Italian Cinema Today

Fellini's "Amarcord" Today is the International Day of Italian Cinema and I’m sharing it via Zoom with three Americans of Italian origin who have been influenced by the culture and cinema of Italy. Each of us has gone to Italy to explore our origins and those trips have inspired our work. Everyone is New York City-based, except for me. I am in western New York closer to Toronto than New York City. My guests are:  Taylor Taglianetti , the founder of The National Organization of Italian Americans in Film & Television (NOIAFT) Giò Crisafulli , a filmmaker and Chief Entertainment Critic for the NOIAFT Lucia Grillo, an actress and filmmaker  Our common ground is that we’ve spent extended periods of time in Italy exploring the land of our origins and really taking in and learning about the good and the bad of our culture.. the bad being the difficult past that our ancestors faced, not just in the South but in all of Italy from the pandemics in the North...

Rai Play is offering a great opportunity to celebrate June 20, the "International Day of Italian Cinema." All the David Di Donatello nominees plus numerous other cinema commemorations, including masterclasses and tributes to Federico Fellini, will be available to watch worldwide online until June 21, as part of the annual cultural event, Fare Cinema (Making Cinema). Pictured is Veronica Spedicati’s David di Donatello nominated short film, “Il Nostro Tempo” starring Celeste Casciaro, Emanuela Minno and Franco Ferrante. One of the most beautiful contemporary films I've seen in a while, Veronica Spedicati's "Il Nostro Tempo" is a story about an unspoken bond between a father and daughter. Shot in an olive grove in southern Italy, the film perfectly captures the atmosphere of gentle breezes and dog days of a Pugliese summer near the sea. The film is available worldwide with Spanish and French subtitles. English subtitles will be added soon, although the s...