Roberto Rossellini is one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. And it was with his trilogy of films made during and after World War II-Rome Open City, Paisan, and Germany Year Zero-that he left his first transformative mark on cinema. With their stripped-down aesthetic, largely nonprofessional casts, and unorthodox approaches to storytelling, these intensely emotional works were international sensations and came to define the neorealist movement. Shot in battle-ravaged Italy and Germany, these three films are some of our most lasting, humane documents of devastated postwar Europe, containing universal images of both tragedy and hope.