Articles by: I. I.

  • Style: Articles

    Madreterra. Benefitting Flood Victims in Sardinia

    To raise funds for the victims, Flavio Manzoni from Nuoro  (Italian architect and automobile designer of supercars and everyday vehicles, such as Ferrari, Lancia, Volkswagen, SEAT.)  has adorned the oversized light’s surface with his vibrant sketches, creating a one-of-a-kind design, which will be auctioned off this summer in Italy.

    After making an appearance at a Madreterra event in Milan, it is ready to make its mark on the Big Apple, where Manzoni will officially present it at an event at the Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA) on May 1.

    Reimagined and reintroduced by Centro Stile design for Leucos, the Great JJ is the oversized version of the 1937 Jac Jacobsen table light with swinging arm.

    The Madreterra initiative is Manzoni’s personal tribute to his country.

    Leucos has donated three lights over its duration. The funds obtained by their auction will go toward the reconstruction of the Maria Rocca primary school in Su Papiru, Sardinia.

    The Great JJ was also tied to a charitable endeavor last year called Light Your Heart when several designer iterations of the light, including Manzoni’s first take on the design, were auctioned off to raise money for pediatric Neoplasia research. Other luminaries who contributed to Light Your Heart by customizing Great JJs included Arik Levy, Patrick Jouin, Karim Rashid, Satoshi Umeno, Chris Bangle, Massimo Iosa Ghini, Jozeph Forakis, Valerio Cometti and Roberto Paoli.

    MADRETERRA-The Project
     

    Italian for “mother earth,” the name of the project exemplifies the deep bond, ancient and ancestral, that links us to our native regions.

    Flavio Manzoni’s distinctive drawings represent thoughts, memories and reflections morphed into images, illustrating the sometimes unexpected volatility of nature and how it affects humankind. Etched onto the light are archetypes of an ancestral culture, which symbolizes the hope of light and recovery.

    It represents light in all its forms: light after darkness, love for life, and love for the land. The Italian romance of M.Grazia Deledda Nobel Prize in 1917 "Canne al Vento”(“Reeds in the Wind"), becomes a metaphor that sums up the light’s message of resilience. Reeds are humans. Wind is the fate that bends, crashes or curves reeds so that they can grow stronger.
  • L'altra Italia

    Sicilia e Anfe a Marcinelle

    Il 2 e 3 maggio prossimi, l’ANFE Regionale Sicilia, sotto l’Alto Patronato del Presidente della Repubblica, con il contributo dell’Assessorato Regionale Siciliano della Famiglia, delle Politiche  Sociali e del Lavoro (Dipartimento Lavoro-Servizio II emigrazione e immigrazione) e il patrocinio morale dell’ANFE Nazionale organizza nelle città di Mons e Charleroi, le giornate commemorative dell’emigrazione italiana in Belgio, a partire dalla necessità della revisione della legge regionale siciliana n.55/80.

    Dopo il primo intervento offerto alle famiglie dei minatori morti nella tragedia di Marcinelledel 8 agosto del ’56, l’ANFE torna in Belgio con una sua rappresentanza per porre l’attenzione sull’emigrazione in tempo di crisi, quella odierna che riprende, come allora, con numeri ingenti, ma ancora senza una legge regionale adeguata alle mutate esigenze dei nostri connazionali all’estero.
      La cerimonia di apertura si terrà il 2 maggio alle ore 20 al Palais des Beaux-Arts di Charleroi (Place du Manége, 1) con la consegna delle medaglie della Regione Sicilia alle Associazioni dei Minatori di Marcinelle-Charleroi.

    L’evento sarà preceduto dall’affissione di una targa commemorativa dell’azione dell’ANFE a Marcinelle e nel Belgio a sostegno degli emigrati e delle loro famiglie, alla presenza del Primo Ministro del Belgio Elio Di Rupo, del Console Generale Italiano a Charleroi, Iva Plamieri, e dell’Assessore Regionale della Famiglia, delle Politiche  Sociali e del Lavoro, Giuseppe Bruno.

    Alleore 20:30, sempre al Palais des Beaux-Arts, seguirà il concertodel gruppo siciliano “A noi ci piace vintage”.

    Il 3 Maggio alle ore 10 nella sala Warocqué dell’Università di Mons (Place Warocqué, 17) si affronterà il tema della revisione delle legge n.55/80 con il convegno “La necessità di una nuova legge a sostegno della mobilità sociale” dove porteranno i propri saluti Joelle Kapompole in rappresentanza del Sindaco di Mons, il Vice rettore dell’Università di Mons, prof. Giuseppe Pagano, e il Vice Presidente dell’ANFE Nazionale, Matteo Iacovelli. Sono previsti gli interventi di Elio Carozza (Segretario Generale del CGIE), Giuseppe Burno (Assessore Regionale), Roberto Lagalla (Rettore dell’Università di Palermo), Gaetano Calà (Direttore Generale dell’ANFE Nazionale) e i rappresentanti delle forze economiche e centri di ricerca locali del Belgio, Jean-Pierre Marcelle (Agenzia di Export della Vallonia) e Aristide Mariotti (Amministratore delegato della MAPEI Benelux) e siciliani, Delio Miotti (Svimez). Sarà poi data voce direttamente a chi l’emigrazione italiana in Belgio l’ha vissuta in prima persona, ovvero alle Associazioni siciliane in Belgio (Mons-Borrinage, La Louvriere e Charleroi) precedute da un video messaggio di Don Burno Ducoli, sacerdote che ha dato sostegno agli emigrati italiani in Belgio negli anni ‘50/’70.
     

