Articles by: Marina Melchionda

  • Events: Reports

    Puglia Film Festival 2009. Italy’s Heel on the Big Screen

    Sometimes traveling to Italy is not necessary in order to discover its beauty. You can just sit in front of a wide screen and take in the beautiful landscape while experiencing life in the old country from the point of view of the characters in the film. This summer you can start your Italian journey in the Region of Puglia, the heel of Italy. 

    From July 14-18, the Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY will host Terra 3, Puglia Film Festival 2009 , an event dedicated to new cinema and emerging talent from the area. The festival, already presented in Australia and Canada by Mimmo Mongelli, President of the Levante Film Festival and the founder and artistic director of the initiative, is based on one central theme: Mongelli’s relationship with Puglia as his land of origin and the sea that surrounds the region on three sides become symbols of his roots as well as a vehicle to escape a difficult life. This powerful and emotional bond will also be depicted in two photo exhibits hosted at the Calandra Institute in connection with the film festival. “Bari Photo Camera” and “From Land to Land: Apulian Emigration in the 20th Century” are both on display throughout the five days of the festival.

    The event will be inaugurated on July 14 by John Mustaro, President of the United Pugliesi Federation which unites 20 Pugliese associations in the New York metropolitan area, Fred Gardaphé, Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies, Queens College/CUNY, and Professor Anthony Tamburri, Dean of the Calandra Italian American Institute. Artistic Director Mongelli will also give a brief overview of the festival and this year’s program.  

    Throughout the festival, film screenings will alternate with lectures by experts in the field and representatives of the Pugliese community in the U.S. Menino Coppi, president of the association Turesi Nel Mondo will analyze the phenomenon of emigration in the third millennium; Antonio Barile, councilor at the Puglia Chamber of Commerce and President of the Board of Directors of the magazine Bari Economica will discuss the current promotion of artistic and cultural activities in Italy; Marco Sportelli, member of the Province’s Council, will comment on the relationship between culture and public institutions; and Carlo Gentile will speak about perceptions of Italian cinema in the world.
     

    Among the fifteen works on the calendar , four are full-length feature films (Bell’epoker by Nico Cirasola; I galantuomini by Edoardo Winspeare; La casa delle donne by Mimmo Mongelli and Pinuccio Lovero; and Sogno di una morte di mezza estate by Pippo Mezzapesa); seven are documentaries (Emigranti by Mario Tani and Domenico Rodolfo; Il sibilo lungo della tarantola by Paolo Pisanelli; Le donne della Torre Pelosa by Antonella Maddalena; Le storie cantate by Nicola Morisco and Daniele Trevisi; Radio Egnatia by Davide Barletti; Sound Res. I giorni del suono by Ippolito Chiarello; Un rumore di gabbiani by Giuseppe Cristaldi); and four are short films (H5N1 by Roberto De Feo; U su’ by Mimmo Mancini; Vietato fermarsi by Pierluigi Ferrandini; Watch! by Mimmo Mongelli).
     

    On the eve of the festival, we met with Dean Antony Tamburri who discussed the merits of the initiative, its goals, and the perception of Italian national and regional cinema in the Unites States
     

    What is the main aim of the festival?

    One of the ideas is to take Puglia’s creativity and present it to the world. This year’s festival features movies that have already been presented in both Australia and Canada, with some older productions replaced by new ones. This event also allows short films to be shown to a wider audience; this is important since short films are usually only shown during festivals or in university settings and at institutes like the Calandra. They are not commonly screened in theaters so this is a great opportunity to introduce them to the general public.

    Why is the Calandra Institute sponsoring and hosting the event?

    It creates a perfect synergy between this region in Italy which wants to promote its cinema outside the country in the United States. There is also a large Pugliese population in the United States, particularly in the greater New York metropolitan area and Chicago.
     

    Why is it so important to introduce Puglia cinema in America?

    It allows Italian-Americans who are not familiar with contemporary Italy to glimpse through a window and get an idea of the current cultural and social conditions within the country.  Moreover, this festival meets two needs within the Italian American community. The first is that Italian-Americans can learn more about the history of Italy than what they have heard from their parents and grandparents; the second is that they will know more about modern Italy and not just the conditions in Italy during their ancestors’ time. Plus, an initiative like this becomes a vehicle to learn about the different local and regional cultures that in some areas of Italy are stronger than the national culture. People are getting more and more interested in this as globalization takes over. Local traditions go beyond geographical borders and are spread and promoted abroad, according to what is commonly referred as the new phenomenon of “glocalization.”
     

    Do you think that contemporary cinema can actually and realistically mirror Italian contemporary culture?

    I think that Italian cinema, like any form of art, can be not only a mirror of what is going on in Italian society, but it can also tell us what Italians think of Italian Americans, as it appears in some of these films.  There is one film that I can mention as an example. It is Verzì’s “My name is Tanino,” in which Italian Americans are represented in a very stereotypical way. We are still working on dismantling them but we are commonly considered “oversensitive” on the issue.
     

    What kind of audience does this initiative hope to attract?

    Of course Italians and Italian Americans living in the U.S., but non-Italians as well: all people who love Italy or have a passion for Italian cinema should be interested in attending these kinds of events.
     

    The Festival is sponsored by Camera di Commercio Industria, Artigianato e Agricoltura di Bari; Regione Puglia Assessorato al Mediterraneo; Provincia di Bari Presidenza del Consiglio; The United Pugliesi Federation of the Metropolitan Area; Calandra Italian American Institute; Westchester Italian Cultural Center; Guild of Italian American Actors; Pugliesi nel Mondo; Federazione Italiana Lavoratori Emigranti e Famiglie; Associazione Turesi nel Mondo; and Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori

    The event will be hosted by the Calandra Italian American Institute (July 14-15-17-18) and the Westchester Italian Cultural Center (July 16).

    John D. Calandra Italian American Institute

    25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, Manhattan

    RSVP: (212) 642-2094 

    Westchester Italian Cultural Center

    One Generoso Pope Place, Tuckahoe, New York

    Information: (914) 771-8700
     

    FULL PROGRAM SCHEDULE

    Tuesday, July 14, 2009 – Calandra Italian American Institute

    4:30 pm – Opening: John Mustaro (United Pugliesi Federation of Metropolitan Area); Fred Gardaphé and Anthony Tamburri (John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY).

    5:00 pm – Lecture: Apulian Cinema by Mimmo Mongelli (LIFF)

    6:00 pm – Emigranti (Emigrants) by Mario Tani, Domenico Rodolfo (2008)

    6:30 pm – Sound Res. I Giorni del Suono (Sound Res. Sound Days) by Ippolito Chiarello (2006)

    7:30 pm – Watch! By Mimmo Mongelli (2008) 

    Wednesday, July 15, 2009 – Calandra Italian American Institute

    4:00 pm – Lecture: The Emigration in the Third Millennium by Menino Coppi (Associazione Turesi nel Mondo)

    5:00 pm Pinuccio Lovero, Sogno di Una Morte Di Mezza Estate (Pinuccio Lovero, A Midsummer Death’s Dream) by Pippo Mezzapesa (2008)

    6:15 pm – La Casa delle Donne (Women’s House) by Mimmo Mongelli (2003) 

    Thursday, July 16, 2009 – Westchester Italian Cultural Center

    6:15 pm – Lecture: Production Activity and Cultural Activity by Antonio Barile (CCIAA)

    7:15 pm – Un Rumore di Gabbiani (A Seagull’s Noise) by Giuseppe Cristaldi (2008)

    8:30 pm – Bell’Epoker by Nico Cirasola (2005)


    Friday, July 17, 2009 – Calandra Italian American Institute

    4:00 pm – Lecture: Institutions and Culture by Marco Sportelli (President of the Counsel of Provincia di Bari)

    5:00 pm – Radio Egnatia by Davide Barletti (2008)

    6:15 pm – Il Sibilo Lungo Della Taranta (The Long Hiss of the Tarantula) by Paolo Pisanelli (2004) 
     

    Saturday, July 18, 2009 – Calandra Italian American Institute

    4:00 pm – Lecture: Italian Cinema Around the World by Carlo Gentile (SNCCI)

    5:00 pm – H5N1 by Roberto De Feo (2007)

    5:30 pm – U Su’ by Mimmo Mancini (2007)

    5:50 pm – Le Donne della Torre Pelosa (Women from Torre Pelosa) by Antonella Maddalena (2008)

    6:30 pm – Vietato Fermarsi (Don’t Stop) by Pierluigi Ferrandini (2007)

    6:40 pm – Storie Cantate (Stories by Song) by Nicola Morisco, Daniele Trevisi (2007)

    7:30 pm – I Galantuomini (The Gentlemen) by Edoardo Winspeare (2008) 

    All films are in Italian with English subtitles. 
  • Events: Reports

    Fancy Food 2009. Tasting the Italian Pavilion

    The country's largest specialty food and beverage event, the NYC Summer Fancy Food Show, is about to start. For the occasion, we interviewed Dr. Aniello Musella, the Director of the Italian Trade Commission in North America. The ITC is the major organizer and coordinator of the Italian Pavilion, that will cover about 24,100 square fee (20% of the total) with about 250 exhibitors.

    Dr. Musella talked with us about the Show, focusing on the several novelties of this year’s edition, the important presence of a delegation from Regione Calabria, and the expectations of the Italian vendors and institutional representatives participating.

    We also faced together a number of issues of general interest, among which the falsification of Italian products in the US, the growing popularity of Italian slow food in the country, and of course the economic crisis and its impact on Italian importation in the US.

