Articles by: Francesca Giuliani

  • Life & People

    New York. Rome Remembers 9/11

    Ten years and one month have passed since 9/11, and the memory of the terroristic attacks that shocked the world is more vivid now than ever.

    On October 11th, the Consulate of Italy in New York hosted a conference for the presentation of the book “Roma ricorda l’11 settembre” (Rome remembers 9/11), a work narrating the story of the memorial monument that the City of Rome erected in Piazza di Porta Capena two years ago.

    The monument, consisting of two marble columns representing the Twin Towers, “was placed in an extremely significant location of the Eternal City,” as Jonathan Della Rocca, counselor of the mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno, explained. In fact, Porta Capena is the historical access door to the city, and it sits within walking distance from the Colosseum, universal symbol of Rome’s historical magnificence, and the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), representing the contemporary commitment of Rome to have a primary role in tackling the most urgent issues for the sake of global peace and stability. The location of the monument at a crossroad between past and present, meaningfully summarizes the very spirit and nature of the city of Rome.

    “Memory needs a space,” Della Rocca declared, as “the oral tradition of events is not sufficient.” In the words of George Santayana, Spanish-American philosopher who died in Rome in 1952, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This is the sentence that was engraved at the base of the two marble columns in Rome, remarking Rome’s condemnation of all kinds of terrorism and threats to peace.

    Consul General Natalia Quintavalle chose Santayana’s sentence to conclude her welcome address, stressing the importance of the bond that ties New York and Rome, and the American and the Italian people, a bond movingly testified by the memorial plaque laid in the consular building, which lists the names of the many Italian-American victims of 9/11. Cavalier Giulio Picolli, who personally carried out the research and compiled the list of the Italian and Italian-American victims of 9/11, and whose initiative and determination the Consulate owes its memorial monument, was present at the conference.

    Picolli remembered the agitated days after the attack that he spent looking incessantly for his 32-years old grandson all over Manhattan, to then be notified about his death. Behind his strong determination to list the names of all the Italian and Italian-American victims, was the will to pay homage to them and to leave a testimony of the great impact of the Italian and Italian-American community to the greatness of the United States. Picolli arrived in this country in 1966, motivated to always honor his heritage. “We gave a lot to this country, and we will continue to do so,” he stated.

    The conference, moderated by journalist Maurizio Molinari, was primarily the occasion to analyze the strong ties between Italy and the United States through the lens of the Italian-American identity. Chief Nigro, representing the heroes of the FDNY, many of which were of Italian descent, stressed how heartfelt these ties actually are in the daily life of Italian-Americans, who have a very inclusive idea of family. “Cousins are often not blood-related, but the kinship is extended to all of those who have something in common with each other, including the provenance of ancestors from the same Italian town,” Nigro said. The “paisà” (fellow countryman) is an acquired relative. It’s not surprising, therefore, how Americans and Italians share the same pain when remembering 9/11, and value the memory of their victims above all things.

    Lucio Caputo, an Italian survivor of the attacks, intervened in the panel with a message full of energy and hope. When Molinari asked him about his life as a survivor, he said that he spent the ten years after 9/11 “never wanting to give up.” He survived, he said, “as the free world did.” “The World Trade Center was a symbol, a vertical city full of color, life, activity. Now it’s the symbol of reconstruction. It’s the reaction of the free world. We the people of the free world survived 9/11, and we will never give up. When the towers collapsed, life restarted. And we’re building an even more beautiful World Trade Center for the future.”

    A future to look forward to.

  • Arte e Cultura

    Vandali all'assalto del patrimonio italiano

    ENGLISH VERSION

    E’ il 29 settembre e Gian Antonio Stella presenta il suo ultimo lavoro, “Vandali – L’assalto alle bellezze d’Italia” nella sala gremita di pubblico dell’Istituto Italiano di Cultura a New York.

    "Vandali" è un'inchiesta sullo stato di salute dell’arte in Italia che promette di scatenare non poche polemiche. L’autore, infatti, analizza con Sergio Rizzo le cause del degrado del patrimonio artistico italiano presentando dati allarmanti sul fenomeno, che è stato solo timidamente arginato, quando non è stato colpevolmente sottostimato o ignorato, dalle istituzioni del “Bel Paese”.

    È evidente nel caso dell’Appia Antica, il tratto storico della Via Appia, la strada consolare costruita a Roma nel 312 avanti Cristo. La strada è chiusa al traffico veicolare, con la sola eccezione delle “auto blu” dei politici italiani, che la percorrono quando le rotte alternative per l’Aeroporto di Ciampino sono troppo trafficate, ossia sempre.
     

    L’Italia è la nazione al mondo che annovera il maggior numero di Luoghi Patrimonio dell’Umanità secondo l’UNESCO. Sono ben 45. Gli Stati Uniti ne contano 21, la Gran Bretagna 28, la Germania 33, la Francia 35, la Cina 40, la Spagna 42. L’Italia è anche la nazione che ne ricava i minori profitti: la Cina, ad esempio, ne guadagna tre volte tanto.
     

    Il dato più impressionante, comunque, è quello che compara il costo annuo delle pensioni dei parlamentari italiani, che ammonta a 198 milioni di Euro, con i ricavi provenienti da tutti i musei e siti archeologici sul territorio italiano, pari a 82 milioni di Euro (dati 2009).
     

    La maggior parte degli italiani non lo crederebbe, ma lo stipendio mensile del presidente degli Stati Uniti Barack Obama è di 3.000 Euro inferiore a quello del presidente della provincia autonoma di Bolzano Luis Durwalder, che al mese guadagna 26.000 Euro.
     

    L’Italia strapaga i suoi politici e investe sempre meno nella cultura e nella ricerca, come testimoniato dal dimezzamento dei fondi governativi registrato negli ultimi dieci anni (l’investimento era pari a 2386 milioni di Euro nel 2001 ed è sceso a 1429 milioni nel 2011, Stella illustra). Nel frattempo i rimborsi per le spese elettorali destinati ai partiti sono cresciuti del 1100%, con un vertiginoso spreco di risorse pubbliche.

    Stella dimostra che in fatto di difesa del patrimonio artistico gli sprechi sono la norma. È perché si interviene con misure sporadiche e senza lungimiranza, danneggiando anche il PIL del paese. Il contributo al PIL del settore turistico è infatti pari al 5,68%, mentre in paesi come Turchia, Portogallo e Spagna la cifra sale a circa il 20%.
     