    A chiusura della maratona di eventi, alle ore 20 al Cinema Plaza Art di Mons (Rue de Nimy, 12) si terranno le proiezioni di duedocumentari sull’emigrazione italiana in Belgio: “Pane e pregiudizio. 65 anni dell’Anfe per i migranti” (durata 40 min.) di Giovanna Taviani e “Dallo zolfo al carbone” di Luca Vullo,  con ingresso gratuito fino ad esaurimento posti.
  • Fatti e Storie

    CONI USA. Selezioni per parteciare all'Olimpiade della Provincia di Macerata




    Una squadra di atleti, 6     ragazze e 6 ragazzi italo-americani di eta’11 ai 13 anni, due tecnici-accompagnatori e il Capo Delegazione, Il Cav. Uff. Mico Delianova Licastro partecipera’alla Va Olimpiade della Provincia di Macerata/Giochi della Gioventu’2014.

    Si tratta della Delegazione di atletica leggera del Coni USA.  La selezione, svolta a livello nazionale, inizia nell’area del Tri-State il 26 e 27 Aprile prossimi.

     
    Gli atleti partiranno da New York il 25 Giugno. Le gare cominceranno il  26 Giugno e termineranno 1 Luglio.
     
     La Va edizione dell’Olimpiade della Provincia di Macerata è organizzata di concerto tra l’Amministrazione Provinciale di Macerata e la Delegazione Provinciale del C.O.N.I ed il Comune di Macerata, con la collaborazione delle Federazioni Sportive Nazionali (F.S.N.), delle Discipline Sportive Associate (D.S.A.) attraverso i loro Organi Territorialie vedono la partecipazione oltre ad atleti Italiani anche di giovani atleti di origine italiana dell’Argentina, del Brasile, del Canada, della Svizzera, del Venezuela e Stati Uniti, paesi dove il Coni e’rappresentato da un Delegato.
     
    Per qualificarsi gli atleti devono avere non meno di 11 e non piu’ di 13 anni compiuti entro il 2014, essere di origine italiana da parte di almeno uno su quattro bisnonni che sono o sono stati cittadini italiani, essere studenti un una scuola pubblica o privata, avere un recente certificato medico di abilitazione ad attivita’ sportive, essere in possesso di un valido passaporto o impegnarsi a richiederne uno entro un giorno da concordare con il Delegato del Coni negli USA.
     
    Alla selezione i ragazzi devono essere accompagnati da un genitore o tutore legale adulti e portare le proprie scarpe da corsa (scarpe chiodate NON sono consentite). Tutti I partecipanti saranno valutati in tutte le discipline delle gare: 80 metri/piani, 80 metri/ostacoli, lancio del peso, salto in lungo, salto in alto, 1000 mt. e 100 metri/staffetta. La selezione finale e’ a sola discrezione dei tecnici e del Delegato del Coni. I genitori saranno informati tempestivamente se l’atleta e’ stata/o selezionato come effettivo della squadra, o richiamato per ulteriori valutazioni, o per una posizione come riserva.
     
    Le prove per la selezione dei componenti della squadra USA iniziano nell’area del Tri-State (New York, New Jersey e Connecticut) il prossimo weekend, Sabato 27 e Domenica 28, alle ore 11am, presso la pista di atletica della William Floyd HS a Shirley, LI.
     
    Date e localita’per la selezione del Tri-State:
     
    Sabato, 27 Aprile, INIZIO ore 11am; 
    Domenica, 28 Aprile, INIZIO ore 11:00 am;
    William Floyd HS track
    (take I-495 to William Floyd Parkway South, turn left on Beacon St, turn right on Hounslow Rd. Track entrance is at end of Hounslow Rd.)
    Shirley, Long Island, NY.
     
    Per registrarsi richiedere un modulo attraverso il sito www.coniusa.org.
     
    Tecnici professionisti coadiuvano il Delegato del Coni Licastro nella selezione dei ragazzi. Veterana della formazione Coni USA e’Julia Pickslay, della California, esperta in “motivational sport training,”Gli altri tecnici sono: coach Eddie Arnold (Southampton HS,) Mike Strokbine (Academy Speed Training, LI), assistiti da Anthony Isabelli (Coni USA Fiduciario MId-West,) Joe Di Pietro (FIAO Queens) e Claudio Delli Carpini ( ass. coach specialista ostacoli.)
     
