
Franco Prosperi
Directing
Biography
Franco Prosperi is an Italian ethnographic filmmaker. He is a pioneer, with Gualtiero Jacopetti and Paolo Cavara, of the mondo genre.
Known For

A chronicle of the violence that occurred in much of the African continent throughout the 1960s. As many African countries were transitioning from colonial rule to other forms of government, violent political upheavals were frequent. Revolutions in Zanzibar and Kenya in which thousands were killed are shown, the violence not only political; there is also extensive footage of hunters and poachers slaughtering different types of wild animals.
Africa Blood and Guts

Two documentary filmmakers go back in time to the pre-Civil War American South, to film the slave trade.
Goodbye Uncle Tom

A documentary consisting of a series of travelogue vignettes providing glimpses into cultural practices throughout the world intended to shock or surprise, including an insect banquet and a memorable look at a practicing South Pacific cargo cult.
Mondo Cane

PCP is unexplainably released into the Frankfurt water supply and sends the zoo inhabitants crazy. One evening after a malfunction of zoo security the gonzo critters rampage through the city eating and killing whatever they fancy, wreaking a night of bloody terror. It's up to regular Italian-trash whipping girl Lorraine De Selle and obnoxious Super Mario lookalike zookeeper John Aldrich to sort it out.
Wild Beasts

The official sequel to the original shockumentary, presenting new and bizarre behavior from around the world, including cruelty, graphic gore, and strange rituals.
Mondo Cane 2

Voltaire, a 16th century author was furious that learned members of a "civilized" society could claim that the apparent senseless violence and mayhem wrought by disasters, war, disease, man's cruelty, etc. was actually only a part of some 'greater good'. After all, God (being perfect) could not 'logically' have created anything but the 'best of all possible' universes.
Mondo candido

A mondo doc detailing the wild and weird world of women... around the world.
Women of the World

A Mondo documentary that juxtaposes footage of death, carnage, and unpleasantness with scenes of inspiring and beautiful imagery.
Sweet and Savage

Luca, a young boy of eleven, lives with his grandfather in a majestic house in Rome. Learning that his mother, whom he believed to be dead, now lives in Argentina, he goes to look for his portable computer, Toto.
Computron 22

The documentary's main focus is on the works and some controversial episodes from personal life of Gualtiero Jacopetti, one of the originators of mondo films, also called "shockumentaries".