    Fancy Food 2009. What’s new about the Italian participation?
    Well, this year we have even more space covered by the Italian exhibitors. As I said we have 250 companies in the Italian pavilion, but outside the Italian pavilion we have more or less one hundred Italian companies in the other areas of the Javits Center. So this year we will have in total 350 Italian companies exhibiting at the Fancy Food in New York. The Italian pavilion is the biggest ever at the Fancy Food Exhibition. The space covered by the Italian pavilion is twenty percent of the total space; that means that this year’s Fancy Food is going to be quite Italian, and less international, this year.

    How is the Italian Trade Commission involved in this event?
    We organized the participation of the Italian companies inside the Italian official pavilion, but apart from that we have a lot of side events that focus on different aspects of the Italian food industry. One of the seminars that we organized(*) focuses mainly on healthy products and on the Mediterranean diet; and another which focuses on the quality, and the preservation of the quality, of Italian food products. These are two aspects that are very important for the Italian companies. The two seminars  are intended for American distributors, importers and restaurateurs to inform them of the significance of quality Italian food and wine products.

    What kind of products will be promoted? Are there any novelties under this point of view?
    We have basic products: pasta, cheese (these are lots of varieties of cheese this year), processed foods, and for the first time we will also have organic products. As a matter of fact, our desk will be focused on the promotion of organic products from Italy, and we will have eight companies that will present their own products at Fancy Food. I think this is one of the most important innovations we have had this year.

    Regione Calabria will be one of the protagonists of this year’s edition…
    We have been working with the Calabria region for many years, and this year at Fancy Food we focus on the Calabria region with specific side events. We will present on the evening of June 29th a tasting of the traditional products of Calabria, with wines of course, and we will have a food and wine expert presenting the major characteristics of Calabrian food and wine products. In addition, on the 10th of July we will start a promotion of food and wine from Calabria in over 14 restaurants and specialty stores here in New York. This is quite a big campaign that we supporting: the promotion of products from a region that is small, and not

    well known in the United States and New York. So we are really putting great effort into this.

    How is the promotion of the Mediterranean diet being perceived in the United States?
    The Mediterranean diet and organic food are very well perceived in metropolitan cities where there is a lot of attention paid to healthy food. We are mainly talking about New York and San Francisco, since these are the two areas in which organic food is more successful. Hence, these are the two American cities where we primarily focus our promotion of Italian organic food.
    How is the current economic crisis affecting the popularity of Italian cuisine in the country?
    Well, my opinion is that during an economic crisis, when people do not frequent restaurants often, they tend to seek simple foods, even in the United States. People are looking for simple food with quality content, so pasta and Italian food products are very important in this concept. This is the idea behind Plotkin’s concept, which claims that Italian food products are in the highest demand during economic crises because the products are simple, healthy and people eat this food at home more than in restaurants. Of course I agree with Plotkin, and I hope his concept is accurate.

    How is Italian “slow food” facing the growth of the “fast food” industry?
    Slow food reminds me of the Italian Slow Food organization, that with Petrini doing a great job has been very successful here in the United States. I think with areas like New York and San Francisco, slow food is something that has a great future. In this concept of slow food with the Italian products and diet, the main idea is enjoying the food rather than eating and rushing back to business. This concept works very well with the Italian Mediterranean diet.

    How does the importation in the US of counterfeit food products affect the Italian export industry?
    This is quite a big issue in the Unites States. Just to give you an idea of how much the counterfeit food products affect the Italian export industry, I will mention two figures. In 2008 the export of authentic Italian food and wine totaled in value $3.5 billion. The fake Italian products in the United States reached a value of $4.5 billion. So the value of the fake products is actually greater than that of the authentic goods. This is a very big issue for the Italian Trade Commission whose main task is to promote authentic Italian products. What we mainly do is organize a lot of educational addresses to consumers in order for them to know what they are getting if they buy the fake products instead of authentic products. Therefore, we do a lot of tasting, pairing together the authentic products with the imitations. We do it for cheese and many other products. There is a lot of activity addressed to American consumers in order to combat this kind of problem as much as possible.

    What are the main initiatives promoted by the Italian Trade Commission to protect the “Made in Italy” in this country?
    We have established for two years now an Intellectual Property Rights Desk that works to fight the counterfeiting of food products and many other products. In the food sector this is a big problem. The Desk tries to inform the Italian companies how to register their brand and trademark to avoid fake products here in the United States. In some cases the Desk assists the companies if they have to defend themselves against any local company that uses their name with a different product. In my opinion this is an important activity in supporting Italian companies that produce food for the American market.

    What are the expectations towards this year’s edition of the Fancy Food Show?
    Fancy Food always has always participated in the Consortium and the Chamber of Commerce in Italy and they have always worked well at the exhibition in New York. This year of course we have an economic crisis going on, and the consumer demand had decreased quite a lot. So the expectation that the crisis will end soon as possible is a big concern. Fancy food remains an important meeting point for the Italian companies to start new contact or to consolidate contact with the local importers, distributors and restaurateurs in the United States. So it is still very important for the Chamber of Commerce and the Consortium, with their own companies, to be at Fancy Food in order to consolidate their presence in the market.

    Besides the Show, what are the main activities organized throughout the year to promote the “Made in Italy” in the US?
    The summer Fancy Food is just one activity that the Italian Trade Commission organizes for the promotion of the Italian companies in the United States. For example, we organize a lot of trade delegations to Italy to visit production areas of specific regions. This is something that is very useful because it gives the Italian companies the opportunity to meet importers and distributors that maybe they would have never met. This works very well because small companies have unique and niche products that do well in the specialty food sector of the United States.  This is just one activity that the Italian Trade Commission organizes. Besides that we also organize the Fancy Food show in San Francisco that takes place at the end of January where we have 100 Italian companies at the exhibition.

    Apart from that we organize a lot of educational addresses to consumers, i.e. tasting, and we do those in specialty stores. We organize these activities throughout the year. The Fancy Food show is an important moment, but it is one among many others we organize.

    (*)INFO ON THE EVENTS ORGANIZED BY THE ITALIAN TRADE COMMISSION:

    "IL MADE IN ITALY A TAVOLA: INGREDIENTI SALUTARI, QUALITA' DEL CIBO E TUTELA GIURIDICA DEI PRODOTTI TIPICI NEGLI USA"     (Made in Italy: healthy ingredients, quality of food, and juridical protection of Italian traditional products in the US)
    WHEN: June 28, 4:30- 6pm 
    WHERE: Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York, Room 1E03
    ABOUT: The seminar is divided into two sessions: in the first one Dr. Katherine McManus - Director of Nutrition Dept., Brigham Hospital, Boston – will talk about the healthy aspects of Mediterranean diet and Italian organic products;he second one is organized by the Italian Intellectual Property Rights Desk in New York. Members of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP Law Office will talk about the juridical protection of Italian food products in the US .

    WHY IS ITALIAN FOOD THE BEST DURING ECONOMIC HARD TIMES?”
    WHEN: June 29, 4:30pm
    WHERE: Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York, Room 2D08
    ABOUT: The seminar is presented by Fred Plotkin, author of the best seller “Italy for the Gourmet Traveler”. The renowned Italian culinary expert writes for the New York Times, and for the trade journals "Gourmet" and "Bon Appetit".
     


    This interview was written in collaboration with Gabrielle Pati
  • Art & Culture

    Rebelling Against Mafia. The Cinema Way

    Movies about the Mafia? We have seen so many of them… In America it has become a cinematographic genre, and characters such as Vito Corleone or Tony Montana have become real icons. Fascinated, we learned their code of honor, supported their lust for revenge, suffered for their pains of love and for their losses… Sometimes we almost forget they are criminals, murderers, we just feel close to them and (often) quote their expressions, copy their looks, imitate some of their behavior. 
     

    But what about those who are victims of the Mafia system? Those who have grown up in areas where organized crime is the real ruling power and have learned to deal with it in their daily life? For many decades or, let’s say, centuries, almost nobody in Italy had the strength, or the will, to denounce the pathological situation of a large part of Southern Italy, where Camorra, Ndrangheta, Mafia and Sacra Corona govern the economical, political, and social life of the area. And many of those who did, paid. 

    Today something is changing. Movies like “Gomorrah”, “Il Divo”, show a new trend. They give testimony to a renewed refusal to live in a present and a future under the shadow of organized crime. People are committing themselves to a new denuncia, and cinema is becoming the mirror of their growing protest.
     

    Director Marco Amenta presented his latest movie, “The Sicilian Girl”, during this year’s edition of

    “Open Roads” (June 4 – 11, 2009). The production received nominations for two prestigious awards : the “Nastri d’Argento” and the "David di Donatello". The film is inspired by a true story, the protagonist being Rita Atria, a member of a Mafia family in Sicily.

    She rebels against organized crime when her brother and father are killed under orders from the boss of a rival family. She finds in judge Borsellino and legal prosecution the only way to revenge the deaths of her dear ones.  Her diaries become the evidence police need to arrest dozens of Mafia bosses and criminals. They are also, however, her death sentence. A few months after her “denuncia”, and a short period of life hidden in Rome, persecutions, menaces, intimidations, and murders  induce Rita to end her life, committing suicide.

    Director Amenta told this story already once before, in 1998. The 56 minute-long documentary, “Diario di una Siciliana Ribelle” (One Girl Against the Mafia), received awards at several Italian and foreign movie Festivals, among which the Mostra del Cinema di Venezia; the  "Prix Italia”; the “Prix Europa”; and was also presented at the Docfest in New York.
     

