Week of the Italian Language in the World

Istituto Italiano di Cultura event will also include Apulia film retrospective

In Toronto, week of the Italian Language in the World began on Thursday will end next Thursday, October 27. This is the fifth edition of the Week, and it's celebrated by all the Istituti Italiani di Cultura in the world.
In Toronto, the 2005 edition is presented by the Istituto Italiano alongside the Emilio Goggio Chair in Italian Studies University of Toronto and has as its title Literature, Cinema and Language. This year, the celebrations include Terra: the first retrospective on films from Apulia in Toronto, which takes place October 25 to 27 at the Al Green Theatre, 750 Spadina Avenue, at the corner of Bloor Street.
"Week of the Italian Language takes place around the world almost simultaneously," says Carlo Coen, director of Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Toronto. "It's an initiative from the Foreign and Cultural ministries who commissioned l'Accademia della Crusca to carry on the project. Usually, the Week is held at the end of October and every year features a different theme. Last year the theme in Toronto was Pinocchio. This year we included in the Week a retrospective of film from Apulia organized by Mimmo Mongelli. That was to have taken place in October, but I felt it best to unite the two events."
"All the conferences and roundtables will be in Italian," adds Coen.
The programme began this past Thursday at 6pm at the Istituto Italiano, located at 496 di Huron Street (St. George) with a conference on Criticism as Dialogue by Romano Luperini from the university of Siena. On Friday at 6 pm, always at the Istituto, Pier Paolo Pasolini's film Accattone was screened, followed by a debate. On Sunday October 23, at noon, Melania Mazzucco, born in Rome in 1966 and author of Vita which won the Strega Prize in 2003, will hold a public reading at the Harbourfront Lakeside Terrace in occasion of the International Festival of Authors. The book, available in English, tells the true story, adapted by Mazzucco, of two kids who follow the American dream, towards "happiness." The youth, Diamante 12, and Vita 9, leave their village near Caserta and arrive in New York, in 1903, where their father awaits them.
Later on Sunday, at 3 pm, in the Brigantine Room at Harbourfront, Melania Mazzucco will participate in a roundtable discussion. On Monday, October 24, at 6 pm, at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, there's the roundtable discussion "The Italian Language: The Page and the Screen. Literature, Cinema, Television." Participating will be professors Donato Santeramo from Queen's University, Jana Wizmuller Zocco from York University, Rocco Capozzi from University of Toronto and Carlo Coen, director of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura.
Closing the week dedicated to the Italian language will be Romano Luperini with "What is Literary Criticism?" The conference will take place at 4 pm at the Italian Studies department of St. Michael's College, 100 St. Joseph Street.
The following is the line-up of Terra, the retrospective of cinema from Apulia, that takes place at the Al Green Theatre (750 Spadina and Bloor St. - tel. 416 924-6211): Tuesday October 25 at 6 pm it's Lacapagira by Alessandro Piva and at 8:30 pm, it's Idillio infranto by Nello Mauri (the first film to be shot in Apulia, in Acquaviva, in 1931).
Wednesday October 26, at 6 pm, it's Pizzicata, by Edoardo Winspeare, a film full of music that explores the world of the Pizzica, an ancient dance from Salento. At 8:30 pm it's Stesso desiderio by Angelo Amoroso d'Aragona. Following are the shorts Bbobbolone by Daniele Cascella; Zinanà by Pippo Mezzapesa and the documentary Le Storie cantate by Daniele Trevisi and Nicola Morisco.
Thursday October 27, at 6 pm, it's Bell'Epoker by Nico Cirasola, and at 8:30pm La Casa delle donne by Mimmo Mongelli.
All the films will be screened in their original language with English subtitles. Terra is a retrospective that attempts to bring the most interesting and recent cinematic productions from Apulia to Toronto, with the hopes of creating interest in those who love cinema, Italian and non. The central theme of the retrospective is the rapport that Man has with Earth. In Apulia, the Man-Earth rapport is a distinctive one for the many contradictions that it has created. The retrospective, curated by director Mimmo Mongelli, is expected to see the participation of various talent, including Antonella Gaeta, film critic from the Bari edition of La Repubblica.
The event is sponsored by Regione Puglia and organized by the Associazione Culturale Nuove Produzioni Spettacolari di Bari, by Federazione Pugliesi in Ontario and by Filef in collaboration with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Toronto.

Publication Date: 2005-10-23
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