From Albanophobia to (Roma)Rumanophobia_Dr Nicola Mai at UCL 18 March 2009

Dear all,
it is my plesure to invite you to a seminar by Dr Nicola Mai, organized by the UCL Mellon Proramme.

Dr Nicola Mai will talk about: "From Albanophobia to (Roma)Rumanophobia: new and old moral panics, social transformations and the re-configuration of Italian national identity".

The seminar will take place at Roberts Building, Room 212, Malet Place, UCL, Gower Street, London, WC1, Wednesday 18 March 2009, 5pm.

I'll chair the session.
You are all welcome and the event is free!

All my Best
Federica

Corazones de Mujer: Screening and Interview with Director and Actress, UCL 13 March 2009

The presentation went very well! There were many people and Davide Sordella gave very interesting answers to the many questions of the audience!
The interview will be available in a future editorial project that will include also the interviews with the other directors who have been involved in the project "Perfoming Gender".

Unfortunately the actress Ghizlane Waldi couldn't come.

The DVD of "Corazones de Mujer" will be available to buy this month.


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UCL Mellon Programme: Performing Gender, Transpositions and Translations of Identities presents:

13 March 2009, 6pm

A screening of "Corazones de mujer" | A film by “Kiff Kosoof” (Pablo
Benedetti and Davide Sordella) with Ghizlane Waldi and Aziz Ahmeri (with English sub-titles).

Introduced by Dr Federica Mazzara.
***This screening will be followed by a discussion with one of the directors, Davide Sordella, and the lead actress, Ghizlane Waldi***

All are welcome | Admission is free

Venue: Malet Place Engineering Building, Room 1.03, UCL, Gower Street, London, WC1 (campus maps)

Full details of this series. Download the series poster (PDF format). Full details of the event.


Synopsis:
Once upon a time there was a transvestite tailor who made the best Arab clothing in the entire city: his name was Shakira (Aziz Ahmeri) and he wa to make the wedding gown for a young woman who was soon to be married: Zina (Ghizlane Waldi). The problem was that Zina had already lost her virginity and this is forbidden in the Arab world. In order to return to “kilometer zero,” the two decide to drive an old Alfa Romeo sports car from Torino all the way to Morocco and… this is the beginning of a voyage that will save her life.

Directors' Biographies:
DAVIDE SORDELLA: Studied in London at the London International Film School, directed by Mike Leigh. From 1996 to 2000 he worked in Latin America for various international agencies and organizations directing documentaries. From 2000 to 2002 he directed numerous shorts in various countries (UK, Israel, Nepal, etc.). His first feature film, “Fratelli di Sangue,” was presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2006. “Corazones de Mujer” is his second film. He is now working in Japan on his third film, “Sleeping Doll,” an international co-production.

PABLO BENEDETTI: He studied at the London International Film School, directed by Mike Leigh, where he developed skills in the art of film making, and specialized in directing. In 2003 he began an intense experience with Lindsay Kemp. In 2004, during a long tour in Spain and Italy he made Gota Roja, a portrait of this extraordinary artist. The next year, 2005, he directed Bluemist, about the competitive apnea world champion, Gianluca Genoni. He then began collaborating with his former classmate, Davide Sordella, making the film Corazones de Mujer.

Workshop_Migrating Italy_Oxford 27 February 2009

Dear all,
the 27th of February a very interersting interdisciplinary workshop on "Media and Narrative Represenattions of Immigration in italy", will take place in Oxford.
On that occasion I will present a paper "Writing the Mediterranean: Amara Lakhous and the Translation of Cultures".
There'll be speakers from all over UK and they will present interesting papers on various aspects of immigration in Italy, with a special concern to the media and narrative representations.
For further details and for dowloading the programme click here.

Abstract of my paper:
WRITING THE MEDITERRANEAN: AMARA LAKHOUS AND THE TRANSLATION OF CULTURES

This paper aims at investigating the possibility of talking about a ‘Mediterranean alternative’ in a cultural and literary horizon. In particular, it will analyse the Italian case, whose Mediterranean heredity has recently been rediscovered through the contributions of those writers who, coming from other Mediterranean countries, are challenging the borders of a Westernized and controversial reality, such as the Italian one. Amara Lakhous, a contemporary Algerian-Italian writer, living in Italy and writing in Italian, is a good example of this attempt. His writing is, in fact, transgressing the bounded Italian national culture, by challenging its monolithic view and by offering a new transcultural gaze into the Italian whole way of life.

Amara Lakhous in London_13 February 2009

Dear all,
it is my pleasure to invite you to the presentation of the algerian-Italian writer,
Amara Lakhous's book "Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a Piazza Vittorio"
(Clash of Civilization over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio), that I have organized
for the UCL Mellon Programme. It will take place at the UCL,
Friday 13 February 2009, 17.30 (Pearson LT, main campus).
For all details click on the image or visit the Mellon Programme website.
The event is free and you are all welcome.

                        
           ***THE AUTHOR WILL BE PRESENT***

THE EVENT WILL BE CONDUCTED IN ITALIAN.


Looking forward to seeing you there!

Best Regards
Federica

CALL FOR PAPER_ITALIAN CULTURAL STUDIES

***ITALIAN CULTURAL STUDIES***
May 6-7-8, 2010 Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA

ORGANIZED BY DARTMOUTH COLLEGE (Graziella Parati) AND THE UNIVERSITY OF BARI (Patrizia Calefato.)

This interdisciplinary conference will focus on the state of the field of Cultural Studies in Italian Studies. We invite presentations on Cultural Studies as practiced in Italian Studies, and on topics focusing on Italy and Cultural Studies in all fields. We invite submissions from colleagues in: anthropology, art history, economics, geography, history, literary studies, Mediterranean studies, religion, semiotics, sociology, visual studies, the sciences etc.
Presentations will last 20 minutes. Participants will bring a final, longer version of their presentation for publication (Please follow the Chicago Style Manual for the publishable essay). Final essays will be refereed and those recommended for publication by independent readers will become part of the volume: Italian Cultural Studies (2010).
All presentations and final essays must be in English (Please let us know if you need to contact translators.)
No registration fees.

Please send a one page abstract with title of presentation by October 31 2009 to both: graziella.parati@dartmouth.edu and p.calefato@lingue.uniba.it

ITALIAN CINEMA OF MIGRATION January-March 2009

A new film screenings series I have organized on Italian migration - both out of Italy and into Italy - will start in January 2009 and it will run till March 2009.
The purpose is to show how the depiction of migrants has changed (?) in Italian cinema and how stereotypes and prejudies towards the "other" has been represented by Italian film-makers or foreign film-makers who have produced "Italian" films. I will introduce every film. Each screening will be followed by a discussion.
You can find all details about venue, time and films to be screened by clicking the poster above. All films have English subtitles.
Looking forward to seeing you there!

Come un uomo sulla terra/Like a man on earth

Since 2003 Italy and Europe have asked Libya to stop the African migrants. What are the Libyan police really doing? What do thousands of African men and women suffer? And why does everybody pretend they do not know about it? The documentary "Come un uomo sulla terra" by Riccardo Biadene, Andrea Segre, Dagmawi Yimer tries to provide answers to these questions.
Despite the indifference of Italian government and media towards the problem, "Come un uomo sulla terra" is being screened in many Italian cities.
You can sign a petition on-line to "bring to a halt the violence against thousands of human beings arrested and deported by the Libyan police, to prevent their migration to Europe". For further information about the documentary and for signing the petition click here.