    We interviewed director Amenta and asked him about his movie, his life in Sicily, his commitment in the battle against organized crime, and his future projects.

    You produced the documentary “Diario di una siciliana ribelle”  more than 10 years ago. Your new movie, “The Sicilian Girl”, is also based on the story of young Rita, a member and, at the same time, a victim of the Mafia system. Why does this story touch you so deeply?

    The two productions are completely different. In 1998 I told the story portraying the real characters. I used images from photographic archives and I also used the authentic diary of this young girl. That was a documentary. I presented it throughout the world, also here in the United States. I wanted people to know this story. But something was still missing, and that was the psychological description of the character, her inner feelings. It was important to me to give full value to her path of emancipation. She is raised in a Mafia family and considers her brother and father as real heroes, to her eyes they are almost modern Robin Hoods. She lives in her own fairy tail, and feels like a princess.

    When both are killed she finds revenge collaborating with an anti-mafia judge, with whom she understands that her beloved ones were nothing but murderers. That is when she begins a very hard inner journey, a psychological path that will allow her to look at the Mafia world from a new point of view, and to destroy the heroic image she used to have of her brother and father.  She becomes the counterpart of another female character of the movie, her mother. The latter is a typical Sicilian Mafia woman, that abandons and disowns her own daughter to remain faithful to a belief she has adhered to for all her life. Rita rebels against two types of tyrannies: the Mafia; and a violent, sexist and patriarchal system. This second form of rebellion can make a universal story of her experience, one that we could find in any place or time.
     
    I lived there during my childhood and adolescent years. Then I moved to France where I lived for several years, but I always maintained important ties with my homeland. My job as a photo-reporter allowed me to have  direct contact with organized crime in Sicily, as I was asked to photograph murders, witnesses, those responsible for terrible massacres. I was also threatened.

     As a Sicilian man, I know this world perfectly. It is unavoidable when you grow up there. I imagine this is the reason why it is so important for me to tell my audience about what still happens in my homeland. Yes, because Italy has never been emancipated from organized crime. And if it still wants to consider itself a “modern democracy”, just as other European countries,  it has to get read of his huge curse.
     

    In which way does the Mafia affect democracy in Italy?

    Organized crime, being Camorra, Mafia, or nDrangheta, controls parts of the national economy. It controls politics, institutions - civil society. Italy is not a “sane democracy”. The victims of this system are not only those who fight against the Mafia but also ordinary people. In the universities, in the hospitals, doctors and professors are hired only because they have important friendships, or maybe because they can do some kind of “favors”. We are all victims of this system, even if we do not want to admit it. We must not be afraid, we shall face this problem.
     

    How do you portray the Mafia in your movies?

    Just the way it is. I do not want my movies to be classified in the “Mafia gendre”, neither do I want to copy from other directors that have told about this issue using all kinds of stereotypes. They tell grotesque stories. I want to recount reality, so I take inspiration from it. This is what Saviano did too, with his “Gomorrah”: he worked with the Camorra for three months to write his book. As a photo reporter I was infiltrated too. I showed in my movie how the criminals look, how the nervousness of the anti-mafia judge caused his hands to tremble so much that  he could not sign documents… This is what makes the difference in my movies, they are a sort of  hybrid between a documentary and a movie production …
     

    Is this also the case of “The Sicilian Girl”?

    Yes, I chose actors that could communicate directly with the public, and give an introspective image of what was happening.

    First of all, most of them were Sicilian, except for the judge who was French and a few others. Many were not professional actors, and came from “risky” environments. As an example, the actor that plays Rita’s boyfriend, Vito, comes from a slum in Palermo, called “Zen”. Just like the character, he had to choose between a “legal” and a “criminal” life. He opted for the first choice, but today his childhood pals still try to convince him to follow the other path. You can see how he fits that role just perfectly.
     

    I also allowed the actors to speak in dialect pretty often, and this gives great realism to the movie and the characters. The cast is made with actors that play in an instinctive and visceral way. “Rita” only performed in two movies before, and never studied recitation. But she has a wild side, and a naive one too. I liked her, and I felt I needed her for my movie…

    Do you face any kind of obstructionism against the making of a movie of this kind in Italy?

    Fortunately, there aren’t so many taboos anymore. Things are changing. But it is still difficult to produce politically or socially committed movies. Comedies of course are more remunerative, since they attract a greater audience. Today the trend, also and especially in TV, is to hide reality and its problems. They want people to dream and forget about history and politics. Italy is imposing on itself a sort of self censure. Look at what is happening with the reality shows. What are they all about? A group of VIPs pretending to be farmers, survivors on desert islands… They portray the exact opposite of real life, they are absolute fiction. I would call Italian TV’s present era as the era of “Berlusconiism”, where people are offered a sort of never-ending and ethereal reproduction of reality. This is why I prefer cinema, which is the place where you can recount reality. But we have our difficulties too, because the tendency is to produce fictional stories. But Sorrentino made it with “Il Divo” and Garrone with “Gomorrah”. And thanks to all those who financed my project and believed in it, “The Sicilian Girl” came out too.
     

    Are you working on new projects?

    My company, Eurofilm, bought the rights of “The Banker to the Poor”, the autobiographical book of Muhammad Yumus, before he became a Nobel prize. My sister Simonetta Amenta is the producer of this new movie, and I wrote the screenplay together with Sergio Donati, who already collaborated with us for “The Sicilian Girl”.  The screenplay, indeed, won a prize at this year’s edition of the Tribeca Film Festival. The movie will be shot in Bangladesh and in the United States, and will be released in English. It is the story of a man that invents a new kind of bank. He lends small sums of money to the poor, to widows,  to ill women with children. He does not ask for any kind of guarantee, breaching this way one of the fundamental rules of the

    modern financial and banking system. Everybody believes he is fool, crazy, nobody trusts him or believes in his idea. Thus he starts his “new business” alone.

    He opens it up in a hovel in a village in Bangladesh. Contrary to all predictions, the beneficiaries of his business returned the loans as soon as they could and with no foreign or international assistance. He had been the first one to give them dignity, and they did not want to delude him. Very soon Mohammed opens new branches of his bank, multiplying them throughout the world. As a result he helped millions of poor, and in 2006 he received the Nobel prize for Peace.
     

    This movie, just like “The Sicilian Girl”, wants to show people that there is always an alternative way, we always have a choice. The prize at the Tribeca shows that Italians can recount universal stories too. Bertolucci recounted life in China in “L’Ultimo Imperatore”, Sergio Leone narrated about America to the Americans… my movie is about an ethical bank in Bangladesh. It was important for me to present it in the city of Wall Street. The banking system was created to help people, now it has become an abstract and cold entity that stands far from the every-day problems of the people. Given the current economic crisis, my movie could suggest a change…
     

    What is the ultimate goal of your movies?

    I want to introduce my audience to a whole new world, make it live new emotional experiences. Of course I don’t think that my movies can change the world, but at least I want to light sparks in my spectators. Some of them can become true fires. When and if I will realize I am not able to do it anymore, I will quit my job. 
  • Art & Culture

    Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò at NYU. A Free Arena in the City

    Lessons are over, but at Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò you can still feel the buzz of culture. Yes, because even if students are resting at the seashore or preparing their final exams or thesis, there is somebody who is already planning a full calendar of activities for the next academic year.

    The Director of the Casa, Stefano Albertini, welcomed us to his office a few days ago. Surrounded by shelves packed with movies and books of all sorts, we sat in front of his desk on the left of a cozy wood-paneled room. The conversation lasted for more than an hour, as we retraced the most significant moments of the past year at the Casa, and talked about the numerous initiatives the foundation will host and organize during the upcoming year.

    Stefano Albertini, Clinical Associate Professor of Italian at NYU also has a true passion for Italian cinema, showing deep knowledge of both past and present cinematographic currents. The Casa is thus often involved in initiatives aiming to promote it in the United States. One of them is Open Roads, the Festival recently organized at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan by Professor Antonio Monda and Richard Peña, Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. The initiative, that takes the merit for bringing some of the most talented contemporary  Italian directors and actors to New York and introducing their works to an American

    (and multi-cultural) public, finds in the Casa one of its major supporters. Just as every year, indeed, its auditorium hosted a debate between the Italian artists participating in this ninth edition of the Festival and American and Italian students, who had a chance to discuss their work, their projects, and the contemporary situation of Italian cinema, its limits and its achievements with them. Prof. Albertini shared  his opinion with us on this issue too, as our conversation touched a very thorny theme: the evident lack of cultural independence in Italy, and the limited support its diffusion and promotion has been enjoying in this latest period.

    But there is still optimism and a great desire to do more for promoting Italian culture, both within and outside the country’s borders.

    What to do, and what has been done? What are the Casa’s goals? How will it achieve them? We spoke about this too, remembering the goals that have been achieved to be proud of and mentioning those to be reached in the very near future.

    We have divided the conversation in chapters, in order to give the reader a better chance to focus on the different issues we touched upon together.

    THE PAST YEAR AT CASA ITALIANA

    What has been the thread of this year’s event calendar at Casa Italiana?

    “Our aim has always been to offer a free forum, where all ideas can be discussed. Academic freedom is the first principle that we respect. We do not receive fundings from any government agency, and this allows us to maintain great independency in our activities. We don’t have a real agenda: we just follow the idea that the university must be a sort of “agorà”, a square where people can go and share their opinions, which can also be very critical, and openly discuss them.”

