SDIFF Celebrates 150 years of Italian Unification, 1861 - 2011
SAN DIEGO - On Friday, March 11, 6:30 p.m., at SDSU Little Theater, the San Diego Italian Film Festival (SDIFF) in partnership with San Diego State Italian Studies will show Francesco Rosi’s 1979 classic film Christ Stopped at Eboli, based on Carlo Levi’s book of the same title, introduced by a roundtable discussion of experts.
Clarissa Clo’ (Director, SDSU Italian Program), will host the discussion, and the panelists include Joanne Ferraro (Chair, History, SDSU), Mario Garrett (Chair, Gerontology, SDSU), Victor Laruccia (SDIFF), Emanuele Saccarelli (Political Science, SDSU), and Pasquale Verdicchio (Italian Studies, UCSD and SDIFF). This event opens a film series entitled “Italy at 150 Years” presented by SDIFF and dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification (1861). For more information about this series please check www.sandiegoitalianfilmfestival.com
Levi’s work and Rosi’s film, both famous for their deep humanism and artistic expression, bring into focus several of the major issues which have confronted Italy since it first became a state, issues which have been part of Italy’s own search for identity and have been put into a single phrase common in Italy, “The Southern Question.” These issues, bearing on work, dignity, population movements, differential development in the same country, and the consequences of migration, are still burning issues not only for Italy but for every country experiencing either emigration or immigration.
The difference for Italy has been both the magnitude of population movement (26 million left Italy between 1874 and 1974) and the role southern Italy has played in how Italy has understood these issues, a role which even today has important consequences for Italians everywhere. The Little Theatre is on Campanile Drive. Map:https:// sunspot.sdsu.edu/map//display.c gi?new_loc_id=1010. Only paid parking is available on campus. This event is made possible by an instructionally related activities grant provided by the College of Arts and Letters at SDSU. Additional support provided by the Linnie Cooper Foundation.