    Negli anni ’70 l’Italia era la prima meta turistica in assoluto per i viaggiatori di tutto il mondo. Oggi si trova al quinto posto in classifica, dopo Francia, Spagna, Stati Uniti e Cina. Come è potuto accadere?
     

    Stella crede che ciò si debba alla mancanza di infrastrutture di base che facilitino gli spostamenti e le comunicazioni, rendendo una vacanza in Italia un’esperienza piacevole, non una battaglia. Il sistema di trasporti pubblici ha bisogno di miglioramenti, e la connettività del paese deve essere aumentata: più wi-fi, più turismo.

    Ma quello che più preoccupa Stella e Rizzo è la perdita di un certo “senso della bellezza” tra gli italiani, come Stella afferma durante la presentazione del libro all’IIC. Ciò si accompagnerebbe a una mancanza di senso civico e ad uno scarso orgoglio patriottico. Simboli del Risorgimento italiano come la Cittadella di Alessandria in Piemonte, dove i primi patrioti hanno dato l’avvio alle operazioni militari per l’Indipendenza del paese, sono fatiscenti e abbandonati. Così anche la tomba di Scipio, lo stesso Scipio del cui elmo l’Italia si cinge la testa nell’inno nazionale – ci hanno costruito sopra un terrazzo – e la villa di Cavour a Torino Vercellese è in corso di restauro da solo un mese. Per fortuna.
     

    Cavour, definito da Stella “il Jefferson italiano”, è raffigurato nella villa da una statua decapitata. Stella ha espresso tutto il suo disappunto per la legge del 2004 che rende di fatto impossibile l’arresto dei trafficanti d’arte. L'arresto è permesso solo nel caso in cui sia dimostrabile che il possessore dell’opera d’arte trafugata sia anche colui che abbia arrecato il danno materiale all’opera: la decapitazione, nel caso di Cavour. Nel 2008 dei tombaroli responsabili del ritrovamento del Sarcofago delle Muse ad Ostia Antica, pronti a dividerlo in porzioni a colpi di crick per vendere le muse separatamente, sono stati lasciati a piede libero. Il ministro dei Beni Culturali Giancarlo Galan avrebbe promesso di modificare la legge, Stella ha aggiunto. “Ci conto!”.
     

    Il marchese De Sade scriveva nel suo “Viaggio in Italia” nel 1775 “Com’è possibile che Dio abbia donato un tale tesoro a questa gente così incapace di apprezzarlo?”

    Stella risponde: “Per molti anni gli italiani hanno pensato che ‘essere padroni in casa propria’ significasse poter fare quello che volevano nel loro paese, e molti di loro non si sono fatti scrupoli: oggi ci sono 4.400.000 case abusive in Italia, il che significa che un italiano su sei (circa 10 milioni di italiani) vive o va in vacanza in una di queste case. È inaccettabile”.

    E mentre i politici italiani sono troppo impegnati a discutere se valga la pena di spendere tutti quei soldi “per i quattro sassi di Pompei” (come il presidente della regione Veneto Luca Zaia li ha definiti nel novembre 2010, proprio dopo il crollo di tre edifici all’interno del sito archeologico), il patrimonio culturale italiano può per fortuna contare su una folta schiera di difensori sparsi in tutto il mondo.
     

    “Save Venice”, associazione americana per la salvaguardia delle bellezze della città lagunare italiana, rappresentata alla presentazione del capo dell’ufficio di Venezia Melissa Conn, è attiva sul territorio con 400 progetti di restauro e conservazione. “Save Venice è uno straordinario esempio di collaborazione tra il settore pubblico italiano e i privati americani che amano Venezia”, Conn afferma.
     

    Stella è fiducioso sul fatto che la sensibilità italiana ai problemi del patrimonio artistico stia aumentando. Qualcosa sta migliorando: “C’è più attenzione, questo è certo”, dice il giornalista, che elenca anche una serie di storie a lieto fine come quella della Venaria Reale in Piemonte, più grande della reggia di Versailles, rimessa a nuovo e aperta al pubblico in meno di dieci anni grazie al lavoro di amministrazioni sia di destra che di sinistra.
     

    A quelli che li criticano per i ritratti spesso a tinte fosche del Bel Paese, Stella e Rizzo rispondono: “Se vieni tradito da una donna, ti infuri solo se la ami veramente. È per questo che scriviamo questi libri, perché siamo profondamente innamorati dell’Italia.”

  • Facts & Stories

    Vandals – The Assault to Italy’s Beauties

    ITALIAN VERSION

    On September 29th, at the Italian Cultural Institute, journalist Gian Antonio Stella presented his latest work “Vandals – The assault to Italy’s beauties,” a compelling investigation of the condition of the Italian artistic heritage. The author analyzes with co-author Sergio Rizzo the causes of its decay and presents alarming figures on the phenomenon, which has only been timidly tackled, when it hasn’t been guiltily underestimated or ignored, by the Italian institutions.

    Exhibit A is the case of the Appia Antica, the historical trait of the Appian consular road in Rome, built in 312 BC. The road is closed to the traffic, but “Auto Blu”, the blue cars that Italian politicians are escorted with, are free to circulate on it in case the queues on the regular routes to reach Ciampino Airport are too long. Generally, they are.

    Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other nation in the world. They amount to 45. The US possess 21, Great Britain 28, Germany has 33, France 35, China 40, Spain 42.

    Italy, though, is also the nation that makes the least profits of all out of her World Heritage Sites. China, for instance, earns from her Sites around 3 times the amount of money Italy does.

    The most infuriating comparison, however, is the cost of the Italian Members’ of Parliament life annuities, amounting to 198 million Euros per year, and the annual revenue from all the museums and archaeological sites on the Italian territory, totaling to 82 million Euros (figures estimated in 2009).

    Most Italians probably wouldn’t guess that, but President Barack Obama’s monthly salary amounts to 3,000 Euros less than the one of Luis Durwalder, Governor of the Bolzano Province in the small Trentino Alto-Adige region, who earns 26,000 Euros a month.

    Italy overpays politicians and invests less and less on culture and research, as the halving of the government funding registered over the last ten years demonstrates (from 2386 million Euros in 2001, to 1429 million Euros in 2011, Stella reports). All the while, electoral campaign refunds have grown 1100%, with a vertiginous increase of public money expenditure.