    Among all the events you organized this year, of which one are you most proud ?

    I was very pleased with two documentary historical exhibits that we had, one dedicated to Brazzà and the other to Bassani. “Brazzà in Congo” was based on large educational panels, with photographs. There was very little of the artistic in it, but it narrated the story of this explorer who participated in the discovery of the Congo very well and it showed him to have very unusual views for his time, since he opposed the military occupation of Africa and the economic exploitations there. With Giorgio Bassani.” Il giardino dei libri" (Giorgio Bassani. The garden of books), on the other hand, we had his books, manuscripts, photographs, a significant collection that also gave us great visibility with the public and the media.

    OPEN ROADS FESTIVAL AND ITALIAN CINEMA

    What is the relationship between Casa Italiana and the Open Roads Festival? 

    The initiative is one of our staples. The idea at the basis of the Festival is to ask  Italian directors and artists to come to New York together as a group. It is an occasion ‘to make the point’ about the situation of Italian cinematography. Thanks to the festival, we have the most interesting representatives of the Italian film industry. What I noticed that is very interesting is that they are also very pleased to do this because they don’t have many occasions to exchange ideas in Italy, so almost paradoxically they can do it only here. At the Casa, moreover, they also find a young audience with which they can confront and discuss things: many of the young people study Italian cinema, thus the conversation becomes interesting and constructive for both sides.

    What is the situation of Italian contemporary cinema?

    There are of course many problems and obstacles that limit the growth of the sector. The first, we all know, lies in the lack of funds. Since there are very few cinematographic entrepreneurs, most of the production in Italy is supported by government financing which can decide arbitrarily how the funds are distributed.

    The second problem is the progressive closure of many small theatres throughout the country, which were those who usually screened independent, classic, Italian productions. Thus they really cannot find great channels of distribution anymore.

    Finally, there is a problem regarding the audience. Who are the people who go to see Italian movies? What are they looking for? The list of the “top-ten” films is somehow discouraging: lots of people go to see the so-called ‘Panettone movies’ (a sort of contemporary B movies released during the Christmas period). When I go to Italy to visit or for work reasons, I rarely go to the cinema, since theatres rarely give much space to quality Italian productions. That is why as an Italian I am so happy we have Open Roads here in Manhattan.

    And this is also why here at Casa we are so dedicated to the promotion of Italian cinema: we are committed to recognize and spread the works of great contemporary national masters. Just one name? Marco Bellocchio, who, in my opinion, has changed the way cinema is conceived since the 1960s. I think that his most recent film, “Vincere”, is stunning, fantastic, and the cast features excellent actors such as Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi. And Bellocchio is just one name. Only this year we also produced worldwide successes such as Garrone’s ‘Gomorrah’ and Sorrentino’s ‘Il Divo’.

    Who are the people interested in Italian cinema here in New York?

    Let me tell you, I was amazed to see how many people went to the Lincoln Center during the last days of the Open Roads Festival. The theatre was also packed during weekdays, at 2-3pm, which is something that rarely happens. This shows that there is great interest in Italian cinema here, there is an audience. Of course there are members of CineFile, the members of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and many Italians who live here. And then there is also a large number of Americans that are in love with  Italian cinema: they grew up with neo-realism, watching movies by Fellini, Visconti, Rossellini…masters that gave Italian cinema worldwide fame. These people sort of look for their disciples, and come to see Italian movies with great expectations. And there are of course young Americans, film students or Italian language students

    What is the role of cinema today?

    I think that there are some movies that can become a means to “denunciare”, denounce. Graduate students here at Casa Italiana organized a series of screenings named this year called “Denuncia. Speaking up in modern Italy”, giving Italian directors a chance to “export their message” to the USA. And I have to give them all the credit for this wonderful initiative.  Of course, I don’t think that all the cinema di denuncia is good, but today this might be considered as an important role for both pictures and documentary productions.

    NEXT YEAR AT CASA ITALIANA

    What kind of initiatives are you organizing for the next academic year?

    We are working on several levels. The program is not yet defined, but we are already working on some important projects. First of all, we will host a number of documentary historical exhibitions. One will be on Renata Tebaldi, the Italian soprano who was in competition all her life with Maria Callas. A second will be dedicated to Gabriele D’Annunzio, one of the greatest poets of the XX century in Italy. In this country he is rather well-known at the academic level, but the general public does not know much about him and his works, even though he had a moment of great popularity in his life in the United States too. D’Annunzio was a quintessential esthete, so we are collaborating with the Vittoriale museum to collect some of the objects he surrounded himself with. We believe that through them the public can better understand his personality.

    Besides an artistic exhibit on prints by Alberto Burri, in November we will host a display dedicated to

    Italian futurism, since this year the centenary of its birth occurs.

    Most probably we will also collaborate with the Lincoln Center in the organization of a movie festival dedicated to Italian neo-realism. They will screen 90 films in their theatres, but we are willing to host events dedicated to the initiative here at Casa Italiana. This will be the largest retrospective dedicated to neo-realism that has ever been done.

     

    We are also continuing our series “Adventures in Italian Opera” with Frank Plotkin and this year also our students will organize their own conference.  Finally, as we have always done, we will host several concerts, readings, roundtables and debates, that will keep our calendar very busy and rich.

    Finally, next year Casa Italiana will also celebrate the 20th Anniversary of its foundation…

    Yes, in November 2010. Although it seems pretty far from now, we feel we need to get in the ‘celebratory mood’ pretty soon: we will hold a series of events dedicated to this special occasion throughout that month, so we are starting to plan well ahead.


    Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, home of the Department of Italian Studies at New York University, was born thanks to a generous and handsome donation from the Baroness Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimò. 
    Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò is widely recognized for its extraordinary and continuous efforts in  spreading and promoting Italian culture and history in New York. At 25 West 12th Street in Manhattan, American and Italian fellows, young students, intellectuals, and academics, find an open door where they can discuss, propose and participate in all kinds of activities and, most of all, learn and cultivate their passion for Italy. All of this is possible thanks to a fundamental principle, one value that the Casa has been championing since its very foundation. It is called “academic freedom”.

  • Life & People

    Things I miss about Naples



    Being an Italian-American has always been quite tough for me. In America they always called me “the Italian girl”, in Italy “Ammericà”. But I really did not know “what I was”. I can say that my family did a great job educating me and teaching me the “good values” that would help me become a “good person”. But some were Italian values, and some were American. And sometimes they colluded. Since I spent most of my life in Italy, and more specifically, in Naples, many times I felt “different” from my friends, my colleagues and people living in my neighborhood. This discomfort was one of the main reasons that led me to a crucial decision: to leave Naples and find “my place” - the city where I could start a new life and feel free to be myself.
     
    I moved to New York one year ago or so. I already know that I will not live here for the rest of my life although I love this experience and hope that it will last a long time. I look at this city as a “bridge” that “connects” my past to my future, wherever it will be. I am starting to understand much more about myself. But most of all, I found my identity: the Italan-American identity. So, for the first time in my life, I feel part of a community, I feel similar to many people that share an important life experience with me : being neither an American nor an Italian, but  “hybrids” who have their own culture, history, and maybe even language.
     
    A month or so ago, we interviewed a number of Italian-Americans at the Calandra Institute of Queens College and asked them what is the first thing that comes to their mind when they think about Italy. I just watched the video again and asked myself the same question. The first thing I realized is that in my case it is not Italy that I think about, but it is Naples. In my city they said that “Napoli è terra straniera” (Naples is a foreign territory) or that “siamo il Nord dell’Africa”(we are the Northern part of Africa). Yes, because Naples is not Italy, it is a small planet on its own, where people obey different laws, have different values and carry on a “Neapolitan life style”.
     
    Just a year ago I had arrived at the point where I hated that city.
     
    I hated Camorra organized crime, the baby gangs, the garbage emergency, Vesuvio ready to explode at any time, the abusive infrastructures and the rotting hospitals and schools.
     
    I hated the helpless unemployment, the almost pandemic state of poverty of a high percentage of the families, the gossiping women sitting on the doorsteps, the children playing soccer in the middle of the square and ready to kick the ball with the extraordinary power of their skinny legs just when I was trying to cross the street, and the always-complaining-grumpy-old-men sipping espresso coffee at the bar all day long.
     
    I hated the constant negotiating with the “fruttivendolo” (greengrocer) and “macellaio” (butcher) to have a little discount on a very expensive pound of “cerase” (cherries) or filetto, the dioxine in the mozzarella, the rudeness of the waiters in the “pizzerias” and the sensation that I was pretending “too much” from them if I asked for another fork because mine was dirty.
     
    I hated the abusive parking attendants to whom I had to give “due, non meno” (two euro and not less) to watch my car otherwise they would probably vandalize it; the constant fear I had that somebody would steal my pocketbook from my hand or my earrings or necklace; the danger in taking the subway after 8 pm; the real possibility that somebody on the bus could take my cell phone from my backpack.
     
    I hated all of these things, and much more. So I went away.
     
    Now a year has passed by and I have lived a whole range of experiences here in New York. I would never ever go back to Naples, it certainly is not the place for me place, it is not my future. But now at least I can say I do not hate it. Or better still, I miss it a little bit. I miss my “Neapolitan routine” as I used to call it, and some things that in Naples are “normal” but not in the rest of the world, especially in Manhattan.
     
    The following is a brief  list of the things I really feel I miss.
     
