The Battle of Pavia and other stories. Two thousand years of life of a capital city is a series produced by 3D Produzioni, with subject and screenplay by Didi Gnocchi and Arianna Marelli, directed by Valeria Parisi, with the extraordinary participation of Toni Servillo and the presence of Pietro De Nova.
500 years after the Battle that marked European politics, Toni Servillo tells the story of Pavia in a series of three documentaries. The city accustomed to a “natural modesty” now shows its great history, between art and science, kings and Nobel Prize winners, the University and research centers, and Ticino in the background.

The first episode is dedicated to the Battle of Pavia. An epochal historical event that today lives again thanks to extraordinary works of art, such as the series of seven tapestries preserved at the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. The documentary presents an unprecedented point of view, that of two descendants of those who fought on opposite fronts in those days: the Spanish knight Alonso Pita da Veiga enlisted in the imperial army of Charles V and the French Étienne Cortoys d’Arcollières, bodyguard of King Francis I. Pavia continues to keep alive the memory of a story that once again saw it as a protagonist of history: through archival documents, traces in city monuments, interviews with international historians and scholars. It is an opportunity for a reflection on contemporary wars and how little sieges and their representation have changed in these 500 years.

Produced with the contribution of the PR FESR Lombardia 2021-2027 – Call “Lombardy for cinema”
Coesione Italia 21-27 – Co-financed by the European Union – Italian Republic – Lombardy
RegionWith the support of Associazione Chiamale Storie
With the patronage of the Municipality of Pavia Department of Cultural Policies
In collaboration with Sky Arte
Special thanks to the Banca del Monte Lombardia Foundation and the Pasquinelli Foundation

INTERVIEWEES EP.1
THE BATTLE OF PAVIA

FRÉDÉRIC DE COURTOIS
Descendant Étienne Cortoys d’Arcollières

GABRIEL PITA DA VEIGA
Descendant Alonso Pita da Veiga

MIGUEL FALOMIR
Director Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

EIKE SCHMIDT
Director of the Museum and Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples

MARIA ROSARIA SANSONE
Head of Decorative Arts Museum and Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples

OLIVIER RENAUDEAU
General Curator of the Heritage, Musée de l’Armée – Invalides, Paris

JEAN-MARIE LE GALL
Storico Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

VALERIA CALDARELLA ALLAIRE
Specialist in cultural history XVI century Université de Caen Normandie

ULIANO LUCAS
Photojournalist

ÉMERIC LHUISSET
Artist

MARCO GALANDRA
Expert in military history and scholar of the Battle of Pavia

LUIGI CASALI
Expert in military history and scholar of the Battle of Pavia

MARCO GIUSFREDI
Illustrator

DAVIDE MAFFI
Historian University of Pavia

PIER LUIGI MULAS
Art historian University of Pavia

LAURA ALDOVINI
Director of the Civic Museums of Pavia

MARA POZZI
Head of the Historical Archives of the Municipality of Pavia

SOFIA GNOLI
Fashion scholar IULM University, Milan

MAURIZIO GUERRI
Philosopher Brera Academy, Milan

GABRIELE CAPONE
Archival and Bibliographic Superintendent of Campania

PAOLA VONA
Archivist Officer Archival and Bibliographic Superintendence of Campania

ANDREA CARLO FRANCESCO ALFONSO D’AVALOS
Last descendant of the d’Avalos family