    When it comes to artistic heritage preservation policies, Stella provides evidence of Italian politicians wasting public money on spotty interventions without a long-term plan for the cherishing of the country’s beauties, which could also play a determinant role in the growth of the Italian GDP. The contribution of the tourism sector to Italy’s GDP is 5,68%, whereas for countries such as Turkey, Portugal and Spain it is about 20%.

    In the 1970s, Italy was the first touristic destination for international travelers. It now ranks 5th place after France, Spain, USA and China. Why is that?

    Stella believes it’s because Italy lacks some of the basic infrastructures that would facilitate traveling and make an Italian holiday truly enjoyable for tourists. The public transportations system needs improvements, and so does the country’s connectivity: more wi-fi, please.
    But what Stella and Rizzo are most worried about, and they point it out with their book, is the loss of the “sense of beauty” among Italians, as Stella puts it in his presentation at the ICI. This pairs with a general lack of patriotism/civic pride. Symbols of the Italian Renaissance such as the Citadel of Alessandria, in Piedmont, where the first patriots fought for independence, is abandoned and decaying, notwithstanding the appointment as UNESCO World Heritage Site. So is Scipio’s Tomb in Campania – a balcony was built on top of it – and so was Cavour’s Villa in Torino Vercellese, which, luckily, has started being restored a month ago.

    Cavour, whom Stella defined as the “Italian Jefferson,” is represented in the Villa by a beheaded statue. Stella expressed his disappointment with an Italian law approved in 2004 restricting prosecutions on art traffickers: even if the stolen head was found, the possessor couldn’t be arrested because it would be impossible to prove it was him who beheaded the work of art. The same thing has happened to the amateur archaeologists who in 2008 exhumed the Muses Sarcophagus in Ostia Antica: they were ready to chop it in parts with a jack to sell the muses individually on the international black market of artworks, and they couldn’t be jailed. The current Minister of Cultural Heritage Giancarlo Galan promised to have the law modified, Stella added.

    As Marquis De Sade wrote in his “Travel in Italy” in 1775, “Why do the Heavens send such a treasure to people who are not able to appreciate it?”

    Stella replies: “For many years Italians thought that being ‘masters in their own home’ meant that they could do whatever they pleased with their country, and many of them did: today there are 4,400,000 illegal structures in Italy,” which means that one in six Italians (roughly 10 million Italians), live or spend their holidays in one of the over 4 million illegal structures. “It is inacceptable,” he tells i-Italy.

    And when Italian politicians are too busy arguing about the worthiness of spending “all that money for those four rocks in Pompeii,” as the President of Veneto region Luca Zaia affirmed in November 2010, when three buildings in the archaeological site collapsed, it is impressive how dedicated and compelled the international admirers of the Italian beauties are to preserving them.

    “Save Venice”, represented at the book launch by head of the Venice office Melissa Conn, is an American organization founded in 1968 for the defense of Venice’s artistic heritage, with over 400 restoration projects running in 75 locations. “It represents an amazing example of cooperation between the American private sector and the Italian institutions,” Conn says.
    With Conn, Stella affirms that a positive counter-trend in the Italian attitude towards these problems is detectable. Something is changing for the better.

    “There is much more sensitivity to these issues nowadays,” he tells i-Italy, and plenty of success stories of monument-rescuing are addressed by the journalist during his presentation: one for all, the wondrous restoration of the Venaria Reale palace in Piedmont, completed in less than ten years (under both right-wing and left-wing governments) and now open to the public.

    To those who criticize Stella and Rizzo’s work for depicting an over-dramatic image of the state of the art (pun intended) in Italy, he replies through i-Italy: “If your woman cheats on you and you love her, that’s when you get furious. Sergio Rizzo and I are deeply in love with Italy. That’s why we write these books.”

  • Events: Reports

    Are You Ready for a Long Italian Jazz Marathon in NY?

    You might not immediately think so, but the world of Italian jazz music in New York City is a rather interesting and populated one. 
     

    Its inhabitants - who can wear Chalk Stripe suits, flamboyant ties, and side-partitioned wet-looking hair with absolute nonchalance - gathered all yesterday evening at the Italian Cultural Institute, on the occasion of the press conference for the festival “Italian Jazz Days 2011,” starting on October 1 and wrapping up ten days after, on Columbus Day. 
     

    The festival, at its third annual edition, brings together jazz lovers and students and the best artists from the scene, both Italian and Italian American, who will perform in four exclusive locations in New York City (Bar On Fifth at Setai Hotel, Kitano, Smalls Jazz Club, and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola) after the opening event on October 1: an all-day-long jazz marathon featuring piano workshops and an evening-time performance by the Antonio Ciacca Quintet, that will take place at the Ford Piano Factory in Peekskill, in upstate New York.
     

    Antonio Ciacca, pianist and composer, director of programming at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and artist in residence at Bar On Fifth, is the mastermind behind this project, and he moderated the intense debate at the Italian Cultural Institute yesterday night. 
     

    Director of the Institute Riccardo Viale, executive producer of the festival, confessed to the audience that thanks to Ciacca he discovered the significant influence of Italians on the New Orleans music scene, back in the day when jazz music was starting to develop as an independent genre.
     

     “Jazz is a global music, and a global phenomenon,” Viale said, and a great example of a cultural field in which Americans and Italians could accomplish great things through a constant interchange and dialogue.
     

    Among the many distinguished guests at the conference was Earl John Powell, son of jazz legend Bud Powell, who actually attributes to the 1950s Europe for the birth of jazz as we know it. His dad, who spent a long time playing and getting inspired in Paris, really wanted the world to be John’s backyard, John recalls: “Jazz is not a matter of race, it’s a matter of culture, of playing wherever and whenever. I think only now jazz is coming back to the USA.”
     

    Todd Barkan, four times Grammy Award winning music producer, undisputed authority on the jazz scene and Programming Director at Dizzy’s, was also present at the event, fully recovered from a severe car accident he was involved in last February. Italian Jazz Days are “a great occasion to bring people together and celebrate our cultures together without unnecessary divisions,” he said, and added: “Jazz is a universal language spoken, understood, and celebrated all over the world.”
     

    John Ford, whose family manufactures pianos since 1897, further highlighted the importance of the Italian influence on jazz music since the very beginning. 
     

