Italian Cinema Today

Francis Ford Coppola’s resort Palazzo Margherita is located in Bernalda, the town of his family’s Italian origins. The resort's enchanting grounds boast a private cinema room, robust herb gardens, a family-style dining room run by local culinary experts and a Romanesque private swimming pool surrounded by a walled garden. Since beginning our series “Basilicata: Land of Cinema” back in 2015, I've visited Bernalda twice and spent a weekend at Palazzo Margherita , which I found to be an extraordinary utopia of culture, food and cinema. The town itself has an atmosphere of wonderment. As you explore the narrow streets lined with well-kept homes and charming churches, you get the feeling of being transported through time. With distant views of the Ionian sea, it truly feels like an untouched corner of paradise.  My much-anticipated stay at Palazzo Margherita was like something out of a dream. Everything is so beautiful and articulately maintained. The regional food ...

The big news in Basilicata this week is making the New York Times list of 52 places to go in 2018 . Pictured in the article with a nice write-up is Matera. While this ancient stone city is stunning and should be on everyone’s list of places to visit, there are so many other treasures across the region of Basilicata. Also referred to by its ancient name, Lucania, the region is divided into two provinces: Potenza and Matera. While Matera gets a lot of attention for the Sassi district, the abandoned town of Craco and the beaches and Greek ruins of Metaponto, the province of Potenza has its own breathtaking spots such as the Dolomite mountains, Pollino National Park and the seaside town of Maratea, nicknamed the pearl of the Tyrrhenian. Little known, especially here in America, is a vast land of vineyards located in the province of Potenza. Many of these vineyards are located in various towns surrounding the great Monte Vulture, a dormant volcano, which houses two small lakes....

Each Sunday during the winter, we will be putting the spotlight on films with a culinary twist, whether it be an article, interview or just a post on one of our social media platforms. The focus for this series will be on the southern part of the Italian peninsula- in particular, the regions of Basilicata, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily. During the summer, I traveled through central and southern Italy and spoke with a number of contemporary filmmakers of lucano origin about why Basilicata is emerging as a land of cinema. I asked these filmmakers what motivates them to stay in Basilicata when so many of their young counterparts have fled to northern regions in search of work. While in Rome, I met up with the accomplished, award-winning artist and filmmaker Gaetano Russo, who we will be visiting often in this series. He is from Bernalda and is very active in the filmmaking and artistic communities throughout the region. He is a cousin of Francis Ford Coppola and that is apparent b...