    First of all, the sea. It might seem quite strange to you since Manhattan is an island, but I miss the sea. Here I do not feel the presence of the ocean, at all. I can’t smell the dampness of the seashore, my hair can not find the rhythm of the sea breeze. I remember my fishmonger advising me on the deal of the day. “Pigliete chest che è pesce paesan” (Take this, it is  local fish), as if he raised that cod fish in his backyard… Now I do realize how the sea was part of our everyday life.
     
    Second, the days spent at the bar in front of my University. I used to go downtown and wake up my friend Rodrigo at about 9 am. We had our first coffee at 9:30, our breakfast. By the time it was 5 pm, we easily had 8 empty espresso cups on the table, four each. We used to stay there all day long, people saw us from far away and joined us for a half an hour or so. That was a great way for both me and him to study, meet friends, discuss our dreams, ideals, opinions and, of course, argue. The waiter used to come every once in a while trying to find out if we were finally going to leave the table to some other client, but there was no way to kick us away! And of course he eyed us very badly when his shift was over and we were still there, and he had to go away with no tip at all!
    Now I look back and I realize that it was something we could do only in Naples. Only in that spot of the world’s map do people have the right to waste a whole day like that, and nobody can do anything about it. It is just the way it is.
     
    Third, the screams. People in Naples scream, it is in their nature. Every hour or so you can hear a mother of child screaming from the window something like “Gennà saje che t’agg fatt a merenn” (Gennaro come upstairs, I have a snack for you) to the kid playing downstairs carefully watched over by his grandma or some widow dressed in black sitting outside her tobacco shop. Everybody in Italy recognizes Neapolitans by their loud voices, it is like a trademark. Here in New York I hear people screaming only when there is an emergency or something dangerous is happening. It is the exception. In Naples, on the contrary, it is when people are quiet that there is something wrong, and you have to start worrying. Silence can become the best way to communicate when you know the “Neapolitan code” that allows you to read the other’s mind without saying a word. Otherwise, when a Neapolitan screams, don’t worry. He could threaten you, but be sure that his hands won’t go further than his words. And, after he finishes, you can just walk away.
     
     
    Fourth, the beer. Yes, of course I drink beer here in New York. A pint of Guinness is always a fair treat after a week of work. But you can only enjoy it indoors.
    Here it is illegal to sip from the bottle while walking around. Too bad, because when I went out in Naples this is how I used to spend my evenings with my friends. “A passejata (a walk) a Piazza del Gesù” was “a must”. A beer each and a couple of guitars on the doorsteps of the church and we were all set. Singing and dancing in the middle of the street was a “habit” for us, and people in that neighborhood came to know “sti pazzariell” (these crazy kids) and sometimes also applauded our…performance! It was funny to see how the group got larger and larger as the hours passed by, with other groups joining us. Now that I think about it, I realize how Naples never really became a metropolis, but always remained in a certain sense a small town. A village where housewives leave the entrance door of their apartments open so that the other women in the building can step in and have a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. A place where people can be very egoistical and self-centered but also very generous.
     
    Naples is a living contradiction; it is black and white together. But, as we say here in America, “that’s the way the ball bounces” and after all it is not that bad.
     
     

     
  • Events: Reports

    Focaccia Blues. When David defeats Goliath

    We know a place in this world where David can beat Goliath. This place is Altamura, in the province of Bari, Puglia. This modern day legend is told in “Focaccia Blues”, the protagonists being the King of Hamburgers, Mc Donald’s, and a very small focaccia shop, owned by baker Luca Digesù.
     

    Focaccia Blues is the story of a small bakery owned by Luca Digesù and his brother Giuseppe that in 2002 put a recently opened 550-seat Mc Donald’s out of business. The movie features a cast of well-know Italian movie stars (and politicians!), including Renzo Arbore, Lino Banfi, Michele Placido, Nichi Vendola, Onofrio Pepe. They agreed to participate in “a project that celebrates the triumph of local traditions over fast-food philosophy”. 
     

    Producer Alessandro Contessa and director Nino Cirasola presented the movie in Rome in April 2009, and by the end of the same month the 117 minute production was screened in hundreds of cinemas throughout Italy, becoming a great success with the public. The movie has also been awarded the “Nastri D’Argento” (Silver Ribbons) prize, one of Italy’s most prestigious recognitions in the cinema field.
     

    On June 5 the Italian Cultural Institute of New York will host the American preview of the movie, a “movie of resistance” as it was first defined by producer Contessa.
     

    Baker Luca Digesù started his business Antica Casa Digesù right after the new Mc Donald’s opened in the centre of the town. He claimed it was not his intention to challenge the fast-food chain, but just to “offer an alternative” to the local population.
     

    But Mc Donald’s is always Mc Donald’s. At the beginning people of all ages seemed to be crazy for its French fries and chicken nuggets. But slowly things started to change and locals showed preference for their own version of “fast food”, based on thick pieces of focaccia with many different toppings.
     

    It was the colossal eatery that actually started the “war” against the small bakery, offering all kinds of promotions to regain popularity in town. So kids from school were authorized to visit the kitchen, the restaurant was offered for free for children's birthday parties and TV screens were set-up to watch soccer matches. But the strategy did not work at all.
     

    Already in 2002 the story of the focacceria attracted the attention of the media when the leftist French newspaperLibération recounted what happened in Altamura, in southern Italy, describing the closing of Mc Donalds with these words: “The long red mat was taken away secretly during the night and the "enormous M" over Piazza Zanardelli was also packed up surreptitiously. The windows were covered like a shroud on the victim of a culinary battlefield."
     

    The huge space is now divided into two businesses: a jeans store and a bank
     

    Altamura, defined as the “City of Bread”, is proud of this small but important victory over the “Bic Mac”. The small town is in fact well-known nationwide for its D.O.C. Bread, a recipe based on a mixture of flour, water, yeast, olive oil, and salt. The bread is protected as unique in European Union regulations, but already in ancient times it was defined as a unique delicacy. Horace, in 37 B.C., described it as "far the best bread to be had, a treat to bring in long and adventurous journeys”.
     

    “Focaccia Blues” is a homage to all of this and much more. It is a funny, family movie that teaches that sometimes traditionalism is “the way to go”, and that simplicity and quality can still win.
     

    Slow Food, a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, also showed great appreciation for the movie. Sponsored also by the region of Puglia and the Apulia Film Commission, Focaccia Blues was presented at the 2009 edition of Slow Food on Film, where those attending had a five-sense-experience: after the screening, they could taste and touch the soft and unique goodness of focaccia di Altamura.
     

    Focaccia Blues

    June 5, 2009 (6 pm)

    Italian Cultural Institute of New York

    686 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10065 

    Phone: +1 212 879 4242

     A percentage of the earnings of "Focaccia Blues" will be donated to  'Orphans Dream Foundation', a no-profit organization.

    The movie also features a short cartoon by Luigi Porzia, "It's your time", awarded at the Giffoni Film Festival 2008
  • Art & Culture

    Focaccia Blues. When David defeats Goliath

    We know a place in this world where David can beat Goliath. This place is Altamura, in the province of Bari, Puglia. This modern day legend is told in “Focaccia Blues”, the protagonists being the King of Hamburgers, Mc Donald’s, and a very small focaccia shop, owned by baker Luca Digesù.
     

    Focaccia Blues is the story of a small bakery owned by Luca Digesù and his brother Giuseppe that in 2002 put a recently opened 550-seat Mc Donald’s out of business. The movie features a cast of well-know Italian movie stars (and politicians!), including Renzo Arbore, Lino Banfi, Michele Placido, Nichi Vendola, Onofrio Pepe. They agreed to participate in “a project that celebrates the triumph of local traditions over fast-food philosophy”. 
     

    Producer Alessandro Contessa and director Nino Cirasola presented the movie in Rome in April 2009, and by the end of the same month the 117 minute production was screened in hundreds of cinemas throughout Italy, becoming a great success with the public. The movie has also been awarded the “Nastri D’Argento” (Silver Ribbons) prize, one of Italy’s most prestigious recognitions in the cinema field.
     

    On June 5 the Italian Cultural Institute of New York will host the American preview of the movie, a “movie of resistance” as it was first defined by producer Contessa.
     

    Baker Luca Digesù started his business Antica Casa Digesù right after the new Mc Donald’s opened in the centre of the town. He claimed it was not his intention to challenge the fast-food chain, but just to “offer an alternative” to the local population.
     

    But Mc Donald’s is always Mc Donald’s. At the beginning people of all ages seemed to be crazy for its French fries and chicken nuggets. But slowly things started to change and locals showed preference for their own version of “fast food”, based on thick pieces of focaccia with many different toppings.
     

    It was the colossal eatery that actually started the “war” against the small bakery, offering all kinds of promotions to regain popularity in town. So kids from school were authorized to visit the kitchen, the restaurant was offered for free for children's birthday parties and TV screens were set-up to watch soccer matches. But the strategy did not work at all.
     

    Already in 2002 the story of the focacceria attracted the attention of the media when the leftist French newspaperLibération recounted what happened in Altamura, in southern Italy, describing the closing of Mc Donalds with these words: “The long red mat was taken away secretly during the night and the "enormous M" over Piazza Zanardelli was also packed up surreptitiously. The windows were covered like a shroud on the victim of a culinary battlefield."
     