    In fact, it was an Italian men by the name of Bartolomeo Cristofori who in 1698 made it possible for musicians to express their art in a variety of tones, from the pianissimo’s levity to the fortissimo’s intensity, upgrading the harpsichord to a new standard of perfection. Cristofori had then invented the pianoforte, changing forever the history and the destiny of music.

    “Italy was not always acknowledged as such, but it has always been one of the most passionate and longtime supporters of jazz,” Ford added. Ford, who will be hosting the first workshops and concerts of the festival in his factory, is also promoting the construction of a 200 seats venue for jazz concerts and events in Westchester: “building pianos and building musicians is something I really like to do,” he declared.
     

    Italian Jazz Days Festival 2011 benefits from a very promising cooperation with the promoters of Fara Music Festival, one of the most important music events in Italy today.

     Artistic director of the festival Enrico Moccia explained the philosophy of Fara Music, a week-long jazz full-immersion taking place in Fara Sabina (a small town in Central Italy with 150 residents) and welcoming students from all over the world to enjoy lessons and concerts by the best artists on the scene. “What we aim at doing in Fara is to maintain a local dimension combining it with a top-notch lineup. The result is that of a unique experience, where excellence is accessible and the enjoyment is authentic.” Fara Music will be in New York during Italian Jazz Days, with a workshop on October 6 at the Collective School of Music and with performances by its artists at Bar On Fifth and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola.

    Log on to http://www.twinsmusic.it or to http://www.c-jam.it for more information on Italian Jazz Days and to download the program of the Festival.

  • Life & People

    NYC. Italians and Italian Americans Remember 9/11 @ the Italian Consulate

    ITALIAN VERSION >>

    On Sunday the Italian Consulate held a memorial ceremony for the victims of 9/11. The memorial service proved to be more than just an official occasion to pay homage to the Italian victims of the terroristic attacks, it was the moment in which the Italian and Italian-American communities came together, to give one another the strength to finally move on, and start looking at the future with new eyes.
     

    In the words of Lucio Caputo, one of the survivors of the tragedy: “For ten years we did nothing but remember our victims on this day, but our memory could never be complete. Today, after the death of Osama Bin Laden and with the opening of the 9/11 Memorial Site where the World Trade Center once was, I believe the circle of 9/11-in-the-past has closed, and we can look forward to the future.”
     

    The Freedom Tower, at 80+ stories, and other buildings being erected at Ground Zero, are the signs that America has recovered, and that New York has too, Caputo believes.

    “This city has always been the place where everyone wants to be, but it always had an aura of invincibility surrounding it. The attacks humanized New York, they showed the world that even New York can be hurt. They also taught the world that the people in New York are capable of pulling together and show the greatest solidarity in dramatic and difficult moments.”
     

    There were many Italian and Italian-American New Yorkers attending the ceremony, with their eyes lit up by that same solidarity, a veil of commotion, and a story to share.

    It’s the case of Cavalier Giulio Picolli, President of the Italian Association “Ieri, Oggi e Domani,” who experienced the loss of a grandson during the attacks.

     Picolli is responsible for the erection of a commemorative monument to the Italian and Italian-American victims of 9/11 in the Italian Consulate’s building, and he personally spent years drawing up a list of all the Italian and Italian-American casualties: “It took me five years to select 200 names, and the list is still not complete.”
     

    Picolli carried out this task with extreme determination. “A few days after the attacks, I was watching ‘Porta a Porta’ [A famous Italian evening time talk show hosted by journalist Bruno Vespa on Rai Uno], and a correspondent from New York was asked if there were any Italian victims. He said he didn’t think so, and that infuriated me. I knew there were many,” he explained.

    From that day, Picolli started gathering information, dodging bureaucratic obstacles and advocating for the initiative with the Italian institutions, who weren’t always as supportive as he wished, he admits.

    His next battle, he anticipates to i-Italy, will be the one of having the complete list of names engraved in the Consulate’s building. “I will fight ten years for it, if that’s what it takes,” the Cavaliere says.
     

    Picolli was also the one to personally invite the families of the victims to the ceremony held at the Consulate. Eight families went from Ground Zero to the Consulate. “They could have been more numerous, but it has been a very fatiguing day for all of them,” he concludes.
     

    Ambassador Giulio Terzi, who was also present at the ceremony, praised Picolli’s efforts in his intense and vibrating opening speech.

     Quoting the Latin orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, Terzi remarked on the importance of memory, “the treasury and the guardian of all things,” and the necessity of keeping it alive. “Cicero’s words are a strong reminder for us to never forget, to pray, to remember the fallen, to honor our heroes,” Terzi said to a shaken audience.
     

    The Ambassador also remembered how “Italy and the United States have always done so, in all the most tragic moments of our common history,” and how two years ago the two countries played a primary role in encouraging the United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to “bring together governments and civil society to strengthen their commitment for all the victims of terrorism and their families.” Among those families who gathered in 2009 at the UN Headquarters there were some Italian ones, to testify Italy’s direct experience of the atrocities of terrorism.

    Terzi referred to the “season of terror” that gripped Italy in the late 1970s and the 1980s, when “hundreds of Italians faced the brutality of a political terror ignited by extreme, inhuman and unspeakable ideologies.” “This is why we must say, on this tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, that we very much feel your same pain and join your urgent quest for justice,” he stated.

    Terzi further condemned the committers of such horrendous crimes, while expressing his disappointment with those countries who still harbor terrorists, including the Italian ones, instead of joining Italy and the United States in their “search for justice.”
     

    Consul General of Italy Natalia Quintavalle, on her first official meeting with the Italian and Italian-American community of New York, says she’s deeply touched by the stories she has been listening to from witnesses of the events of September 11, 2001, and from the numerous members of the community who tragically lost family members and friends.

    “Each story is incredible. They are the stories of wonderful people who, in those dramatic moments, tried to reassure their families about their conditions, or tried their best to help those who were trapped with them,” she tells i-Italy.
     

    We asked Consul Quintavalle where she was on the day of the attacks, before she had any idea that ten years later she’d be in New York, meeting the Italian community for the first time on such a somber day. “I was in Geneva, as a Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations. I have the clearest memory of the event, and in Geneva everyone was deeply shocked.”

    The September 11, 2001 attacks motivated Consul Quintavalle to keep on working on multilateral issues and on the defense of human rights, believing that these efforts are the necessary “to ensure a safe future for the whole world.”