    La selezione dei componenti della squadra che andra’ alla Olimpiade della Provincia di Macerata è basata non soltanto sulle prestazioni atletiche, ma anche sul risultato di un'intervista condotta dal Sig. Licastro e dai tecnici che valuteranno alcune caratteristiche psico-sociali degli atleti.
     
    La selezione si svolge anche in altre citta’ degli USA per decidere chi saranno i fortunati atleti che gareggeranno in Italia aspirando al podio nello spirito più sincero del Movimento Olimpico, a vivere grandi emozioni sia in pista che immersi nella storia e cultura delle loro radici.
     
    Per ulteriori informazioni contattare il Delegato Coni per gli USA, Cav. Uff. Mico Delianova Licastro, al numero: 1-631-208-4442; o al numero: 1-631-566-0257. O via e-mail: [email protected]. O visitate il sito www.coniusa.org.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  • Art & Culture

    BOOK. Italian / American Exchange. The influence of cinema


     The Transatlantic Gaze retraces the influence of Italian cinema on American film from the postwar period to the present. Author Mary Ann McDonald Carolan documents the profound impact that Italian directors, actors, and screenwriters had on the American film industry. Examining several genres, including comedies, Westerns, documentaries and art house films, the author explains how and why many American directors from Woody Allen to Quentin Tarantino have adopted Italian techniques in their work.


    Allen’s To Rome with Love (2012) pays homage to the genius of Italian filmmakers, Federico Fellini in particular. Echoes of Fellini’s Lo sceicco bianco/The White Sheik (1952) can also be glimpsed in Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and Neil LaBute’s Nurse Betty (2000). Tarantino’s Kill Bill saga (2003, 2004) converses with elements of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Western C’era una volta il West/ Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), a transatlantic conversation Taran- tino continues in his Oscar-winning Django Unchained (2012). Meanwhile, Lee Daniels’s Precious (2009) and Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna (2008) demonstrate that the neorealism of Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica that arose from the political and economic crises of postwar Ita- ly is an effective vehicle for critiqu- ing issues of poverty and race in America.


    The book closes with an examination of American remakes of popular Italian movies, drawing comparisons and highlighting dif- ferences between American and Italian culture, and illustrating how film genres have been transformed by their exchange.    —
  • Events: Reports

    New Italian Cinema is Returning to NYC Film Society


    The Film Society of Lincoln Center just announced the lineup for "Open Roads: New Italian Cinema," -  the annual showcase of contemporary Italian cinema - set to run June 5th to 12th, 2014.  This year's lineup includes the latest work from established veteran, top award winners, as well as new talent.


    During more than 13 years, over 200 Italian films crossed the ocean to receive screenings at Lincoln Center, some of them obtaining an American distribution.


    Being the most important North American showcase of contemporary Italian cinema, Open Roads has one main mission: introducing to the American public a new generation of actors and filmmakers. “We tried to build up a various and articulate overview, not focusing on the possible themes but on the movies that we thought were interesting,” says Antonio Monda, who co-founded the festival along with Richard Peña back in 2001.


    The opening night selection of this year  has been announced as well. "Those Happy Years" is a sweet coming-of-age tale of director Daniele Luchetti's childhood as a budding filmmaker growing up in 1970s Rome. Others directors will make in-person appearances, including Daniele Luchetti, Gianfranco Rosi, Roberto Ano, Alessandro Rossetto, and actress Valeria Solarino.


    We are pleased to welcome some familiar faces back to Open Roads—including Daniele Luchetti for Opening Night and Gianni Amelio with his two latest films—and also to introduce so many promising emerging filmmakers," commented Film Society of Lincoln Center Director of Programming Dennis Lim. "This year’s rich and diverse program, which ranges from sober drama to irreverent comedy, includes films from all across Italy, continuing the strong regionalist trend of recent years. With exemplary new work by Gianfranco Rosi and Vincenzo Marra, it also underscores the emergence of documentary as a breeding ground for some of the most exciting developments in contemporary Italian cinema."

    Open Roads: New Italian Cinema takes place June 5-12.

    Films, descriptions and schedules:

    Those Happy Years (Anni felici) — Opening Night, U.S. Premiere

    Daniele Luchetti, Italy, 2013

    Italian with English subtitles

    Luchetti’s warm-hearted, bittersweet autobiographical account of his childhood as a budding filmmaker growing up in Rome in the ’70s stars Kim Rossi Stuart and Micaela Ramazotti as unconventional parents caught up in turbulent times. He’s an avant-garde artist and she’s wrestling with gender roles as she discovers feminism and free love. Luchetti (My Brother Is an Only Child) brilliantly re-creates the atmosphere of urgency and rapid change surrounding the family. He also poignantly conveys his own coming-of-age perspective, that of a boy grappling with radical transformations inside his family and on the street, capturing it all with his brand-new Super-8 camera.
    Thursday, June 5, 1:00pm (Q&A with Daniele Luchetti)

    Thursday, June 5, 6:30pm (Q&A with Daniele Luchetti)

