1900 (Italian: Novecento, "Twentieth Century") is a 1976 Italian epic film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Donald Sutherland, Alida Valli, and Burt Lancaster. Set in Bertolucci's ancestral region of Emilia, the film chronicles the lives of two men during the political turmoils that took place in Italy in the first half of the 20th century. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition. Born the same day at the start of the 20th century, 1 January 1900, Alfredo Berlinghieri (Robert De Niro) and Olmo Dalcò (Gérard Depardieu) come from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Alfredo is from a family of landowners led by his abusive but populist grandfather (Burt Lancaster), while Olmo is an illegitimate peasant son off the estate whose grandfather (Sterling Hayden) is the foreman and peasants strong man who verbally and spiritually carries a duel of wits but without reaching violence ever with Alfredo's.