    The Consul’s first impressions of the community is the one of “a very composite and variegated reality, as the stories of the victims of 9/11 attacks demonstrate.”
     

    “There is a demographic of people who have lived here forever, there are Italian-Americans, but most of all there are new generations of Italians emigrating to America, and to New York in particular,” she says. “Young Italians keep on moving to New York, to study or to work, because they still firmly believe that this wonderful city will allow them to accomplish great things. We must keep it that way.”
     

    Joseph Sciame, President of the Italian Heritage and Culture Committee, chose to wear a green tie to the ceremony as a sign of hope, he tells i-Italy. “It’s a sad day, but a proud day because we have the future,” he adds.

    Sciame, who is also Vice-President for Community Relations at St. John’s University, told us about a very special exhibit at the Staten Island campus of St. John’s, where a quilt for every person who perished at the World Trade Center is on display. He was glad he was able to spend the weekend with the families of the victims of Ground Zero, on the occasion of the inauguration of the exhibit. “All I could do was thanking them personally as an American Citizen for their strength. The sacrifices they experienced are irreparable and never compensable.”
     

    According to Sciame, we now need to work on how we instruct the children, who will be the future generation. What lessons have they learned? Is peace attainable? “Peace is attainable when people meet one another,” Sciame says. “It could be through sports, or through music, maybe it’s through culture – that’s why we have Italian Heritage Culture Month, to try to have people work together. That’s what next, a lot of hope, and a lot of goodwill.”

    Anna Fiore, Dean of La Scuola d’Italia “Guglielmo Marconi”, shares Consul Quintavalle’s and Joseph Sciame’s passionate concern on the new generations. “It is of utmost importance to send the right message to our youth. I’m glad Ambassador Terzi quoted Cicero in his speech, as two-thousand years ago he emphasized so powerfully that cherishing the historical memory of events is something fundamental.”
     

     At La Scuola d’Italia, Fiore explains, they believe in a multidisciplinary and integrated approach, valuing diversity as an enriching factor. Fiore’s student’s are first of all citizens of the world, and of Planet Earth, she tells i-Italy: “Our students must be anchored to the universal values of terrestrial citizenship, which means that they need to feel as protagonists in building a better world with optimism and positivity. We want our students to ask themselves questions, and to be interested in finding answers which can never be simple or univocal, but complex.”
     

    Louis Tallarini, President of the Columbus Foundation, believes America has been learning a lesson everyday since 9/11. A lesson of peace, which is “the only option,” and of strength, which is also the only option “not to give in to evil.” When we ask Louis about fear, he gives us a piercing look with his dark Italian-American eyes, and answers firmly: “I’m not afraid, no. I’m cognizant of the dangers, but I’ll never be afraid.”

  • Fatti e Storie

    Park Avenue. Italiani ed italo-americani ricordano 9/11

    ENGLISH VERSION

    La scorsa domenica il Consolato Italiano ha organizzato una cerimonia commemorativa per le vittime dell’Undici Settembre. Non si è trattato solamente di un’occasione ufficiale per rendere omaggio agli Italiani rimasti uccisi nell’atroce attentato terroristico che sconvolse il mondo dieci anni fa. La comunità italiana e italoamericana di New York si sono incontrate per darsi l’un l’altra il coraggio per superare questo nero episodio della storia recente. Per poter iniziare a guardare al futuro con occhi nuovi.

    Lucio Caputo, uno dei sopravvissuti agli attentati, lo dice con parole sue: “Per dieci anni nonabbiamo fatto altro che ricordare, ma il nostro ricordo era sempre incompleto. Oggi, dopo la morte di Osama Bin Laden e con l’apertura del sito memoriale eretto dove un tempo sorgeva il World Trade Center, penso si sia finalmente chiuso il ciclo dell’Undici Settembre ‘nel passato’, e si possa finalmente attendere un futuro migliore”.
     

    Secondo Caputo, la Freedom Tower con i suoi 80 piani che aumentano di giorno in giorno, e gli altri edifici in costruzione a Ground Zero sono i segni che l’America si è finalmente ripresa da quel durissimo colpo infertole, e con lei anche New York.
     

    “Questa città è sempre stata la meta ideale di tutti, ma ha sempre avuto una certa aura di invincibilità, quasi di freddezza. Gli attacchi hanno umanizzato New York, e hanno mostrato al mondo che anche lei può essere gravemente ferita. Hanno anche fatto vedere l’incredibile forza e umanità dei newyorkesi, che si sono stretti in un immenso sforzo di solidarietà in un momento tanto drammatico.”

    Molti erano i presenti alla cerimonia, newyorkesi italiani ed italoamericani, con gli occhi illuminati da quella stessa solidarietà, da un velo di commozione, da una storia da raccontare.

    È il caso del Cavalier Giulio Picolli, Presidente dell’Associazione Italiana “Ieri, Oggi e Domani”, che ha perso un nipote durante gli attacchi.

    Si deve a Picolli il collocamento di una stele commemorativa delle vittime italiane e italoamericane dell’Undici Settembre all’interno dell’edificio consolare. Il Cavaliere ha inoltre dedicato molto tempo alla redazione di un elenco esaustivo di tutti i caduti: “Mi ci sono voluti cinque anni per selezionare 200 nomi, e la lista non è ancora completa”.
     

    Picolli ha portato avanti questa iniziativa con determinazione estrema. “Qualche giorno dopo gli attentati stavo guardando la trasmissione ‘Porta a Porta’, e il conduttore chiedeva a un corrispondente da New York se sapesse di vittime italiane. Il giornalista rispose ‘non credo’. Questo mi ha fatto infuriare, sapevo che ce n’erano, e molte”, ci ha spiegato.
     

    Da quel giorno, Picolli ha iniziato a raccogliere informazioni e certificati di morte, superando innumerevoli ostacoli burocratici e cercando di ottenere il supporto delle istituzioni italiane, non sempre disponibili quanto lui avrebbe sperato, ammette.

    La sua prossima battaglia, anticipata ad i-Italy, sarà quella di ottenere che anche la lista dei nomi sia fatta incidere e deposta come monumento nell’edificio consolare. “Combatterò altri dieci anni, se necessario”, conclude.
     