    The Administrator (L’amministratore) -- U.S. Premiere

    Vincenzo Marra, Italy, 2013

    Italian with English subtitles

    In the lively and absorbing fifth installment in a series of docs celebrating his native Naples, Marra turns a spotlight on the life of Umberto Montella, a building administrator whose job seems to demand skills in management as much as in therapy. An effortless arbiter of the passionate conflicts that arise among tenants, the Quixotic Montella leads us in and out of the homes of his larger-than-life clients, rich and poor Neapolitans whose lives illuminate the city’s volatile moods. Sometimes funny and always poignant, these profoundly human stories flow in and out of one another following a natural rhythm. However specific the tales, characters, and places, the immersion into these entangled lives is also a tough-minded yet affectionate look at an Italy mired in crisis.
    Monday, June 9, 6:30pm (Q&A with Vincenzo Marra TBC)

    Tuesday, June 10, 1:30pm (Q&A with Vincenzo Marra TBC)

    The Fifth Wheel (L’ultima ruota del carro) -- U.S. Premiere

    Giovanni Veronesi, Italy, 2013

    Italian with English subtitles

    Veronesi’s irresistible romantic comedy takes a journey through pivotal events in four decades of recent Italian history, as seen through the lens of Ernesto Fioretti’s unexceptional life. Played with charm and a disarming sense of humor by Elio Germano, Ernesto is a good-hearted, honest middle-class guy who struggles to keep up with changes and is always a step behind. His father disparaged Ernesto by likening him to the “fifth wheel of the wagon,” and his aspirations and involvement through the rise and fall of Socialism and the Berlusconi era are accordingly modest. But his protagonist’s apparent simplicity is precisely one of the strengths of this Tuscan director’s fifteenth feature, which opened the Rome Film Festival last year to great acclaim. Rich in emotions, its ups and downs coinciding with those of the country, Ernesto’s life serves as the perfect platform for abundant laughter and tears.
    Friday, June 6, 6:30pm (Q&A with Giovanni Veronesi)

    Wednesday, June 11, 1:00pm (Q&A with Giovanni Veronesi)


    Happy to Be Different (Felice chi è diverso)

    Gianni Amelio, Italy, 2014

    In Italian with English subtitles

    A moving and enlightening work of oral history, Gianni Amelio’s new documentary is a chronicle of gay life in Italy from the fall of Fascism through the early 1980s. Amelio combines interviews with a wide range of older gay Italian men (including Pasolini muse Ninetto Davoli), newsreel footage, and clips from “educational” films warning against homosexuality, and in the process reveals a profound gap between the subjects’ firsthand experiences and the Italian media’s representations of them. The resulting film is a deeply personal account of the advent of gay culture amid the ruins of Mussolini’s Italy and the eternally poignant story of how persecuted individuals developed pragmatic ways to attain everyday happiness.
    Tuesday, June 10, 9:00pm (Q&A with Gianni Amelio TBC)

    Wednesday, June 11, 4:00pm (Q&A with Gianni Amelio TBC)

    The Human Factor (La variabile umana) -- U.S. Premiere

    Bruno Oliviero, Italy, 2013

    Italian with English subtitles

    Matters get very complicated for chief inspector Monaco (Silvio Orlando) after the murder of a high-profile member of Milan’s seedy nightlife. He is a widower with a teenage daughter, and, one night, all his neglected personal issues seem to catch up with him, forcing him out of the slump he’s been in since the death of his wife. Rendered darkly beautiful as a noir setting, Milan is the electric backdrop for this detective story that delves as much into the intimate life of one man and his daughter as into this elegant city’s underworlds. In his fiction debut, Olivierio’s extensive documentary experience is palpable in his portrait of Milan—a character in itself—as well as in the vivid and telling details with which he characterize its inhabitants.
    Thursday, June 5, 4:00pm (Q&A with Bruno Oliviero TBC)

    Friday, June 6, 9:30pm (Q&A with Bruno Oliviero TBC)

    I Can Quit Whenever I Want (Smetto quando voglio) -- U.S. Premiere

    Sydney Sibilia, Italy, 2014

    Italian with English subtitles

    A band of brilliant unemployed and underemployed academics—two Latinists, a chemist, a neurobiologist, an anthropologist, and an economist—turn to a life of crime in order to survive. Deftly assimilating such influences as Breaking Bad and Trainspotting, this biting parody on the plight of the Italian middle class in the aftermath of the economic crisis boasts a fast pace, witty dialogue, and a terrific cast. A debut to watch from Salerno-native Sibilia, the film was a resounding commercial and critical hit when released in Italy earlier this year.
    Friday, June 6, 3:30pm (Q&A with actress Valeria Solarino)

    Sunday, June 8, 9:00pm (Q&A with actress Valeria Solarino)

