He became an established figure in the Italian movie scene with Leda innamorata, Quando la primavera ritornò, Sotto l'ala della morte,[1] I re, le torri, gli alfieri (1916) and Emir, cavallo da circo (1917).

In the 1920s Illuminati's career halted because of the advent of sound movies and the death of his beloved actress Margherita Soave, who starred in Alba rossa (1920).

In 1941 Illuminati directed his last film, Il vetturale del San Gottardo, even if the Italian Ministry of Popular Culture forced the collaboration of the German Hans Hinrich on him.

Most of Illuminati's production is lost, but the Italian Cineteca Nazionale at Rome curates restored copies of Selika (1921) and Vetturale del San Gottardo (1941) which were presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2011.

In 2013, Tragico convegno (1915) was discovered at EYE Film Institute Netherlands (although the third reel remained missing) and a restored version with a running time of 34 minutes and with Dutch intertitles was subsequently presented at the Festival del Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna.