Film director Blasetti is looking for a little girl for his new movie. Along with other mothers, Maddelena takes her daugther to Cinecittà, hoping she’ll be selected and become a star. She is ready to sacrifice anything for little Maria.

Starring explosive screen siren Anna Magnani, Luchino Visconti’s riotous satire dissects the exploitation hidden within Italian neorealist filmmaking through the knowing gaze of an insider. Paved with tragicomic mishaps, the desperate search for fame echoes the inescapability of class hierarchies.