Gavino, a young, barely literate shepherd boy, lives under the thumb of his tyrannical peasant father. When he is ultimately rescued from his family and his isolated lifestyle by a call to military service, Gavino begins emerging as a brilliant linguist and scholar.

Filmmaking brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani made history with this provocative masterwork, the first feature to win both the Palme d’Or and the Critics Prize at Cannes. For its raw yet surreal depiction of rural life, Padre Padrone was famously championed by Roberto Rossellini and Akira Kurosawa.