Photo of Inserra Event - Fashion in Film

2012-13 Events

Fall 2012

Spring 2013

Fall 2012 Program


The Migrant Transatlantic Voyage in Italian Early Silent Films: A Screening with Live Musical Accompaniment

Thur Sept. 27, 2012 (6-8:30pm, Leshowitz Hall, John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State University)

Light refreshments will be served in Panzer Athletic Center lobby

Media coverage of The Migrant Transatlantic Voyage.

Italian Silent Film image

Image: Collection of the National Museum of Cinema (Turin, Italy)

  • Introductory lecture by Prof. Jacqueline Reich (Stony Brook University)
  • Screening of Dagli Appennini alle Ande/From the Apennines to the Andes by Umberto Paradisi (1916), a short film (37′) adapted from Edmondo De Amicis’ 1886 classic book Cuore (Heart)
  • Live music by: Chris Opperman (Cali School of Music) and Marco Cappelli
  • Subtitles by Prof. Raúl Galoppe (Spanish Program)
  • English translation supervised by Profs. Marisa Trubiano and Teresa Fiore(Italian Program)

This event is a unique opportunity to view a rare, restored silent film with an original score that will be performed live. The film was inspired by De Amicis’ part adventure, part coming-of-age story about a 13-year old boy traveling across the Atlantic and through Argentina in search of his missing mother. The screening will be preceded by an introductory lecture on Italian cinematic production focusing on the transatlantic voyage of Italian emigrants in the early 20th century. Whereas the exploration of the Americas is often linked to a canonical set of historical navigators and their discoveries from the late 1400s on, this lecture sheds light on some of the lesser-known cultural explorations of seas, lands and people that emigrants engaged in.

  • Special thanks to ShopRite/Inserra Supermarkets

Contact: Prof. Teresa Fiore at inserra@montclair.edu
Events on film and photography topics

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Italian Americans in Independent Film: A Conversation with Filmmakers Nancy Savoca and Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno & Jerome Bongiorno

Thur. Nov. 8, 2012 (6pm University Hall Conference Center, 7th floor, Montclair State University)

Media coverage of Italian Americans in Independent Film

Introduction: Prof. Marisa Trubiano (Deputy Chair, Italian Program)

Moderator: Prof. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair) and Prof. Roberta Friedman (Filmmaking Program)

The conversation will focus on the history of Italian Americans in film and the place of contemporary directors within it, especially with an eye towards the future. Completed and in-progress projects will be discussed through selected film clips.

Nancy Savoca

Nancy Savoca is one of the leading independent directors in the U.S. Her 1989 film True Love was hailed as “one of the 50 greatest independent films of all time” by Entertainment WeeklyHousehold Saints (1991) and Union Square (2012), among other films, reveal her skill in designing Italian American characters and stories that transcend common clichés.

The Bongiornos

NJ-based husband and wife filmmakers and producers, the Bongiornos have offered alternative images of Italian Americans through films and documentaries such as Little Kings(2003), Mother-Tongue (1999, Emmy-nominated), and the recent Painting Rules (2012).

Contact: Dr. Teresa Fiore at inserra@montclair.edu

* Two related films will be screened by the Italian Amici Club on campus: the Bongiornos’ Mother-Tongue (43mins documentary, Emmy nominated 2000) on Wed Oct. 17 @ 3pm in University Hall 2011, and Nancy Savoca’s Union Square(2012) on Wed Nov. 7  @ 3pm in University Hall 2011. Contact: amicimsu@gmail.com

Programs on Italian American Culture

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Spring 2013 Program


The Role of Theater in Contemporary Italy: A Conversation with Director Romeo Castellucci*

Thur. Feb. 14 (11:30am-1:00pm – L. Howard Fox Theatre, Montclair State University)

Introduced and moderated by Prof. Nicoletta Marini-Maio (Dickinson College)

Media coverage of The Role of Theater in Contemporary Italy

* Please note: The introduction will be in English and the conversation in Italian with consecutive translation into English.

