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Documented Italians Monday, September 21, 2009, 6 p.m. Chippers tells the story of Dublin’s well-established community of four thousand Italians, all coming from Casalattico in Lazio, who have owned fish and chip shops in the city since the 1900s. Five different families tell their stories and offer insight into the experience of how a small community has maintained links with its hometown, created a cultural identity, and assimilated into Irish society.
Monday, October 26, 2009, 6 p.m.
Monday, November 9, 2009, 6 p.m. Sirio Maccioni came to America as a waiter on a cruise ship. He rose through the ranks of New York’s finest restaurants and opened Le Cirque in 1974. Since then, it has been one of the world’s most celebrated restaurants, entertaining dignitaries, artists, celebrities and New York’s social elite. Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven follows Maccioni, his wife Egidiana, and their three sons from the shuttering of Le Cirque at the Palace Hotel at the end of 2004, through preparations for the eatery’s celebrated rebirth in New York’s Bloomberg Tower two years later. The documentary explores the challenges of reinventing the legendary restaurant, the conflicts between the two generations of Maccionis, and the enduring allure of gourmet simplicity. Post-screening discussion with the director led by food historian Cara De Silva.
Monday, December 14, 2009 In this film exploring the transnational aspects of the Neapolitan song, director Paolo Santoni journeys between Naples and New York profiling singers and songs both well-known and obscure. He finds Neapolitan music being performed at concerts in Italy, in the casinos of Atlantic City, at serenate in the streets of Naples, and in New York City’s various Italian-American neighborhoods. Interviews with and performances by Peppe Barra, Rita Berti, Mirna Doris, Jimmy Roselli, Jerry Vale, and others tell the story of Neapolitan music and its ongoing popularity. Post-screening discussion led by Jason Pine, Purchase College, and Joseph Sciorra, Calandra Institute.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 6pm Third-generation Italian Americans Angie and Tara Pontani and “adopted sister” Helen Burkett began dancing together professionally during the late 1990s. As The World Famous Pontani Sisters, they present burlesque entertainment with an ironic sensibility, combining tap, Las Vegas show girl routines, 1960s go-go dancing, and other forms in a post-modern mélange. They have been described as “curvaceous punk rock Rockettes” (Philadelphia Weekly), “cornerstones of the burlesque revolution” (Chicago Sun), and “glamorous Italian Stallions that live up to the ‘World Famous’ part of their name” (Village Voice). Rebecca Shapiro’s documentary tells their story using interviews with the sisters and their families as well as performance and behind-the-scenes footage. Post-screening discussion with The World Famous Pontani Sisters led by Joseph Sciorra, Calandra Institute.
Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 6pm Merica investigates the complexities of migration and the migrant’s desire for national belonging using the parallel stories of Italian immigration to Brazil in the 1800s and the current Italian-Brazilian migration to Italy. These “return migrants,” who have a strong attraction to Italy, face considerable challenges in a country still plagued by the difficulty of integrating outsiders. The film investigates why return migrants, while officially recognized as Italians, are not viewed as such by Italian-born citizens in everyday life. Ultimately, the film poses the question: if nationality does not create a sense of belonging, what does? Post-screening discussion led by Guido Tintori, Fulbright-Schuman Scholar, New York University.
Thursday, April 29, 2010 In the years following World War II, the city of Trieste was under the control of the Anglo-American Allied Military Government as both the Italian and Yugoslavian governments claimed the Trieste province. Over 1,300 Triestine young women became “war brides,” marrying U.S. soldiers and immigrating to various parts of the country. Le Ragazze di Trieste features interviews with seven of these women, who settled in New York, Florida, California, Michigan, and Virginia. They share memories of Trieste during the war and of their experiences as recently arrived immigrants to the United States. Post-screening discussion with the directors led by Dawn Esposito, St. John’s University.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 These two films look at post-World War II Italian immigration to Montreal and the ways in which it is remembered. Ho fatto il mio coraggio features contemporary interviews with immigrants who arrived in Montreal in the 1950s and 60s, often to fulfill arranged marriages or reunite with fiancées they met in Italy. Among the protagonists are Carlo, one of the few Italian-Canadian communists in Montreal, and Lina, who celebrates the ritual of Saint Anthony in her home every year. The film features archival film footage and photographs from personal and institutional collections. Ricordati di noi! documents the Cinematique Quebecoise’s effort to salvage, catalogue, and preserve footage from the television show Teledomenica. Broadcast every Sunday from 1964 to 1994, Teledomenica was Montreal’s first and favorite Italian-language television program. More than a decade after the final show aired, hundreds of discarded film reels were discovered in the basement of the program’s old office headquarters. The long-forgotten footage provides a vivid, intimate record of the life of Montreal’s Italian community.
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