    L’Ambasciatore Giulio Terzi, venuto da Washington per presenziare la cerimonia, ha lodato gli sforzi del Cavalier Picolli nel suo vibrante discorso di apertura.

    Citando l’oratore latino Marco Tullio Cicerone, Terzi ha sottolineato l’importanza della memoria, “cassaforte e guardiana di tutte le cose”, e la necessità di mantenerla sempre viva. “Le parole di Cicerone ci spronano a non dimenticare, a pregare, a onorare i caduti e i nostri eroi”, Terzi ha dichiarato.
     

    L’Ambasciatore ha inoltre ricordato come “l’Italia e gli Stati Uniti si siano sempre prodigati per questo, in tutti i momenti più drammatici della nostra storia comune”. Due anni fa, i due paesi hanno infatti avuto un ruolo di primo piano nell’incoraggiare il Segretario Generale delle Nazioni Unite Ban Ki-Moon a “riunire gli sforzi dei governi e della società civile, perché l’impegno della comunità internazionale verso le vittime del terrorismo e le loro famiglie fosse rafforzato”. Tra le famiglie che per l’occasione si riunirono nel 2009 al Quartier Generale delle Nazioni Unite, ce n’erano alcune italiane, a testimonianza della diretta esperienza del paese dell’atrocità del terrorismo.

    Terzi ha fatto riferimento alla “stagione del terrore” che ha stretto l’Italia in una morsa di paura ed incertezza tra i tardi anni ’70 e gli anni ’80, un periodo in cui “centinaia di italiani hanno vissuto la brutalità inaudita di un terrore politico incendiato da ideologie inumane e indicibili.” “Per questo oggi è importante per noi affermare che l’Italia condivide il dolore degli Stati Uniti, e si unisce alla loro pressante ricerca di giustizia.”
     

    Terzi ha inoltre condannato i colpevoli di atti terroristici, esprimendo il suo disappunto verso quei paesi che offrono riparo a terroristi, inclusi quelli di provenienza italiana, anziché condividere lo stesso obiettivo di giustizia e di pace che anima l’Italia e gli Stati Uniti. 

    Il Console Generale d’Italia Natalia Quintavalle, che in questa occasione ufficiale ha potuto incontrare per la prima volta la comunità italiana ed italoamericana di New York, si è detta molto toccata dalle storie dei testimoni oculari degli eventi dell’Undici Settembre, e di coloro che a causa degli attentati hanno tragicamente perso famigliari o amici.
     

    “Ogni storia è incredibile. Sono di persone splendide che, in quei momenti drammatici, cercavano di rassicurare i propri cari o di aiutare le persone intrappolate con loro”, il Console racconta ad i-Italy.

    Le abbiamo chiesto dove fosse nel mondo, in quell’Undici Settembre, dieci anni prima di assumere proprio a New York l’incarico di Console. “Ero a Ginevra – ci ha risposto – dove lavoravo come Consigliere presso la Rappresentanza d’Italia alle Nazioni Unite. Ho un ricordo lucidissimo dell’evento. A Ginevra tutti quanti lo abbiamo sentito fortemente.”

    È stato proprio a causa degli attentati dell’Undici Settembre che il Console ha deciso di continuare a occuparsi di temi multilaterali e di difesa dei diritti umani, nella convinzione che questi siano alla base per “la costruzione di un futuro di pace per tutto il mondo”.

    La prima impressione che il Console ha della comunità è quella di “una realtà composita e variegata, come dimostrano anche le storie tragiche delle vittime degli attentati”.

    “C’è una componente che è qui da sempre, ci sono gli italo-americani, ma ci sono anche nuove generazioni di italiani che emigrano in America, e scelgono in particolare proprio la città di New York”, il Console spiega. “I giovani italiani continuano a trasferirsi a New York, per studiare o lavorare, convinti che in questa città sia ancora possibile fare cose meravigliose. Dobbiamo continuare a pensarla così.”
     

    Joseph Sciame, Presidente dell’Italian Heritage and Culture Committee, racconta ad i-Italy della sua decisione di indossare una cravatta verde per la cerimonia. “È un segno di speranza”. “Questo è un giorno triste, ma c’è da essere orgogliosi perché abbiamo il futuro!”, aggiunge.

    Sciame, che è anche il Vice-Presidente per le Community Relations alla St. John’s University, ci ha parlato di una mostra speciale organizzata nella sede di Staten Island della St. John’s, dove si è esposto un quilt (coperta lavorata a mano, ndr) per ogni persona rimasta vittima degli attentati alle Torri Gemelle. Sciame si è detto onorato di aver potuto trascorrere il finesettimana con alcune delle famiglie colpite, in occasione dell’inaugurazione della mostra: “Tutto ciò che ho potuto fare è stato ringraziare queste persone per la loro forza, come cittadino americano. Il sacrificio che hanno vissuto è irreparabile e nessuna parola di conforto potrà mai ricompensarlo.“

    Secondo Sciame, questo è il momento di lavorare su come educare al meglio i bambini, che saranno le generazioni del futuro. Quale lezione stiamo trasmettendo loro? La pace è un obiettivo possibile? “Sì, lo è, quando le persone si incontrano e si conoscono”, Sciame sostiene. “Può avvenire attraverso lo sport, la musica, o la cultura. È per questo che organizziamo il Mese della Cultura Italiana, per far sì che le persone si incontrino e lavorino ad un progetto comune. Questo è quello che ci serve per il futuro: tanta speranza e tanta buona volontà”.

    Anna Fiore, Preside della Scuola d’Italia “Guglielmo Marconi”, condivide l’interesse accorato del Console Quintavalle e di Joseph Sciame riguardo alle nuove generazioni: “È estremamente importante mandare loro il giusto messaggio. Sono lieta che l’Ambasciatore abbia citato Cicerone, che duemila anni fa scriveva con estrema lucidità e potenza che coltivare la memoria storica è qualcosa di fondamentale.”
     

    La Preside Fiore ci spiega che alla Scuola d’Italia i ragazzi vengono educati secondo un approccio multidisciplinare e integrato, che valorizza la diversità come un fattore di arricchimento. Gli studenti di Anna Fiore sono anzitutto cittadini del mondo e del Pianeta Terra: “I ragazzi debbono essere ancorati a dei valori universali di solidarietà e di cittadinanza terrestre, debbono sentirsi protagonisti nel costruire un mondo migliore, con ottimismo e positività. Vogliamo che i nostri studenti si pongano domande, e che si interessino a ricercare risposte, che non sono mai semplici o univoche, ma estremamente complesse”.
     

    Louis Tallarini, Presidente della Columbus Foundation, crede che l’America intera stia imparando ogni giorno una lezione, dai fatti dell’Unidici Settembre. Una lezione di pace, “l’unica opzione”, e di forza, anch’essa secondo Luis l’unica opzione “per non far trionfare il male”. Quando gli chiediamo se abbia paura di veder succedere in futuro simili tragedie, Louis ci folgora con i suoi occhi scuri e italoamericani, e risponde con fermezza: “No, non ho paura. Sono consapevole dei pericoli che ci circondano, ma non avrò mai paura di niente”.

  • Life & People

    9/11. An Interview with Matilda Raffa Cuomo

    The Consulate of Italy in New York held a memorial ceremony to honor the Italian and Italian-American victims of the September 11, 2001 terroristic attacks.
     

    Among the numerous distinguished guests and representatives of the Italian and Italian-American community of New York, was Matilda Raffa Cuomo, Chair of the Committee to Establish the AP Program in Italian, Founder and Chair of MentoringUSA, New York’s former First Lady — she is the mother of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the wife of former-Governor Mario Cuomo - spoke to us after the ceremony.

     

    Matilda told us how proud she was of her son who, during his speech at the memorial ceremony at Ground Zero, read from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address—the famous “Four Freedoms” speech.

    In that speech, Roosevelt’s outlined the inalienable freedoms for all people throughout the world: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

    Mrs. Cuomo commented: “We will never forget this tragedy, but how do can we remember it in a positive way? How will we look to the future for the young people? The ‘Four Freedoms’, Roosevelt’s program for peace in the world, says it all. And Andrew reiterated them one by one.”
     

    Matilda strongly believes that that historical speech is “something we should all be talking about again,” as it urges us to think of peace as something to be attained on a global scale, not just in our home country. “We should do everything we can to make life better not only here, but in other countries as well. If not, these terrible tragedies will happen again and again, and more innocent lives will be taken.” And 'speaking with her hands,' the Italian way, Matilda underlines the importance of focusing on "peace for the whole world."
     

    Does she fear other terroristic attacks in the future? Not really. She feels rather safe today, given the passionate and scrupulous work of New York State Troopers and Policemen: “I can’t tell you what they did for us today. They were magnificent. We don’t know how many threats there were, and how many plans were made that didn’t work because of the efforts they put forth to keep us safe.”
     

    Matilda however, who lives near the U.N. Headquarters, couldn’t sleep the night of September 10,  as policemen were sounding off their sirens for hours, to the point that she thought that the UN was under attack. “The fear always in us, but we have to thank the policemen and all these people who do all this work, and they do it with their heart, all day, for us.”
     

    Mrs. Cuomo’s presence at the Italian memorial ceremony was very heartfelt. She had spent the morning with husband Mario in Ground Zero, and the event was “the most moving” to her. “But here I heard the Italian names,” she continues, “and for me to hear them down here at the Consulate is even more meaningful, because this is their home.”

  • Events: Reports

    Arts & Tannery 2011. Italian Leather Seduces 5th Ave

    Italian comedy queen Luciana Littizzetto once said it in her mordacious style, that bunches of roses and violets are outdated: women, today, prefer bunches of shoes instead.
     

    Luciana would have definitely enjoyed her time paying a visit to “Arts & Tannery”, the biannual boutique-expo held by the Italian Leather System Consortium in partnership with the Italian Trade Commission that welcomes top-notch tanners and fine leather producers to an exclusive loft showroom location in the heart of Manhattan, on trendy 5th Ave, at Midtown Loft and Terrace.
     

    The fall/winter edition of “Arts & Tannery” took place on September 7th and 8th, right before the beginning of the Fashion Week, warming up the atmosphere in Manhattan with a touch of Made In Italy awesomeness. It featured the presence of ten Italian leather and textile manufacturers, all members of the Italian Leather System Consortium, presenting their exclusive collections for Fall/Winter 2012/2013 to an audience of American leather goods producers and fashion designers.  
     

    Habitués of the expo and newcomer buyers were able to test sample raw materials, request information and network directly with the exhibitors: Ausonia, Gemini, M2, MB3, New Pelli, Pellegrini International, Sanlorenzo, Tuscania, Valvibrata Ornaments and Vesta Corporation.
     

    The guests also had the chance to participate in a presentation of the new trends and styles in the tannery industry, varying from prehistoric sensations inspired by the rich textures of dinosaurs’ skins, the shapes of plants and fossils and scaly and flaky materials, to the revival of classic styles, to the urban fascination with materials such as concrete, subway pavings, or construction sites equipment and attires, to a po-mo attitude towards reinvention and decontextualization of shapes and materials for the creation of unique styles and visual suggestions. The presentation was held by researcher and cool-hunter of the Italian Leather System Gianluca Gori.

    Gori, a proud Tuscan and a fine connoisseur of the latest fashion trends, tells i-Italy that the competitive advantages of Italian researchers in the tannery sector are an “extreme receptiveness and creativity” paired with “strong ethics and environmental sensitivity,” motivating them to back their creative proposals up with sustainability studies, in order to obtain the best qualitative results not only as far as products go, but also as far as production processes are concerned.
     

    Aniello Musella, Italian Trade Commissioner, who organized and participated in the inauguration of the expo, also stressed the importance of the environmental consciousness of the Italian tanners, and how it supported by a continuous investment in technology that is made possible by the Consortium, a successful business model for the tannery sector, where small enterprises are  prominent.
     

    The Italian Trade Commission,” Musella explains, “in a joint effort with the Ministry of Economic Development, supports industrial clustering with incentives, and the Italian Leather System Consortium, with ten factories producing complementary goods, demonstrates that the clustering model works perfectly, producing economies of scale for all the participants and bringing each manufacturer’s traditional expertise and top quality products to a very competitive market such as the American.” What it takes for the winning formula to work are “the right management, and the right enterprises,” Musella adds.
     

    Exhibitors are thrilled and satisfied too. Donatella Starnotti, of Vesta Corporation, believes that participating in “Arts & Tannery” is “a precious occasion to develop new business opportunities, in a city so important for fashion and trends such as New York.”

