Articles by: Emma Bryant

  • Facts & Stories

    Robert De Niro’s New Documentary at Rome International Film Festival

    Robert De Niro celebrated the international premiere of his new documentary, “Remembering the Artist Robert De Niro, Sr.,” at the Rome International Film Festival on November 17, 2014.

    “Remembering the Artist Robert De Niro, Sr.” is an HBO documentary produced by Perri
    Peltz
    , Geeta Gandbhir, Sheila Nevins and Jane Rosenthal.

    The film is primarily a composition of original footage of Robert De Niro Sr. and scenes with actor Robert De Niro himself, talking to the camera and reflecting on his father’s life.

    “This was for him,” De Niro explains. “I wanted my younger kids – who were born after he died – to know what their grandfather did. I even kept his painting studio intact so they could see it.”

     
    De Niro’s new film, which he first debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, depicts the life and work of his father, Robert De Niro, Senior. He was an artist who struggled to maintain his initial success after the emergence of Abstract Expressionist painters and Pop Art in the late 1950s and early 1960s, since he refused to conform. De Niro Sr., along with other more traditional artists of his time, was marginalized for not exactly fitting into those new contemporary movements. 

    De Niro himself reads aloud from his father’s journal in the film, which includes passages describing De Niro Sr.’s financial instability, why he left his wife and his personal struggle with depression. De Niro also narrates memories of watching his father paint as a child. "Originally, Bob wanted to make the film just for his family,” Pletz explained. “ But then we realized it tells the story not just of Robert De Niro's Sr.'s work – which is amazing – but the entire art world of the time." 

    This moving documentary finally awards Robert De Niro Sr.’s work the acclaim it deserves – and preserves the story of an artist whose unrecognized brilliance can still be appreciated, even if it is after his death.The documentary is now airing on HBO. 
     
     

  • Events: Reports

    “Eataly per Duomo:” Eataly Showcases the Duomo di Milano to Support Expo Milano 2015

    Mayor of Milan Giuliano Pisapia, President of Veneranda Fabbrica Duomo di Milano Angelo Caloia and Owner of Eataly Oscar Farinetti joined together in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the exhibition, “Eataly per Duomo.” 

    The exhibit is free and will be open to the public until May 2015. 

    Italian Art Critic Philippe Daverio shared with i-Italy, “The Duomo of Milan has the highestconcentration of sculptures worldwide because, since the beginning of its construction in the fourteenth century, regularly the sculptures have been changed when they get old… The whole system together makes a history of sculpture over seven centuries.”

    Eataly is sponsoring the exhibit to represent the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano and to support the Expo Milano 2015 being held in Milan next year, whose theme is “Feeding the Planet: Energy for Life.”

    Oscar Farinetti, owner of Eataly, tells i-italy exactly why Eataly is supporting this event.  “Eataly was created with the purpose of becoming a storytelling place to narrate the prime Italian beauty: food. But Eataly also has the obligation and the responsibility to tell the story of all other amazing Italian attractions: the art, the history, the landscapes,” Farinetti explains. “That’s why we decided to create this room in New York – to bring the Duomo here.”

    It is clear that Italian culture is predominantly influenced by Italian food. 

    “Food is culture, culture is food. Some people say that culture doesn’t put food on your table, but culture nurtures us,” Giuliano Pisapia, Mayor of Milan, explains at the opening of the exhibit. 

    The focus on food in Italian culture is primarily due to geography. Farinetti explains this so beautifully when he says, “We are the only peninsula in the world that is shaped like this: long and narrow, surrounded by a kind sea. Do you know where the answer is? It’s in the winds. The propitious winds of our seas meet the breezes of our mountains and hills to create an unmatched microclimate. We are the world’s champions of biodiversity. Let me give you a couple of numbers as an example. We have 1228 native vine varieties, France has 220; 533 varieties of olives in Italy, 70 in Spain; 140 different cultivar of durum wheat in Italy, 6 in the US. We are the country with the highest biodiversity and this needs to be known. This is what Eataly works for.”

    Food connects Eataly to Milan. As Pisapia puts it, “Milano is a ‘water-city,’ an agricultural city. Very few people know that it is the second agricultural city in Italy. So food is a pillar of this city and for me.”

    Over six million tickets have already been sold for the Expo Milano 2015. 

    The goal of the exhibit, and the work of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano, is to restore the Duomo to its original quality by May 1, 2015. 

    The Event Manager for the Expo explains, “We need to attract people because we are building extraordinarily in our city, so the more people coming, the more nice things we can offer to the worldwide population.”

    Pisapia looks forward to the success of the exhibit at Eataly and, eventually, the Expo Milano 2015: “Values are the main item in the agenda of my administrative and political commitment for this city. Of course, the more foreign visitors for the Expo and for Milan, the more we will be energized. There will be six months of debate, discussions, international conferences, but, above all, happiness, joy and fun. This is the mixture that can make Milano truly attractive and clearly initiate a dialogue with all of those cities that have the same goals.”

