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Showing posts from March, 2017

Luigi Di Gianni: Understanding History Through Cinema

" Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.”  -Albert Einstein My great-grandparents shortly after arriving in America Most Italian-Americans in their 40’s are third generation, which means our great-grandparents were part of the 12,000,000 people with hopes and dreams who arrived on Ellis Island during the mass immigration of the early 1900’s. Many of us are lucky enough to have known at least one of those brave souls. In my case, it was my great-grandmother Rosa Maria Nigro who immigrated to western New York from Rionero in Vulture, located in Italy's southern region of Basilicata. She came to America as a teenager in 1906. She married, raised four children (one of whom was killed on D-Day in World War II) and modestly lived the American dream. She passed away in 1980 when I was 8-years-old but she made a lifetime impression on

From the Vaults.. My interview with Paolo Sorrentino

Paolo Sorrentino at the 2005 edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, NYC Update: 12 March 2018 It's always exciting to have news about a brand new Paolo Sorrentino film. Scenes from "Loro," his latest collaboration with Toni Servillo, were released today.  The Academy Award-winning director announced the project back in 2016 at the  73rd Venice Film Festival  when he was presenting the first two episodes of his HBO series, "The Young Pope." The project had been shelved for a while and then in April of 2017,  Variety  reported that filming would start during the summer. "Loro" was loosely based on the events surrounding Italy's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. In November of 2013, Berlusconi was expelled from parliament amid accusations of sexual relations with a minor and bribing a senator. Two years later, he was found guilty of bribing the senator and was barred from public office for five years. In year thr

A Conversation with Actor Mirko Frezza of David di Donatello Winner "Il più grande sogno"

The 2017 David di Donatello award show, which took place on Monday, was an exciting event that celebrated many great contemporary talents of Italian cinema.  I was fortunate to have seen most of the nominees.  Among my personal favorites  is Michele Vannucci's  Il più grande sogno  simply because it is based on one of the most inspiring, beautiful stories I've ever  heard, and the person behind that story is as authentic and down-to-earth as they come. The film won the 3 Future Award, which is determined by the public. With Director Michele Vannucci and Actor Mirko Frezza I first saw  Il più grande sogno last September when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. I didn't make it to Venice, but thanks to a great online platform called Festival Scope , which offers a handful of premieres to be screened on the web, I felt like I was there. The film itself blew me away, and then when I realized it was based on a true story, I knew that I would have to find out mor