Thursday, April 27, 2017
(Feliciano School of Business Lecture Hall 101) NJ 6:30-8:30pm
For directions, select School of Business from campus map
See media coverage for this event
This film screening of Come il peso dell’acqua (“Like the Weight of Water”) directed by filmmaker Andrea Segre is the second of a two-day event linked to the project Italy and the Euro-Mediterranean Migrant Crisis.
Program:
- Introductory remarks by Teresa Fiore
- Screening of Like the Weigh of Water/Come il peso dell’acqua
- Film subtitles by Montclair State University students James Lo Cascio e Rosanna Coviello, and Giulia Fratini (University of Macerata, Italy) under the supervision of Marisa Trubiano (Italian Program, Montclair State University) and Elena Di Giovanni e Francesca Raffi (University of Macerata, Italy)
- Q&A with the director Andrea Segre as well as scholars Giuseppe Campesi, Enrica Rigo, Nando Sigona, and Ernest Ialongo
Come il peso dell’acqua (“Like the Weight of Water”) is a film directed by Andrea Segre (second director Stefano Liberti) and featuring award-winning 
actors Giuseppe Battiston and Marco Paolini. Produced by and aired on RAI3 in 2014 (see the official webpage). In line with the tradition of the “theater of narration,” the movie features actors who rely on storytelling, maps, and the display of objects to address a multi-faceted subject of socio-political relevance such as contemporary immigration. By weaving these “tales” with the interviews with three immigrant women from Africa and the Middle East as well as original footage about rescues out at sea, Segre crafts an innovative filmic language that renders in clear and incisive ways the complex issues at play in leaving one’s country, traveling by sea, and trying to find a new place. Ultimately, Come il peso dell’acqua is a reminder that border closure policies are bound to fail: like water, migrants will continue to exercise pressure unless the European approach lends an ear to migrants’ direct stories, as this film does.
After the screening, the director will entertain questions from the panelists from the previous day’s event and the audience.
Andrea Segre is a film and documentary director active in both cinema and television. He has a Ph.D. in Sociology and Communication and has been researching the topic of immigration for over ten years. He is the co-founder of Zalab, a production and distribution company for social documentaries and cultural projects at large. He has directed two movies, both produced by JoleFilm: Io sono Li (four David di Donatello nominations, winner of dozens of international awards, such as the Premio Lux of the European Parliament, and distributed in over 45 countries); and La Prima Neve(“Orizons” section at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival and winner of the Annecy Festival). Segre is also the director or codirector of a number of acclaimed documentaries: Marghera Canale Nord, A sud di Lampedusa, La mal’ombra, Come un uomo sulla terra, Magari le cosa cambiano, Il Sangue Verde, Mare Chiuso, Come il peso dell’acqua and I Sogni del Lago Salato. He is also the author of FuoriRotta (Marsilio, 2004) a book linked to the Fuorirotta.org project developed in collaboration with Montura Editing and the Italian newspaper Internazionale.
- Designed and organized by Ernest Ialongo (Hostos Community College, CUNY; Chair, Columbia University Seminar in Modern Italian Studies) and Teresa Fiore (Inserra Endowed Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, Montclair State University)
- with the support of the Columbia University Seminars Office, the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at Montclair State University, and the Columbia University Seminar in Modern Italian Studies
- with the cosponsorship of The Forum on Migration at Barnard College and the Italian Cultural Institute of New York
Resources:
Milano, la provocazione di Iñárritu: portare il relitto dei migranti in piazza Duomo (Repubblica, Dec. 14, 2016, article in Italian)
An Island in a Cold Sea (article)