    Donatella, in her pleasantly Tuscan accented Italian, tells i-Italy that what distinguishes Made In Italy products from competitors’ is “the expertise acquired in years of trials and errors.” An expertise that emanates (smell-wise) and glows (sight-wise) from the leather samples exposed behind her, while she chats with us.

  • Life & People

    Bologna. A New Food & Wine MBA Program

    On June the 6, on a sunny afternoon in Manhattan, Eataly’s Birreria served freshly brewed artisan beer, Mortadella from Bologna and Ferrarelle’s oh-so-sparkling mineral water, and we swear it was all for educational purposes.

    Alma Graduate School, the business school of the University of Bologna, chose Farinetti’s rooftop bar to present the first edition of the school’s new MBA on Food and Wine.

    On the same occasion, the Ferrarelle Scholarship Program was presented, an initiative sponsored by the Italian mineral water brand that will cover the full amount of the tuition fees of €27’000 for ten successful applicants to the MBA.

    The MBA is an innovative postgraduate program in Business Education that Alma Graduate School will host beginning with the 2011-2012 academic year. It will consist of a 12-month full-time English-taught study course that will take place in Bologna, one of the most important Italian cities in terms of food and wine culture and production.

     

    “If you are a foodie, there’s no better place than Bologna,” stated Lauren Liberto, a recent graduate from the MBA in Design, Fashion and Luxury Goods at Alma Graduate School.

    Massimo Bergami, Dean of the school, told i-Italy that the MBA aims at training international managers for the sectors of agri-business, restaurant industry and distribution.

    Bergami particularly stressed the international appeal of Alma Graduate School programs: “Our current MBA has 80% international students studying in Bologna for 12 months, 4 of which are devoted to internships and on-field training. 95% of our students find a job within 3 months from graduation.”

    Katelyn Di Rocco, from New York City, is an MBA student of Design, Fashion and Luxury Goods at Alma Graduate School and she told i-Italy that her experience in Italy has been wonderful so far. “I love Bologna, it’s great! It’s a very student oriented town and there’s a very comforting vibe. I enjoy it very much.”

    “I was introduced to a lot of new types of foods since I’ve moved to Italy – Northern-Italian specialties in particular. Our school has a lot of really wonderful connections and we’ve been able to experience and taste a lot of really awesome foods,” says Katelyn.

    The Alma Graduate School’s initiative is enthusiastically supported by the most important personalities in the international food and wine industry such as Lidia Bastianich and Oscar Farinetti, masterminds of Eataly and, in the words of Bergami, “role models for the MBA’s
    prospective students.” 
    Bastianich believes the MBA’s strength is the chance it gives to students to “embrace Italian culture on a business territory and on the Italian soil.” A concept that Fabio Parasecoli, Associate Professor of Food Culture at the New School, further articulated: “Understanding food isn’t possible if you don’t understand the culture behind it. Italy is the right place to do so, as local identities are so numerous there.” What’s important for the students to grasp during their Italian study experience is ultimately that culture and traditions “are stories that translate into added value to a product.” 

    On the same note, Bergami believes that the distinguishing feature of Italians working in the food and wine industry is “the passion for the quality of the products,” a passion that results from traditions, cultural identity and local excellence in need of a new business approach to distribution and product valorization. The next big challenge for tomorrow’s food and wine managers is served.

  • Art & Culture

    OPEN ROADS - Italian Cinema on Stage

    Not only is Open Roads the festival that has been bringing the best of Italian cinema to an American audience since 2000, it is also an important occasion for Italian filmmakers and artists to reflect on their cultural identity.  

    The main issue that Open Roads tackles is the evolution of the definition of “Made in Italy” in the field of cinema, an art in transition between the glorious era of the great masters of Italian filmmaking such as Fellini, De Sica and Visconti, and a future of technological challenges in an extremely competitive race for new ideas and globally appealing stories.
     

    Screenings of this year’s most remarkable Italian movies are taking place at Lincoln Center (full program available at www.filmlinc.com), but Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò and the Italian Cultural Institute are not left behind.

    On May 31, the ICI was the location for the opening event of the festival’s eleventh edition, a round table with Italian and American producers, directors and academics discussing the importance of tax incentives for Italian and international filmmaking in Italy.

    On the occasion, Consul Francesco Maria Talò observed that Italian cinema has in fact “opened roads, being a great precursor,” and a protagonist of an international movement evolving worldwide as a systemic industry.

    An industry that, even in dealing with significant budget cuts, is doing well in the boot-shaped country.

    Riccardo Viale, director of ICI, states that even if public financing to cinema in Italy was 11% lower in 2010, 141 movies were produced in Italy over that year. Italy is the 8th most prolific country in the world as far as movie production is concerned, and the revenues from theaters have grown 47% between 2009 and 2011.

    Also, Italians are actually starting to value Italian movies over foreign movies: 50% of the movies Italians go to see in theaters are Italian.

    Alessandro D’Alatri, the Italian director whose latest movie, On The Sea, is showing at Lincoln Center, senses a change in the Italian film industry: “Twenty years ago directors were keen on rebuilding a texture for Italian cinema after the dark season of the 1980s. The relationship with the audience is now fully re-established, and Italian cinema has the energy, the courage and the experience to be big in the international market again.”
     

    D’Alatri also took part in the round table “Italian Cinema On Stage”, held at Casa Italiana on June 3.

    Most of the Italian directors whose movies are featured in the festival, together with young actors starring in them, were guests of Casa Italiana’s director Stefano Albertini for the evening. Tidbits of the films were presented to the audience and then commented by the directors and artists, unveiling behind the scenes details and discussing the main themes of the movies. 

    What emerges from all the movies is a strong need for self-analysis and self-consciousness. Italian directors are asking themselves what Italy is, going back to its historical roots (as in We Believed by Mario Martone and, under a totally cinephile perspective, in Giovanna Taviani’s Return to the Aeolian Islands), analyzing its flaws( in Whatsoeverly, starring Antonio Albanese, The Passion by Carlo Mazzacurati, and Unlikely Revolutionaries by Lucio Pellegrini), and following with a critical yet amused look the evolution of the Italian family, from the early 1900s (in Giulia Cecere’s The First Assignment), to today (in Sergio Castellitto’s Love and Slaps, in Marco Bellocchio’s Sisters Never, and in Luca Lucini’s The Woman Of My Life).  

Pages