    A Lonely Hero (L'intrepido) -- U.S. Premiere


    Gianni Amelio, Italy, 2013

    Italian with English Subtitles

    Amelio follows his 2011 Camus adaptation, The First Man, with a deadpan parable about a small everyday hero from Milan who contends with the unemployment crisis in a very particular way: he’s a “professional” substitute worker, skilled and knowledgeable enough to replace anyone in any job. True to his name, Antonio Pane is as good and essential as bread. Whether working as a train conductor, fishmonger, tailor, street sweeper, or bricklayer, he approaches the country’s instability with a deep moral consistency as he reinvents himself everyday. Amelio wrote this film especially for actor Antonio Albanese, who personifies the film’s dark humor and underlying sense of hope. An Emerging Pictures release.
    Tuesday, June 10, 6:30pm (Q&A with Gianni Amelio TBC)

    Thursday, June 12, 9:00pm  (Q&A with Gianni Amelio TBC)

    Long Live Freedom (Viva la libertà) -- U.S. Premiere

    Roberto Andò, Italy, 2013

    Italian with English Subtitles

    Enrico Oliveri (a brilliant Toni Servillo) is a seasoned center-left politician and president of the opposition who realizes that the decline of his party is inevitable. As the polls announce he will lose dramatically in the upcoming elections, he falls into a profound existential crisis and disappears. We later learn that he has fled to Paris and is hiding out at the home of his ex-girlfriend Danielle (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi). While his colleagues panic, his top aide (Valerio Mastandrea) discovers that Enrico has a twin brother living in a psychiatric institution. What at first seems like a crazy plan soon proves to be their only solution. A scathing critique of Italian political dynamics, Andò’s film is also a pulsating thriller with great comic moments that brings together some of the most talented actors working in Italy today.
    Friday, June 6, 1:00pm (Q&A with Roberto Andò)

    Saturday, June 7, 9:00pm (Q&A with Roberto Andò)

    The Mafia Only Kills in Summer (La mafia uccide solo d’estate) -- U.S. Premiere

    Pierfrancesco Diliberto, Italy, 2013

    Italian with English subtitles                                                                  

    Pierfrancesco Diliberto (a renowned TV host and political comedian, better known as Pif) wrote, directed, and stars in this subversive, irreverent feature debut about Arturo, a young boy whose obsession with the Mafia’s casual presence in his city surpasses even his passion for Flora, the beautiful schoolmate who remains his main love interest until adulthood. Pif uses Arturo’s unrequited love story as the vehicle to narrate the most tragic events in Italy’s recent history, starting with the Cosa Nostra’s criminal actions in Sicily in the ’70s, which soon spread through the country (encompassing the barbaric murder of judges Falcone and Borsellino, an event that Pif handles with astounding boldness). Winner of the Audience Award at the Torino Film Festival, Mafia is a brave and intelligent dark comedy with a powerful message.
    Saturday, June 7, 3:30pm (Q&A with Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif)

    Thursday, June 12, 4:00pm (Q&A with Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif)

    Quiet Bliss (In grazia di Dio)

    Edoardo Winspeare, Italy, 2014

    In Italian with English subtitles

    Three generations of women seek refuge in their family’s Salento olive grove after their small textile business collapses in Winspeare’s warm and vibrant drama. Against the backdrop of a radiant southern Italian landscape, Winspeare’s characters—serene Salvatrice (Anna Boccadamo), hardened Adele (Celeste Casciaro), loudmouthed Ina (Laura Licchetta), and aspiring thespian Maria Conchetta (Barbara De Matteis)—revive their lives in the wake of economic catastrophe. Turning to a back-to-basics existence as a means of healing the wounds wrought by the recession, they undergo transformations that the director renders with equal parts pathos, insight, and humor.
    Saturday, June 7, 6:00pm (Q&A with Edoardo Winspeare)

    Monday, June 9, 1:00pm (Q&A with Edoardo Winspeare)

    The Referee (L’arbitro) -- U.S. Premiere

    Paolo Zucca, Italy/Argentina, 2013

    Italian with English subtitles

    Sardinian third-league soccer team Atletico Pabarile is suddenly winning every match of the season, after years of losing consistently to Montecrastu, the team led by cocky and abusive landowner Brai. The return of soccer wizard Matzutzi from a sojourn in Argentina has turned the team of farmers into unexpected champions—and now it feels like anything is possible. Enter Cruciani (a great Stefano Accorsi), a young referee greedily climbing his way to the top, and two cousins playing for Montecrastu who are involved in an escalating conflict about archaic sheep-breeding codes in Sardinia. These disparate plots come together explosively in the lush black-and-white world of Zucca’s slyly funny and utterly distinctive first feature.
    Tuesday, June 10, 4:00pm (Q&A with Paolo Zucca TBC)

    Wednesday, June 11, 9:00pm (Q&A with Paolo Zucca TBC)