Romeo Castellucci

Romeo Castellucci is an acclaimed Italian theater director, whose original work has attracted international attention for its simultaneous use of different art forms on stage. The result of this experimentation is a plastic theater rich with visions that aims to provide an integral perception of the arts. Regularly invited and produced by the most prestigious theaters and festivals all over the world, his productions have been largely linked to the company Societas Raffaello Sanzio, which he co-founded in 1981 with some family members. He has received a number of Ubu Prizes and was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2010, his trilogy dedicated to the Divine Comedy was named the best play and one of the ten most influential cultural events in the world for the decade 2000-2010 by Le Monde. Castellucci will be on the MSU campus in February for the U.S. premiere of his latest play On the Concept of the Face, Regarding the Son of God, co-produced and presented by Peak Performances, as part of the 2012-13 season at Montclair State’s Alexander Kasser Theater. This will be the third visit to MSU by Castellucci and his company: Tragedia Endogonidia was performed at the Kasser Theater in 2005 and Hey Girl! in 2008.

Open to the general public, this conversation at Montclair State University will focus on Castellucci’s theater productions over the years and also on the role of theater in contemporary Italian society (please note that a specific conversation about the play On the Concept of the Face will take place with scholar Annalisa Sacchi on Feb. 14 at 6pm at the Kasser Theater before the premiere – details about this Sneak Peek)

Light refreshments will be served.

Contact: Dr. Teresa Fiore at inserra@montclair.edu
Events on similar music and theater topics

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The Italian Artistic Legacy in Contemporary Silversmithing: A Lecture by Ubaldo Vitali (2011 MacArthur Fellow), in conversation with Ulysses Grant Dietz (Newark Museum)

Thur Feb. 28, 2013 (6pm University Hall Conference Center, 7th floor, Montclair State University)

Media coverage of The Italian Artistic Legacy in Contemporary Silversmithing

Vitali Silvermaking images

Ubaldo Vitali is one of the most important living silversmiths in the U.S., a highly sought after conservator of silver objects, and a refined art historian. Vitali is the first New Jerseyan and the first silversmith to win a MacArthur Fellowship, a prestigious prize awarded to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits. This lecture will focus on the relationship between design, technology, and modern alchemy as well as the specific legacy of Italian artistic movements in Vitali’s works (for some examples, see his exhibit at the Renwick Gallery in Washington D.C.). He will be joined on stage by Ulysses Grant Dietz (Senior Curator of Decorative Arts at the Newark Museum) for an engaging conversation.

Selected pieces from Vitali’s personal silverwork collection will be on display.

Light refreshments will be served.

Musical accompaniment by Marco Vitali (violinist) and Regan Ryzuk (pianist)

This event is part of 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the United States, an initiative held under the auspices of the President of the Italian Republic, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Italy, and supported by the Corporate Ambassadors Eni and Intesa Sanpaolo

Contact: Dr. Teresa Fiore at inserra@montclair.edu
Events on similar fashion and design topics

Year of Italian Culture 2013 Logo

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Fashion and Film Italian Style during the Post-WWII Economic Boom: A Lecture by Prof. Eugenia Paulicelli (Queens College/CUNY Graduate Center)

Thur April 11, 2013 (6pm University Hall Conference Center, 7th floor, Montclair State University)

Media coverage of Fashion and Film Italian Style

Rome in 1960

Image: Rome, 1960 by William Klein for Vogue America

Prof. Paulicelli will provide a short introduction to the history of Italian fashion and an in-depth reading of the relationships between fashion and film in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As industries and cultural manifestations, fashion and film share many similar qualities and have always influenced each other in different ways. Bound to emotions, desire and the experience of modernity, they are both spectacle and performance. Since its inception, especially during periods of great transformations such as economic booms, movie-going for both men and women was akin to attending a fashion parade. Before the explosion of digital technology, access to fashion for the masses was mediated through cinema and the genre of the fashion film, a phenomenon which continues today. Drawing on films by Antonioni, Fellini and others, the lecture will illustrate how the marriage between fashion and film launched the modern image of Italy as we know it today. The lecture will include clips and stills from Italian movies.

Selected items from the Queens College Historic Costume Collection will be on display.

Light refreshments will be served.

Musical accompaniment courtesy of the John J. Cali School of Music.

Contact: Dr. Teresa Fiore at inserra@montclair.edu
Events on similar fashion and design topics

This event is part of 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the United Statesan initiative held under the auspices of the President of the Italian Republic, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Italy, and supported by the Corporate Ambassadors Eni and Intesa Sanpaolo.

Year of Italian Culture 2013 Logo

ENI LogoIntesa Sanpaolo logo

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