Conference_Language, Space and Otherness in Italy since 1861, Rome 24-25 June 2010

I am glad to announce an interesting conference that will take place in Rome the 24th and 25th of June 2010 at the British School. The organizer is prof. David Forgacs and confirmed speakers include John Agnew, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Charles Burdett, Derek Duncan, John Foot, Mia Fuller, Robert Gordon, and Alessandro Portelli.

"The aim of the conference is to identify and investigate the main rhetorical strategies and devices used in Italy since Unification to define ‘others’ and those used to resist such definitions. How have different types of discourse and media produced certain ‘marked’ categories of people – for example the poor, sexual deviants, prostitutes, colonized subjects, gypsies, illegal immigrants, persons with disability or with mental illness? What happens when some of these people react with their own discourses, counter-definitions and actions?
How do definitions of difference and otherness work across space, for instance by drawing boundaries or constructing oppositions: core/periphery, metropolitan centre/colony, straight/bent, inside/outside, high/low, clean/dirty? Why have maps, borders and coastline acquired such strong significance at certain historical moments? Participants are invited to examine these processes in written and printed texts, oral life stories, songs, photographs, radio and moving image media".

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At this confrence, I will also present a paper on "Redefing Italian Spaces: Piazza Vittorio and Transcultural Aesthetics". An abstract follows:

In 2002 the Italian musician Mario Tronco and the film director Agostino Ferrente decided to create an orchestra in the multicultural area of Rome, known as the Esquilino quarter. This project came out of their desire to put together the multi-ethnical variety of musicians who were dwelling in that part of Rome. The result was truly extraordinary: a large group, constituted by almost twenty musicians from many different countries, formed the so-called “Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio” and was directed by Mario Tronco. The Orchestra is now internationally known and is currently on tour all over the world. In 2006 Agostino Ferrente made a documentary about the Orchestra telling the story of its constitution. This film received many awards and has been screened all over the world.
The same year, 2006, saw the publication of a novel by the “Italophone” Algerian writer Amara Lakhous entitled Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a P.zza Vittorio (“Clash of civilizations for an elevator in Piazza Vittorio”), which is again a story about the multicultural reality of Piazza Vittorio, an example, in fact, of the transformation of the Italian society and of the importance that Italian migrant literature is gradually gaining. Lakhous’ book reflects ironically and provocatively on the stereotypes and common places related to the idea of “otherness” within an Italian context.
Starting from these musical, cinematic and narrative examples, this paper aims at analysing how immigration in Italy is beginning to produce cultural performances that enter the larger context of popular culture, and to what extend these performances, as forms of aesthetic and cultural contributions, have been able to redefine Italian spaces.

Book_Visions of Struggle in Women’s Filmmaking in the Mediterranean

Another interesting book on migration and cinema will be published by Palgrave next February 2010. The editor is Flavia Laviosa. The preface is by Laura Mulvey.
Looking forward to getting a copy!

"Focusing on countries in the Mediterranean rim, as the unifying geo-cultural location for a contemporary discussion on women’s human, civil and social rights, this book elaborates a trans-cultural definition of being a woman in struggle. This provocative collection situates feminist arguments on questions of women’s identity, roles, psychology and sexuality. Such issues are examined through the films of women directors from Mediterranean countries, whose cinema is relevant to the discourse of women’s studies. Although their methodologies are diverse, these artists are united in their use of cinema as a means of
intervention, taking on the role as outspoken and leading advocates for women’s problems. Their cinematic art reproduces and structures the discourses of realism, recreating prototypical characters and figurations and magnifying the complex and unambiguous truths about women’s political, class, war and gender struggles. Contributors examine
representations of women’s unresolved issues and violated rights in films that are expressions of cultural challenges and socio-political commitment for Mediterranean women’s collective experience of struggle".

This book is the result of a symposium that took place at the Davis Museum
and Cultural Center November 2-3 2007.

Book_Translated People, Translated Texts Language and Migration in Contemporary African Literature

A new book on the relationship between translation and migration has been recently published by St. Jerome publishing house. The title is "Translated People, Translated Texts Language and Migration in Contemporary African Literature". The author is Tina Steiner.

"Translated People, Translated Texts makes a significant contribution to our understanding of migration as a common condition of the postcolonial world and offers a welcome insight into particular travellers and their unique translations".

All information here.

Call for Paper: The Mediterranean in Italian Culture_Conference 3-4 May 2010

Dear all,

a very interesting conference will be held in Venice and Udine on May 3 and 4, 2010. The topic is the Mediterranean and its cultural implications in the Italian horizon. More information about the call for paper here.

Call for article_Crossings: Journal of Migration and Culture

Dear all,
a new journal has just been created. The title is very pomising "Crossings: Journal of Migration and Culture". This journal "situates itself at the interface of Migration Studies and Cultural Studies".
There is a call for article for its first issue. The deadline is 1st of December 2009.
I'm planning to send an abstract for an article on film and migration. I'm sure this post might be of interest to the readers of this blog.
You can find all the information about it here.

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.