    Sacro GRA -- U.S. Premiere

    Gianfranco Rosi, Italy/France, 2013

    Italian with English subtitles

    The first documentary to win the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, the latest from Gianfranco Rosi (El Sicario, Room 164 and Below Sea Level), reveals the sheer diversity of life bubbling around the margins of Rome’s Grande Raccordo Anulare, the 43.5-mile highway that encircles the city, the longest in all of Italy. The absorbing and often moving individual portraits that emerge—an ambulance driver caring for his ailing mother, a scientist studying palm trees ravaged by beetles, an eel fisherman nostalgic for old traditions—give visibility and a human face to the places Sacro GRA drivers pass through but never see, while exposing the city’s striking contradictions. Inspired in part by Italo Calvino’s novel Invisible Cities, Rosi’s captivating chorale plunges the viewer into this paradoxical reality, allowing us a more direct, even sensorial experience of life in the shadow of progress.
    Sunday, June 8, 6:30pm Q&A with Gianfranco Rosi)

    Monday, June 9, 4:00pm (Q&A with Gianfranco Rosi)

    Small Homeland (Piccola Patria) -- U.S. Premiere

    Alessandro Rossetto, Italy, 2013

    Italian with English subtitles

    Best friends Luisa and Renata long above all else to leave their stifling provincial town in northeastern Italy, where tensions between locals and immigrants are forever threatening to boil over. They work as maids in a hotel but supplement their income with sexual trysts, sometimes assisted by Luisa’s Albanian boyfriend, and hatch a blackmail scheme that fails to play out as expected. The rhythms of daily life in this border zone—where city meets countryside—are captured in vivid detail in the highly promising fiction debut by Rossetto, an experienced documentarian working mainly with nonprofessional actors.
    Thursday, June 5, 9:15pm (Q&A with Alessandro Rossetto)

    Sunday, June 8, 3:30pm  (Q&A with Alessandro Rossetto)

    South Is Nothing (Il Sud e niente) -- U.S. Premiere

    Fabio Mollo, Italy, 2013

    Italian with English subtitles

    Grazia was 12 years old when she was told by her widower father that her beloved older brother Pietro had died, and never spoken a word since. Now a tomboyish 18, after one of her regular arguments with her father, Grazia flees to the seaside and into the water, where she has an otherworldly experience and thinks she sees her brother. Thus begins her quest to discover another truth, not only about her lost sibling but also about herself. This poised and striking debut by the young Mollo, who shot this film in the Reggio Calabria village where he grew up, features a remarkable central performance by the young Miriam Karlkvist.
    Sunday, June 8, 1:00pm (Q&A with Fabio Mollo TBC)

    Monday, June 9, 9:00pm (Q&A with Fabio Mollo TBC)

    A Street in Palermo (Via Castellana Bandiera) -- U.S. Premiere

    Emma Dante, Italy, 2013, DCP, 92m

    Italian with English subtitles

    Based on her own novel, Emma Dante’s first feature is set in Palermo and shot almost entirely in a narrow alleyway in a run-down neighborhood. On a hot Sunday afternoon, three women are caught in what turns out to be a tragic confrontation. Rosa (Dante) and her partner, Clara (Alba Rohrwacher), have just driven in from Milan and are on their way to a friend’s wedding. As they turn onto Via Castellana Bandiera, they find the Calafiore family jammed into a car driven by Samira (Elena Cotta), a mule-headed Sicilian of Albanian descent. Both drivers stubbornly refuse to back up, as tensions escalate and the neighborhood looks on. An accomplished theater director, Dante includes some knowing nods to spaghetti Westerns and genre conventions in her ambitious film debut, and coaxes formidable performances from her skilled cast (Cotta won the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival).
    Wednesday, June 11, 6:30pm

    Thursday, June 12, 1:30pm

    Tir -- U.S. Premiere

    Alberto Fasulo, Italy/Croatia, 2013

    Italian with English Subtitles

    The first Italian film to win the top prize at the Rome Film Festival, Fasulo’s striking fiction debut follows Branko (played by Branko Zavrsan, from the Oscar-winning No Man’s Land), a former teacher from Bosnia who takes a job driving a tractor trailer (“tir”) through Europe. A native of Friuli with a documentary background, Fasulo immerses the viewer in the experience of the trucker on the road—the sounds, the landscape, and the longing for company (Branko’s phone conversations with his wife are particularly poignant). Part of a growing movement of Italian filmmakers exploring hybrid combinations of documentary and fiction, Fasulo uses both professional actors and real truck drivers, and his approach yields both an intimate connection to his characters and an evocative sense of place.
    Saturday, June 7, 1:00pm (Q&A with Alberto Fasulo TBC)

    Thursday, June 12, 6:30pm (Q&A with Alberto Fasulo)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
  • Facts & Stories

    Maria Bartiromo Awarded the 2014 Urbino Press Award


    The popular journalist and television host of Fox Business Network, Maria Bartiromo is the winner of the 2014 Urbino Press Award, an Italian award, which is awarded annually to an American reporter.


    The Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Claudio Bisogniero will deliver the official announcement, on April 15 at an event organized at the Embassy in Washington. Maria Bartiromo will be present at the ceremony.


    "It is an honor to announce that the winner of the ninth edition is a professional such as Maria Bartiromo," said Ambassador Bisogniero. "The unmistakable style and exceptional professionalism that she has brought onto the screens of millions of viewers around the world are synonymous with high-quality American and international financial and economic journalism," continued Bisogniero.