    The huge space is now divided into two businesses: a jeans store and a bank
     

    Altamura, defined as the “City of Bread”, is proud of this small but important victory over the “Bic Mac”. The small town is in fact well-known nationwide for its D.O.C. Bread, a recipe based on a mixture of flour, water, yeast, olive oil, and salt. The bread is protected as unique in European Union regulations, but already in ancient times it was defined as a unique delicacy. Horace, in 37 B.C., described it as "far the best bread to be had, a treat to bring in long and adventurous journeys”.
     

    “Focaccia Blues” is a homage to all of this and much more. It is a funny, family movie that teaches that sometimes traditionalism is “the way to go”, and that simplicity and quality can still win.
     

    Slow Food, a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, also showed great appreciation for the movie. Sponsored also by the region of Puglia and the Apulia Film Commission, Focaccia Blues was presented at the 2009 edition of Slow Food on Film, where those attending had a five-sense-experience: after the screening, they could taste and touch the soft and unique goodness of focaccia di Altamura.
     

    Focaccia Blues

    June 5, 2009 (6 pm)

    Italian Cultural Institute of New York

    686 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10065 

    Phone: +1 212 879 4242

     A percentage of the earnings of "Focaccia Blues" will be donated to  'Orphans Dream Foundation', a no-profit organization.

    The movie also features a short cartoon by Luigi Porzia, "It's your time", awarded at the Giffoni Film Festival 2008
  • Events: Reports

    Recounting, Describing and Denouncing Reality in NYC

    The Tuscany region is in New York to celebrate the Italian National Day. Among the initiatives scheduled, the New York Documentary Film Festival will take place from May 27 to May 31 at the Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10003). This year’s edition was presented at the Italian Cultural Institute of New York today, May 26.

    Simonetta Magnani, Cultural Attaché at the Italian Cultural Institute, welcomed the numerous Italian and American journalists attending the Press Conference and introduced the organizers of the Festival: Giorgio Bonsanti, President,  Francesco Fadda, Vice-President of the Fitzgerald Foundation of Florence, and Luciano Barisone, Director of the Festival. Mrs. Magnani also read the greetings sent by the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute Renato Miracco who could not attend the event: “It is a great pleasure to support and collaborate with this new edition of the New York Documentary Festival, organized and produced by the Fitzgerald Foundation of Florence and Festival dei Popoli – International Documentary Film Festival, and supported by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. I would like to congratulate the organizers and wish great success to the Festival dei Popoli”.

     
    It was Mr. Fadda who, right after the screening of the video presentation of this year’s edition, explained to us the history of the Festival and told us something more about the calendar of the movies to be presented in these upcoming days.
     
    We learned that the Festival was founded in 1959 as an initiative devoted to promoting and studying social documentary cinema. In fifty years, the collection has grown into an unparalleled

    treasure of documentary films covering the history of non-fiction filmmaking. The 2009 program, organized in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, Mediateca Regionale Toscana Film Commission, Regione Toscana, and Toscana Promozione, and presented by Tribeca Film Institute – Reframe Collection, the New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), and the Producers Guild of America, features three sections of documentaries with a total of 18 films, and also commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the Festival’s first edition.
     
    The first section, “A tribute to Albert Maysles”, honors the famous director’s long-term relationship with the Festival and his contributions to the documentary as an art form. Maysles will present three of his less-known movies: his first production “Psychiatry in Russia”, “With Love from Truman”, and “Meet Marlon Brando”, to whom the opening night of the Festival on May 27 will be dedicated.
     
    The second section, “Italian Chronicles”, is completely dedicated to the Italian documentary tradition. Three award-winning Italian documentary filmmakers , also with us at the Press Conference, will show the New York public the best of their works: Alina Marazzi will present her “We Want Roses Too” and “For One More Hour With You”; Leonardo di Costanzo his “Trial of State”, and Bruno Oliviero his “Napoli Piazza Municipio”. These two latter also collaborated in the production of “Odessa”, which will also be shown during these days.
     
    Finally, the third section “Fifty Years of Documentary (50th!)”, is a selection of nine of the best documentaries of the last 50 years from the Festival dei Popoli’s archive, featuring iconic International authors such as Agnès Varda (Mur Murs), Alan Berliner (Nobody’s Business), Artavazd Pelechian (The Seasons), and Volker Koepp (Holunderblut).
     
    The Consul General of Italy Francesco Maria Talò is one of the major supporters of this initiative: “Last year we launched the idea of bringing the Festival dei Popoli to New York, it was an experiment but it went so well that we decided to do it again. Tuscany and Florence, the “crib of Renaissance”, are reaffirming theirselves as ambassadors of culture throughout the world and at the highest level. The Documentary Festival not only demonstrates its ability to produce culture, but also to function as a catalyst of international projects and exports them throughout the world. Tuscany is thus covering the same role it had during the Renaissance Era, and I am proud to support the Festival”.
     
    “We are the oldest documentary Film Festival in Europe, promoting a genre that powerfully represents reality through the eyes of its directors. They are inspired by the environment surrounding them, by the people (and peoples) they meet. That is why we named this initiative Festival dei Popoli: everything comes from the people, and we have to give back to them”, said President Giorgio Bonsanti, who also added with pride that “Tuscany is affirming itself as a new pole for cinema production in Italy. Historically speaking Rome, Milan and Turin have always covered this role concerning fiction and movies. Documentaries has never been too popular in Italy, but thanks to this initiative and its international resonance, the sector is slowly acquiring prestige and consensus”. 
     
    The director of the Festival, Luciano Barisone, explained that times have been hard for documentary directors in Italy since the government always tended to devolve public financings to other mass media, especially the TV.  But something is finally changing. We would define this evolution as the “democratization of documentary production”, since nowadays every one can potentially produce high-quality works at a relatively low cost”.

     
    Italians really knew how to get the best from technological modernization, and achieve great results with very little means. To this regard, Mr. Fadda finally commented on the success of Italian documentary in the United States: “Many Italian directors have already a wide public here in America. The young directors we are presenting this evening have captured the attention of the Tribeca Film Institute and of the other sponsors of this edition, which have accepted to support us mainly because of the high quality of the films we have on the agneda.”
     
    Is the documentary a means to denounce or to recount reality? We interviewed two of the three directors present for the occasion, asking them what is the message they want to hand down to the public through their work. Both Leonardo di Costanzo and Bruno Oliviero come from Naples, the city to which all their works are dedicated. “I want to demonstrate to people abroad the beauties of my city, its history, its culture”, said Mr. Oliviero. “Naples is at the center of many scandals nowadays. It is internationally known for Camorra organized crime and the garbage scandal. But my city is much more than this. In 1975 writer and journalist Pier Paolo Pasolini said that Naples was the last place in the world were you could still find ‘genuine’ people. I believe that it is still the same, and I hope that my people will preserve these characteristics that make them so special and inspire my work”.
     
    “I could not film anything outside of Naples’ borders”, added Mr. di Costanzo. “I have always represented my city which is a melting pot of many different worlds and cultures. I am particularly proud of “Odessa”, the documentary I directed with my colleague di Costanzo. My next project will still be focused on Naples, the city for which I became a documentary filmmaker. At first, I wanted to be a teacher. But there is way too much to tell when you live in Naples…”
    Stories, experiences, accusations: the Festival will present all of this to the city of New York, and much, much more.
     
    Moreover, it is also a high-quality initiative that enhances the prestige of Tuscany worldwide, as Mr. Fadda finally commented: “It’s not by chance that we came here with the delegation from Tuscany in occasion of the celebrations for the Italian National Day. The region is using this opportunity to promote its beauties and products, attracting a potentially great number of tourists who will come and visit our breathtaking attractions very soon in the future. At the same time, we are showing the world another aspect of Italian excellence that today is still pretty much unknown to the great public : Italian documentary tradition and production”.
     
     
     
    FULL PROGRAM OF THE 2009 EDITION OF THE
    New York Documentary Film Festival
     

    May 27 (7:00 pm)

    7:00 PM Opening Night
    (TRIBUTE TO ALBERT MAYSLES) MEET MARLON BRANDO, by Albert Maysles (USA, 1966, 28') with Albert Maysles in-person
    9:00 PM (50TH!) DEAD BIRDS, by Robert Gardner (USA, 1963, 28')

    May 28 (7:00 pm)

    7:00 PM (50TH!) THE SEASONS, by Artavazd Pelechian (URSS, 1972, 28')
    (ITALIAN CHRONICLES) ODESSA, by Leonardo Di Costanzo and Bruno Oliviero (Italy/France, 2006, 67') with Leonardo Di Costanzo and Bruno Oliviero in-person
    9:00 PM (50TH!) UKU UKAI, by Audrius Stonys (Lithuania, 2006, 30')
    (ITALIAN CHRONICLES) NAPOLI PIAZZA MUNICIPIO, by Bruno Oliviero (Italy/France, 2008, 55') with Bruno Oliviero in-person

    May 29 (7:oo pm)

    7:00 PM (50TH!) 10 MINUTES OLDER, by Herz Frank (Latvia, 1978, 10')
    (ITALIAN CHRONICLES) FOR ONE MORE HOUR WITH YOU, by Alina Marazzi (Italy, 2002, 55') with Alina Marazzi in-person
    9:00 PM (ITALIAN CHRONICLES) WE WANT ROSES TOO, by Alina Marazzi (Italy, 2007, 85') with Alina Marazzi in-person

    May 30, (4:30 pm)

    4:30 PM (50TH!) MUR MURS, by Agnès Varda (France, 1980, 90')
    6:30 PM (50TH!) SCASTJE (PARADISE), by Sergei Dvortsevoj (Russia/Kazakhstan, 1995, 23')
    (50TH!) NOBODY'S BUSINESS, by Alan Berliner (USA, 1996, 60')
    8:30 PM (50TH!) A NECESSARY MUSIC, by Beatrice Gibson (USA/UK, 2008, 20')
    (ITALIAN CHRONICLES) A SCUOLA (AT SCHOOL), by Leonardo Di Costanzo (Italy, 2003, 62') with Leonardo Di Costanzo in-person

    May 31, (4:30 pm)

    4:30 PM (ITALIAN CHRONICLES) PROVE DI STATO, by Leonardo Di Costanzo (France/Italy, 1998, 83') with Leonardo Di Costanzo in-person
    6:30 PM (50TH!) HOLUNDERBLÜTE, by Volker Koepp (Germany, 2007, 98')
    8:30 PM (TRIBUTE TO ALBERT MAYSLES) PSYCHIATRY IN RUSSIA, by Albert Maysles (USA, 1955 ,14')
     

    (TRIBUTE TO ALBERT MAYSLES) WITH LOVE FROM TRUMAN, by Albert Maysles (USA, 1966, 29')

    The New York Documentary Film Festival will take place  at the Anthology Film Archives  (32 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10003).

