a major meeting of European film producers and distributors in the French capital Paris from 2–4 February 1909. It intended to create an association to protect the interests of the participants through the formation of ...

, a failed attempt to create a

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

of leading European producers. It was badly hit by the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

which closed many of its profitable export markets to it. The company had folded by 1917.Abel p.31 Amongst the directors who worked most frequently at the studio was

Roberto Roberti Vincenzo Leone (24 July 1879 – 10 January 1959), known professionally as Roberto Roberti, was an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. He made over sixty films, mostly during the silent era. He was married to the actress Bice Valerian ...

who made several films featuring his actress wife

Bice Valerian Bice Valerian (born Edvige Maria Valcarenghi, 8 May 1886 – 1969) Birth name: Edvige Maria Valcarenghi. was an Italian film actress of the silent era. She was the wife of the actor and director Roberto Roberti and the mother of Sergio Leone. S ...

References

Bibliography

* Abel, Richard. ''Encyclopedia of Early Cinema''. Taylor & Francis, 2005. Italian companies established in 1907 Italian film studios Film production companies of Italy Film distributors of Italy Mass media companies established in 1907 Mass media in Turin {{IT-film-company-stub