    A true star among the American financial reporters, Maria Bartiromo has worked for the Fox Business Network as a Global Markets Editor and presenter of the program "Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo," since January 2014. Her weekend show "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" was launched last March on Fox News Channel (FNC). She began her career in the eighties at CNN and then transferred to CNBC in 1993, becoming the first reporter to broadcast live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. She is the author of three publications on financial markets and Wall Street.


    "The Marche Region - said the Chairman Gian Mario Spacca - with great enthusiasm continues to support the Urbino Press Award. This initiative fits perfectly with the mission of regional development and promotion of our land through cultural relations. Rewarding the most distinguished representatives of American journalism means strengthening the mutual respect that binds the United States and Italy, and also uniting them in the important reflections on world events, which the winner bring to us each year."


    "Maria Bartiromo - said the designer Giacomo Guidi, co-founder of the award - is one of the big names in U.S. journalism. With television broadcasts from Wall Street, opinion articles in newspapers and magazines, and also as author of books, Bartiromo has effectively been able to explain to the public the complicated world of finance. In recent years we have all realized how our daily lives, regardless of which part of the world we live in, are strongly influenced by the dynamics of the economy. We are proud to have her as the 2014 Urbino Press Award winner."


    The Urbino Press Award, presided by John Lani in recent years has awarded other big names of American journalism: Diane Rehm, Michael Weisskopf, Martha Raddatz, Thomas Friedman, David Ignatius, Helene Cooper, Sebastian Rotella and Wolf Blitzer. The Award is organized with the support of the Marche Region, the City of Urbino and provinces of Pesaro and Urbino, the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington together with the Chamber of Commerce and Piero Guidi.


    The Urbino Press Award, now at its ninth edition, has become a tradition in Washington’s diplomatic and journalistic life since it was first was presented in 2006 at the Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C. The prize is assigned every year in recognition of excellence in journalism to American reporters who, through their commitment and daily work, have the ability to inform millions of people.


    The winner of the Urbino Press Award is formally announced every year in April at the Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C. The Ambassador of Italy to the United States holds a brief address to welcome the audience and announce the winner. The Ambassador’s address is followed by the winner’s acceptance speech.


    The prize itself is awarded at the Palazzo Ducale in the City of Urbino in June. The winner travels to Urbino to participate in a ceremony and then holds a “Lectio Magistralis” at the Palazzo Ducale. The City of Urbino, which during the Renaissance gave life to one of the most enlightened courts of Europe, symbolically reinstates its court, once enriched by geniuses like Baldassarre Castiglione and Torquato Tasso, with the voice and experience of today’s reporters, the outstanding interpreters of the events that are changing our world.

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    For the Urbino Press Award’s website please Clicke here  >>>  


    For more information on Italian cultural events in the United States click here:  >>>
  • Events: Reports

    Modà. 5 guys from Milan to NYC with Their Pop-Rock


    Modà is the name of a band started by Francesco "Kekko" Silvestre (singer), Enrico Zapparoli (guitar), Diego Arrigoni (guitar), Stefano Forcella (bass) and Claudio Dirani (drums).


    Starting on the local club scene, as many other bands they got their musical break in in 2004 when they got their first record contract and they came out with the single Ti Amo Veramente. In 2005, Modà participated in the Festival of Sanremo (youth section) presenting the song Riesci a Innamorarmi.  In 2008 they published  a new album "Sala d'Attesa."  Consequently, they reach platinum record sales in  2009 when they releas singles Timida and Sono già Solo  under the Baraonda record label.


    In 2010, Modà signs with Ultrasuoni record label, establishing themselves as the best new group of the year with the single Sono già Solo, the first hit, which in turn takes them throughout Italy on a tour.  They are also nominated as Best Band Newcomers at the Wind Music Awards and Venice Music Awards.


    Their single La Notte  reaches number one on the  iTunes single charts in less then 24 hours. The band's  "La Notte Tour" completely sells out over 20 indoor sports arenas.


    Modà tries out again at the 61st edition of Sanremo Festival in 2011.  The song Arriverà, performed together with Emma, landing in second place in the "Big" section. In February, the album “Viva i Romantici” is released, and becomes a diamond disc with over 450,000 copies sold and the second Italian top-selling album in 2011. Among the singles taken from the digital album, there are 4 multi platinum, 1 platinum and 2 gold discs. Modà has over 2 million fans on Facebook and their YouTube channel counts approximately 140 million views.


    The “Viva i Romantici 2011 Tour” took the band to over 35 destinations with multiple  sold-out concerts, including the October 3rd performance at the Mediolanum Forum of Assago in Milan. They are soon awarded at the MTV TRL Awards, and they also win the “Best Italian Act” category at the MTV EMAs 2011. In November,  “Viva i Romantici – Il Sogno” is released, a digipack that includes the album "Viva i Romantici,” a dvd with Modà's live performance at the Mediolanum Forum of Milan, a video featuring their story and the live version of the unreleased song Anche Stasera.