  •   Angelo Bisconti  with his helper Andrea at the "Brio" Restaurant in Manhattan
    Dining in & out: Articles & Reviews

    "Pasticciotto A Obama”: an Italian Delicacy from Campi Salentina to NYC

    Many foreigners might not know that in Italy there is a territory called “Salento” that can boast some of the most beautiful landscapes and seashores of the country. It constitutes the south-eastern extremity of the Puglia region and is sometimes described as the "heel" of the Italian "boot". Along its rocky coasts and the sides of its low mountains and hills there are dozens of small towns where people live a simple and quiet life. Their daily, ordinary activities change only in summer time, when waves of tourists come to spend their holidays there and enjoy the crystal clear waters of the Ionian and Adriatic seas.

    But there has been something in the last few months that added a hint, a sprinkle of zest and energy to these people’s lives. It was Obama’s election as the new President of the United States. The echoes of his speeches, his appearances on public television reached as far as the people living in Salento, to the point of really conquering them.

    Angelo Bisconti is one of his greatest supporters. In 1995 he opened Patisserie Chèri in Campi Salentina, a town of 11.000 inhabitants, where he lives with his wife and two children. In his laboratory he produces all kinds of goodies together with his 8 helpers. Among his specialties, the pasticciotto stands out. It is a typical pastry of the Salento area that consists in a shell of short crust filled with lemon cream.

     It was during last autumn that he decided to “twist” the recipe a little bit and make a chocolate version of it. “This pastry is the fruit of many experiments. Many of my colleagues simply add cocoa to the recipe, altering the natural equilibrium of the ingredients this way. I, on the other hand, wanted to offer something new to my fellow citizens but I didn’t want to spoil the original delightfulness of this treat. So it took me a lot of patience and efforts to find the perfect combination of cocoa, sugar, flour, butter and milk. When I finally achieved my goal I was so glad… During those days Obama was elected as the new President of the United States. The first thing I thought was that my pasticciotto was as good and original as Obama is. So I decided to offer it to him as a sort of tribute, calling my creation “Pasticciotto A (to) Obama”.

    And he really meant it! Angelo is now in the United States together with one of his collaborators, Andrea. They are offering their creation to the patrons and clients of a famous and renowned Italian restaurant in Manhattan, Brio. Its owners also come from Salento and welcomed the undersigned and her colleagues from i-Italy in their elegant and modern location. The pastry chef offered us a taste of the delicious treat accompanied by an espresso coffee, as the best Italian tradition asks.

    Angelo told us that the pasticciotto has become a symbol of Obama’s rising in his town and both children and adults just fell in love with it (and the President). “I would like to meet the President and tell him how much my people love him and are proud of him. For us, he is going to be the person who will help save the world from the huge crisis and problems we are going through. I wanted him to know that everybody in Salento supports him. That is why I came here: I would like to meet Obama and present him with my creation”.

    Angelo considers his visit to this country as a mission: although he does not speak English and never came to the United States before, he wants it to become an opportunity to introduce foreigners the beauties and opportunities of the Salento area: “I am not an self-centered person. I feel I owe a lot to Campi Salentina, the town that welcomed me and my family with so much kindness. This is why I also prepared the classic version of the pasticciotto tonight: I did not come here to promote my pastries but to give New York a taste of our exquisite products”, he told us.

    The mayor of the town, Massimo Como, encouraged Angelo to carry out the mission and come here for “the benefit of the whole town”. The centre-right politician was so enthusiastic about this initiative that he conferred honorary citizenship to the pasticciotto and made of it a Denominazione Comunale di Origine -De.Co.- (Comunal Denomination of Origin) product

    Angelo is proud of his creation: he made registered its trademark and dedicated to the Pasticciotto A Obama a very cute website and an account on Facebook and YouTube: “Some of my friends that often come to my laboratory suggested that I do it. The account on Facebook has also become a way to keep in touch for all the people who emigrated from Salento. The website, on the other hand, has been a great success: eight hundred people already signed in, many more than we expected! When we will reach the 1.000-members-goal I will organize a great party, the Obama Night at Campi Salentina”:

    Angelo will remain in New York until Wednesday. While looking for a way to meet the President, he is delighting Brio Restaurant’s clients and owners with his Pasticciotti A Obama. To thank them for their hospitality, he also donated his personal recipe to the latter. Thus this famous Italian restaurant, already a preferred location for many high-ranking Italian officials and gourmets living in the city, will become the only eatery in the whole country to offer its customers this unique and exquisite Italian goodie.

    Brio Restaurant is located at 786 Lexington Ave Frnt 1 New York, NY. Phone: 212-980-2300.
  • Dining in & out: Articles & Reviews

    In the Mood for Amatriciana? Try Sora Lella!

    It is a beautiful warm evening, a light wind accompanies your wanderings and thoughts while your eyes look around in search of something to be surprised or charmed by. You meet with a couple of

    friends, your best pals, and continue walking around with no destination ‘til you start feeling a little hungry. You must make up your mind and decide where and what to eat. After all, you are in New York, the options are infinite, choosing is almost impossible. Japanese? Chinese? Indian or Moroccan? Or perhaps that Tex-Mex restaurant you heard about on the radio…
     
    No, nothing like this. You feel like Italian. Who knows, maybe some pasta with Genovese

    or pesto sauce or some well-seasoned lamb or pork. Or even a cup of minestrone prepared with fresh, seasonal veggies, accompanied by a filet of lake fish and a goblet of white wine. Manhattan is packed with Italian eateries, but the variety and originality of the menus they offer is not going to be what will make you prefer one place to another. You need an additional guarantee; you must make sure that these Italian delicacies are prepared the “Italian way”. No alterations, no substitutions of ingredients, no alternative cooking methods. You want the original recipe. So, the first issue is: where will I find a place like this? The second is: what kind of Italian cooking do I feel like tonight?
     
    Neapolitan, Sicilian, Tuscan, Roman? In other words, do I want pasta with ragù sauce and babà, penne with fresh eggplant and cannoli, ribollita and cantucci with vin santo or bucatini all’amatriciana and maritozzi? One of your friends walking with you is from Rome, he moved to the United States just a couple of years ago. So he still has the carbonara sauce aftertaste in his mouth, he still remembers how his grandma used to season the puntarelle, he knows better then the rest of you. He is going to be your guide, there is no question about it. “Come with me, I’ll take you to a place I have known forever, but that was inaugurated just a week ago”. In no time you get to Soho, one of the most fascinating neighborhoods in Manhattan. Situated at the north end of Greenwich Village and just less than two miles from Times Square, the area is vibrant and romantic at the same time. Mazes of narrow, cobblestoned streets plunge into the large, noisy avenues where the hurry of the taxi cubs overwhelm the soft talks of lovers walking hand in hand.
     

    You get to Spring Street, you are looking for number 300. There it is: a small door and a huge window, you found Sora Lella Restaurant. Wait a minute… you know this name, you read it somewhere, didn’t you? Yes, of course! Your Roman friend, Mario, told you about it already. He had told you of that date when he took his wife-to-be out for a dinner on the “Isola Tiberina” in Rome, in the Quattro Campi neighborhood. He had told you that Sora Lella is one of the most famous and popular restaurants of the capital, the place where tourists from all over the world-and fellow Romans go as well- go to taste real, authentic local cuisine. Carbonara, amatriciana, abbacchio and carciofi alla giudia, are some of the delicious recipes they serve.
     
    When you enter the eatery, a ray of light knocks you down: the pale yellow and orange walls give the room a bright look while the light wood of the shelves surrounding the dining room give the whole environment a modern yet at the same time cozy, rustic atmosphere. From the ceiling, branches of wrought iron become original chandeliers that illuminate the numerous tables covered with pastel tablecloths. The hundreds of bottles of wine surrounding you and your friends make it difficult to choose which brand, type of grape, aroma should accompany your dinner.
     
    The menu is rich, a collection of recipes coming from Rome, the Lazio region and also some other areas of Italy. Among the appetizers, shish kebabs of mozzarella cheeseand cherry tomatoes with the addition of basil leaves give the composition the look of the Italian flag:: it is a specialty that originates in Naples and generally takes the name of Caprese salad. You will also find rolls of eggplants stuffed with smoked ham and Italian cheese, typically Sicilian. Your eyes scroll down the menu and skip other delicacies to dwell on Roman specialties. You really can't choose, you ask the waiter about the chef’s specialty.
     