    “Eataly per Duomo” is a celebration of Italian culture, but specifically, a celebration of the city of Milan. The beautiful statues spanning seven centuries give only a taste of the majesty that is the Duomo in Milan. It is the hope of Eataly, Giuliano Pisapia and others involved in producing the Expo Milano 2015 that this exhibit will inspire visitors to travel to Milan for the unveiling of the newly restored Duomo di Milano in 2015. 

  • Life & People

    Fabiola Gianotti: Director General at CERN

    On Tuesday, November 4, 2014, Fabiola Gianotti, 52, an Italian particle physicist who led a research team in the discovery of the Higgs boson, was the first woman to be named the Director General for CERN, the international Nuclear Research Lab based in Geneva, Switzerland. 

    The CERN council elected Dr. Gianotti to succeed Rolf-Dieter Heuer on January 1, 2016. She is to remain in position until 2021. 

    The president of CERN's governing council, Agnieszka Zalewska, stated that what made Dr Gianotti stand out and led to her appointment was her "vision for CERN's future as a world leading accelerator laboratory, coupled with her in-depth knowledge of both CERN and the field of experimental particle physics".

    On Gianotti’s election into her new position, Heuer commented, “It has been a pleasure to work with her for many years. I look forward to continuing to work with her through the transition year of 2015, and I am confident that CERN will be in very good hands.”

    Gianotti graduated with a PhD in experimental sub-nuclear physics from the University of Milan and began working for CERN in 1987. 

    Prior to her election, Gianotti was a spokeswoman and coordinator in the ATLAS experiment responsible for the anticipated discovery of the Higgs boson, the elementary particle in the Standard Model of Particle physics, in 2012. 

    “It is a great honor and responsibility for me to be selected as the next CERN Director General following fifteen outstanding predecessors,” Gianotti explained. “CERN is a cradle for technology and innovation, a fount of knowledge and education and a shining, a concrete example of worldwide scientific cooperation and peace… that makes better scientists and better people. I will fully engage myself to maintain CERN’s excellence in all its attributes.”

    The appointment of Gianotti as next Director General of CERN is an important precedent for not only future women physicists but also Italian successors. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano explained that this election proved “Italian talents can compete on the world stage.” Gianotti draws attention to the recognition of Italian physicists that deserve more funding from the institution. 

    Gianotti’s appointment will be formalized at the December session of Council.

  • Life & People

    The Visionary World of Vogue Italia

    The Peroni Nastro Azzurro Celebrates The Visionary World of Vogue Italia exhibit was open to the public at Industria Superstudio, Studio 10 on 775 Washington Street in New York from October 15th – 22nd.

    As leading voice of Italian style, Vogue Italia celebrated their 50th anniversary by inviting thirty influential icons to be a part of their first video archive project, including world famous flamenco dancer Joaquín Cortés, two-time Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone, Grammy Award winning R&B performer Usher, eclectic Harlem rap artist A$AP, “The Great Gatsby” Director Baz Luhrmann, Iclandic contemporary artist Olafur Eliasson and Director Quentin Tarantino.

    Editor-in-chief of Vogue Magazine, Franca Sozzani, curated the exhibition. Sozzani had drawn from the publication’s private vault of footage to reveal an insiders’ perspective on the magazine’s work with iconic celebrities and artists.

    In response to the collaboration with Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Sozzani commented, “Vogue Italia is delighted to be collaborating with Peroni Nastro Azzurro on such a rewarding project. The exhibition is the first of its kind and I have handpicked some very special moments from our rich history working with extremely talented artists."

    This exclusive video exhibition offered a new perspective on the inner workings of the international magazine but also brought together a new partnership between two largely influential Italian companies passionate about Italian style.

    The partnership is not a surprising one, as both Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Vogue were developed in the 1960s and kept true to their taste of Italian style.

    I-Italy had the chance to speak with Marco Seminaroti, Marketing Manager for Peroni Nastro Azzurro. 
     

    On Peroni Nastro Azzuro’s collaboration with Vogue Italia, Seminaroti stated, “We have quite a few things in common. The number one thing is we share a passion for Italian style; Italian style is attention to detail, authenticity, craftsmanship, passion – and that is what we are here to celebrate: fifty years of this Italian magazine.”
     

    “There is a long list of attendance we are really pleased with,” Seminaroti commented after the celebration. 

    Seminaroti claimed the collaboration does not end with the closing of this exhibition, however. In 2015, Peroni Nastro Azzuro and Vogue plan to continue their partnership in an international search of the next great fashion stylists.

    “Peroni Nastro Azzurro is to partner with Vogue Italia to celebrate the past but also to look to into the future, because next year we will be searching for emerging designers, the next wave of Italian style into finding, nurturing and promoting Italian designers.”

    The combination of both Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Vogue Italia’s passion for Italian style made for a unique celebration for contributors and audiences alike.