    2012 sees the release of the single Come un Pittore, featuring Pau Donés, member of the Spanish group Jarabedepalo. On September 16th of the same year, accompanied by the orchestra “I Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano,” conducted by the choirmaster Charles Burgi,  Modà performs at the Arena di Verona. It is their only concert that year. It sold out in just a few days.


    In 2013 Modà participated again at the 63rd edition of Sanremo Festival, ranking in third place with the song Se si Potesse non Morire, included in the multi platinum album “Gioia.” The singles Gioia, Dimmelo and Non è mai Abbastanza follow.


    In April, the “Gioia Tour 2013” started from Rome with over 30 sould out dates, including 5 at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan and 2 at the Arena di Verona, for a total of 300,000 tickets sold.


    In November, “Gioia…Non è Mai Abbastanza!”  was released, the re-packaging of the album "Gioia" which includes Dove è Sempre Sole  featuring  Jarabedepalo and Cuore e Vento sung with the Tazenda.


    2014 – In May, Modà will hit the road starting an international tour,  which will take them throughout Europe and finally to the US, before the  start of the big stadium concerts: on July 11th at the Olimpico stadium of Rome and on July 19th at the San Siro stadium, in Milan.


    Buy tickets for Modà's NYC concert here >>>

  • A Maria Bartiromo l'Urbino Press Award 2014


    La popolare giornalista e conduttrice televisiva di Fox Business Network Maria Bartiromo è la vincitrice per il 2014 dell’Urbino Press Award, il premio italiano che ogni anno viene assegnato ad un reporter americano. A darne l’annuncio ufficiale sarà l’Ambasciatore d’Italia negli Stati Uniti, Claudio Bisogniero, il 15 aprile prossimo in occasione di un evento organizzato presso l’Ambasciata a Washington. Alla serata sarà presente la stessa Bartiromo.

     
    “È un onore annunciare quale vincitrice della nona edizione del Premio una professionista del calibro di Maria Bartiromo”, ha dichiarato l’Ambasciatore Bisogniero. “Lo stile inconfondibile e la straordinaria professionalità che l’hanno portata sugli schermi di milioni di telespettatori in tutto il mondo sono sinonimo di grande qualità nel giornalismo finanziario ed economico americano e internazionale”, ha continuato Bisogniero.
     
    Vera e propria “star” tra i reporter finanziari americani, Maria Bartiromo lavora, dal gennaio 2014, per Fox Business Network come Global Markets Editor e conduttrice del programma “Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo”. Il suo week-end show “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” e’ stato lanciato il 30 marzo scorso su Fox News Channel (FNC). Ha iniziato la carriera negli anni ottanta a CNN per poi sbarcare a CNBC nel 1993, diventando la prima giornalista a trasmettere in diretta dal floor del New York Stock Exchange. È inoltre autrice di tre pubblicazioni sui mercati finanziari e Wall Street.
     
    «La Regione Marche – ha sottolineato il Presidente Gian Mario Spacca – continua con grande convinzione ad essere al fianco di Urbino Press Award. Una iniziativa che si sposa perfettamente con la strategia regionale di valorizzazione e promozione della nostra terra attraverso il veicolo delle relazioni culturali. Premiare i più illustri rappresentanti del giornalismo americano significa rafforzare la stima reciproca che lega Italia e Stati Uniti ed accomunarli nelle importanti riflessioni sugli scenari mondiali in cui ogni anno ci accompagnano i vincitori».  
     
    «Maria Bartiromo – ha dichiarato lo stilista Giacomo Guidi, cofondatore del Premio – è una delle grandi firme del giornalismo statunitense. Con le trasmissioni televisive da Wall Street, gli articoli da opinionista su giornali e riviste, e come autrice di libri, Bartiromo è riuscita a raccontare con grande efficacia il complicato mondo della finanza. In questi ultimi anni abbiamo tutti compreso quanto il nostro quotidiano, in qualunque parte del mondo si viva, sia fortemente influenzato dalle dinamiche dell’economia. Siamo orgogliosi di averla come vincitrice 2014 dell’Urbino Press Award».
     
    L’Urbino Press Award è presieduto da Giovanni Lani e negli ultimi anni ha premiato altre grandi firme del giornalismo americano: Diane Rehm, Michael Weisskopf, Martha Raddatz, Thomas Friedman, David Ignatius, Helene Cooper, Sebastian Rotella e Wolf Blitzer. Il Premio è organizzato con il sostegno della Regione Marche, della Città di Urbino e della Provincia di Pesaro e Urbino, dall’Ambasciata d’Italia e dall’Istituto Italiano di Cultura a Washington insieme alla Camera di Commercio e alla Piero Guidi.  
     
    Per maggiori informazioni sull’Urbino Press Award: http://www.urbinopressaward.org/
     
    Per maggiori informazioni sugli eventi culturali italiani negli Stati Uniti:www.italyinus.org

     

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