     So, this is going to be your dinner: suppli alla romana (fried balls of rice with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, a variation of the Sicialian arancino); then a good helping of Paccheri Pasta with Amatriciana sauce (a soft blend of smashed pealed and cooked tomatoes and small cubes of pancetta (bacon) or guanciale) topped with savory Roman cheese; some fresh puntarelle to "refresh" your mouth and then coffee (espresso, of course) and dessert (salame di cioccolata, sbriciolata, ice cream, everything you might desire is there to make you happy).
     
    The whole dinner is seasoned with long laughs and soft chats, the atmosphere is perfect for an evening with friends. However, seated at the tables surrounding you, are old and young couples and families too. This place is appreciated by all kinds of people! At the end, the big surprise comes with the bill. In dozens of other Italian restaurants in New York City a dinner like that would have cost you a real fortune – making a dinner into a present you can afford to give yourself only every once in a while. This is not so at Sora Lella's , where the prices mirror the spirit on which the business is built: every client is a guest to be treated as a member of the family. So, lots of domestic warmth and small charges make smiling faces multiply.
     
     
    You leave the restaurant and start walking back home. From now on your wanderings in the streets of Manhattan will be accompanied by a new awareness: whenever you are in the mood for Roman cuisine, you can just go towards Soho. There you will find your corner of the Italian capital, the place that for at least one evening will make you feel as if you are living your own, perfectly-tailored “Vacanze Romane”
     

    THE MENU

    Antipasti / Starters
    Insalata di Arancia e Olive con Olio, Sale e Pepe

    Fresh Orange Salad with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Black Olives, Salt and Pepper $8.00
     
    Frittata alla Paesana con Mozzarella di Bufala
    “Roman Country-Style” Omelette with Seasonal Mixed Vegetables
    Served with Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella $13.00
     
    Polpettine della “Nonna”
    “Grandma’s Style” Meat Balls with Fresh Tomato Sauce $9.00
     
    Misto di Salumi Caserecci
    Selection of Traditional Italian Sliced Cured Meats $14.00
     
    Prosciutto di Parma(Stagionato 24 Mesi) e Mozzarella di Bufala
    24 Months Aged Parma Prosciutto with Buffalo Mozzarella $16.00
     
    Terrina Fredda di Melanzane e Gamberi al Timo
    Cold Eggplants Terrine with Shrimp and Tyme $15.00
     
    Le Minestre / Soups
     
    Pasta e Broccoli al Brodo di Arzilla
    Home Made Fresh Pasta, Broccoli, Skate Fish Broth,
    Garlic, Tomato,Roman Pecorino Cheese and Chile Pepper $11.00
     
    Pasta e Ceci con Vongole Veraci
    Home Made Fresh pasta, Chick Peas, Clams,Garlic, Rosemary, Tomato and Chile Pepper $13.00

    Primi Asciutti / Pasta Dishes
     
     
    Tonnarelli alla Cuccagna (since 1961)
    con Salsiccia, Pancetta e Noci
    Home Made Squared-off Egg Pasta
    Served With Sausage, Cured Pork Belly and Walnuts
    And a Touch of Heavy Cream $18.00
     
    Ravioli Ricotta e Spinaci al “Sugo di Nonna”
    Home Made Square Pasta Shape Filled with Ricotta Cheese and Spinach
    Served with “Grandma’s Style” Sauce (Veal, Fresh and Dry Porcini Mushroom, Fresh Tomato Sauce) $20.00
     
    Fettuccine Casarecce al Ragù Bianco di Animelle di Vitello
    Home Made Long Flat Pasta
    Served With a White Veal Sweetbread Sauce and Parmesan Cheese $18.00
     

    Paccheri “all’Amatriciana”
    Traditional Roman Recipe “Paccheri” Dry Pasta “Amatriciana Style“
    Fresh Tomato and Cured Pig Cheek Sauce and Roman Pecorino Cheese $16.00
     
    Rigatoni al Sugo di “Coda alla Vaccinara”
    Traditional Roman Recipe Ribbed Dry Pasta “Butcher Style Sauce”
    With Oxtail, Fresh Tomato, Pine Nuts, Raisins and Roman Pecorino Cheese $16.00
     
    “Bavette” Con Pesto di Vongole, zucchine, Aglio, olio, peperoncino
    Traditional Roman Recipe “Bavette” Dry Pasta with clam Pesto , zucchini, garlic , olive oil, chilli pepper

    Secondi di Carne / Main Course

    Pollo Ruspante “alla Romana” in Umido con Peperoni
    Free-Range Farm Chicken “Roman Style” Slow Cooked in Tomato Sauce and Red Bell
    Pepper $17.00
     
    Coda di Manzo alla Vaccinara
    Traditional Roman Recipe “Butcher Style” Oxtail Stew
    Braised with White Wine, Tomato, Pine Nuts, Raisins and a Side of sautéed Baby Carrots $.22.00
     
    Ossobuco di Vitello con Cipolline in Agrodolce
    Veal Shank Braised with a Rich White Wine Onion Sauce Served with Sweet and Sour small white Onions $31.00
     
    Abbacchio Disossato al Forno Farcito con Carciofi e Erbe Aromatiche
    Boneless Roasted Milk-Fed Baby Lamb Stuffed with Artichokes and Aromatic Herbs
    Served with a Rosemary Potato Pie $28.00

    Parmigiana di Melanzane con Ricotta, Miele e Noci
    Eggplants “Parmigiana Style” with Ricotta Cheese, Honey and Walnuts $19.00

     
    Piatti di pesce / Fish dishes

    Baccalà in Guazzetto “alla Romana”
    “Roman Style” Dried Salt Cod Fish
    Served with Onion and Fresh Basil Tomato Sauce Garnished with Pine Nuts and Raisins $22.00
     
    Coda di Rospo al “Cannellino di Frascati”
    Con Brunoise di Pomodorini e Mandorle Croccanti
    Pan Seared Monk Fish Slow cooked in “Cannellino di Frascati” Sweet Wine Served with Cherry Tomato and Crunchy Toasted Almonds $25.00
     
    Saltimbocca di Tonno “alla Romana” con Broccoli Affogati
    “Roman Style” Pan Seared Tuna Fish with Parma Prosciutto and Sage Served with a Side of Withe Wine Sautéed Broccoli
    $28.00
     
    Contorni / Side dishes

    Misticanza con Frutta Fresca a Pezzi
    Mix Green Salad, Seasonal Fresh Fruit, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper $8.00
     
    Broccoli o Cicoria in Padella con Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino
    American Broccoli or Chicory Sautéed with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic and Hot Chile Pepper $8.00
     
    Puntarelle “alla Romana” con Salsa di Alici
    Traditional Roman Recipe Wild Chicory Spears “Roman Style”
    Served Raw and Dressed with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Vinegar, Garlic and Anchovies $13.00

    Carciofo “alla Giudia”
    Fried Whole Artichokes “Jewish Style” $11.00

     
    Carciofo “alla Romana”
    Steamed Whole Artichokes “Roman-style” Stuffed with Anchovy Paste, Garlic and Mint $11.00
     
    Patate Fritte
    Home Style French Fries $6.00
     
    Dolci Fatti in Casa / Home Made Dessert

    Torta di Ricotta con Marmellata di Visciole
    Ricotta Cheese Tart with Bitter Cherry Jam $10.00

     
    Sbriciolata con Pasta di Mandorle e Arancia Amara
    Crumbly Butter Almond Cake with Bitter Orange Jam $10.00
     
    Sformatino di Ricotta con Cioccolato Fondente e Pistacchi di “Bronte’
    Ricotta Cheese Flan with Dark Chocolate and “Bronte Pistachios” $10.00
     
    Salame di Cioccolato Guarnito con Mandorle Croccanti,Salsa al Caramello e il suo Sorbetto
    Chocolate “Salami Roll with Crunchy Almonds, Dry Cookies and Caramel Sauce Served with Chocolate Sorbet $10.00

    Gelati Fatti in Casa / Home Made Ice Cream

    Gelato di Zabaione con Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena Invecchiato 12 Anni
    Marsala Wine and Whipped Egg Yolks Ice Cream With a Drizzle of 12-Year Old Balsamic Vinegar from Modena $13.00
     
    Gelato di Torroncino “Affogato allo Strega”
    A Nougat Candy Ice Cream Poached in Strega, a Saffron Flavoured Italian Liqueur $12.00

    Gelato di Cannella con Miele allo Zenzero
    Cinnamon Ice Cream Served with Ginger Honey $10.00

     
    Sorbetto di Cioccolato con Scorza d’Arancia e Nocciole
    Chocolate Sorbet with Hazelnuts and Orange Zest $10.00

    Panini “d’Autore” / Signature Sandwiches
     
    Salmone Affumicato e Provolone Piccante
    Smoked salmon, Hot Provolone Cheese, Radicchio Salad
    Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper $12.00
     
    Gamberi e Groviera
    Shrimp, Swiss Cheese
    Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper $12.00
     
    Puntarelle e Pecorino Romano
    Chicory Spears and Roman Pecorino Cheese
    Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Vinegar, Garlic and Anchovies $12.00
     
    Broccoli e Salsiccia
    Sautéed Broccoli and Sweet Sausage
    Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic, Chile Pepper $12.00
     
    All Sandwiches are Made with Italian “Ciabatta Bread”
    Served with a Side of Green Salad or French Fries

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