Frank Capra has long been considered one Hollywood’s most successful, influential and complex film directors and, in the new feature documentary Frank Capra: Mr America, which is premiering at the Venice Film Festival later this week, audiences will get a chance to view previously unseen archives that examine the Sicilian-born director’s rags-to-riches story whilst unpicking his complicated relationship with America. 

The documentary, which is screening in the Venice Classics section on September 1, is the debut feature from British director Matthew Wells. It chronicles Capra from his humble beginnings as a young and penniless immigrant who rose through the ranks of Hollywood to become one of America’s greatest storytellers through films such as Oscar-winning It Happened One Night to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and the now Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life.