Film Festival Press Release

All film screenings will take place at 7:00 p.m. in Brantl Lecture Hall in Dickson Hall on the Montclair State University campus in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. They will be followed by a question-and answer-session with the directors. There is no cost for the screenings and the lecture and all events are open to the public.
 
 

Tanabèss (1997) by Luisa Pretolani, is the story, set in the summer of 1972 in Ravenna, Italy, of a young man Giboís efforts to make money by fishing and smuggling in order to visit his girlfriend Yonna in Denmark. Two key figures in his life? his spiritual mentor, his anarchist-Communist friend? disapprove of his decision to leave everything behind. Gibo finds solace instead with Bubus, the "Owner of the River." Giboís daily life is interrupted by the arrival of Orcinamum, and African man, who was a rare sight on Italian beaches at that time, and who becomes Giboís companion for the summer. By the end of the summer, Gibo has made enough money to leave for his Danish dream. But like every dream, the awakening can often be quite unexpected. In Italian with English subtitles. This film was selected as the only Italian feature film at The International Film Festival in Portugal (9/98) and the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (5/99).

• Luisa Pretolani started her career in New York producing documentaries on gender and emigration. Her past documentary projects New York/Ravenna: One Way and Things I Take earned several awards, including Special Mention at the Mixed Messages Festival at the New School University in New York (6/98), A Special Mention at the World Population Video Festival in Boston (10/97) and a First Runnerís Up at the American Film Institute in LA (7/97). Luisa is currently in post-production of her second feature film Tizca, and is raising funds for her next documentary on women and war, Leaving/Living. For more information on her films, visit these websites: http://www.pahni.com, http://www.tanabess.com, http://www.tizca.it

Two documentary films, Ama l'uomo tuo (Stand By Your Man) by Cara De Vito and Fuori/Outside by Kym Ragusa, provide a candid and in-depth look at their Italian American roots and specifically, trace the stories of some of the remarkable women that kept their families, their futures, and their artistic visions intact and vibrant. These films investigate issues such as gender and ethnicity with clarity, sensitivity, and great humanity. In English.

• Cara De Vito has been making documentaries since 1974. She earned two New York Emmy nominations (co-directed with Jeffrey Kleinman) for best documentary and outstanding individual craft for her film documentary What Could You Do With a Nickle?, the inspiring story of 200 African American and Hispanic women in the South Bronx who formed the first domestic workersí union. She received an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Craft for film editing. Cara is the recipient of two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and other grants and awards. In 1981 she began a 17-year tenure at NBC News in New York, editing and producing feature news stories. After receiving a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University three years ago, she negotiated a buy out from NBC News to form her own production company, Hey Hey Pictures in Rhinebeck, New York.

• Kym Ragusa is a New York-based film- and videomaker, teacher, and curator. She is originally from the Bronx; her fatherís family comes from Sicily and Calabria, and her motherís family is of mixed African American, Native American, Chinese and German descent. Her work pushes the boundaries between memoir, anthropology, history, and fiction. In-betweenness is a common theme in her films, videos, and writing: between cultures, communities, and generations, between home and exile, between family secrets and public declarations. She is currently working on a number of projects: a short experimental film reworking the myth of Persephone; a documentary about immigrant women in East Harlem (Italian, Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Haitian) and their relationship to the Madonna of Mount Carmel; and Motel, her first narrative film. In 1999, Kym was the  recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Film.

Household Saints (1993) by Nancy Savoca traces the lives of three generations of Italian American women. In post-World War II New York, Joseph Santangelo (Vincent D'Onofrio) wins Catherine Falconetti (Tracey Ullman) when her father, Lino (Victor Argo), bets her in a pinochle game. To Lino's surprise, Santangelo takes the bet seriously. Santangeloís hyperreligious and superstitious mother, Carmela (Judith Malina)? who makes the best sausages around? disapproves of mousy Catherine and is appalled by her cooking. Nevertheless, Catherine and Joseph marry and are blessed with a daughter, Teresa (Lili Taylor), a religious zealot even as a child. As a teenager, Teresa's devotion becomes ever more extreme, alarming her boyfriend (Michae Imperioli) and her parents. The film is based on Francine Proseís novel of the same name.

• Nancy Savoca, an independent filmmaker, after winning a student film award from NYU for her short films Renata and Bad Timing, made her feature directing and co-screenwriting debut with True Love (1989), a comedy about Italian American courtship and the ritual of marriage in the Bronx.  She entered the industry with various production jobs, including as production assistant for Jonathan Demme for Married to the Mob and for John Sayles for Brother From Another Planet. In 1991, Nancy made Dogfight, her first Hollywood production. She returned to independent filmmaking with Household Saints in 1993. Her most recent feature film was released in 1999, entitled The 24-Hour Woman, and starred Rosie Perez.  Nancy has also gained recognition for her work on the small screen. In 1995, she was asked by Stephen Bochco to direct an episode of "Murder One" (ABC) and did episode five of the ongoing series. She directed both the "1952" and "1974" segments (as well as the scripting of all three) of If These Walls Could Talk (1997) for HBO. For this and more information, visit www.bigstar.com

A lecture given by Fred Gardaphè, Director of the Italian American Studies Program at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he teaches such courses as Italian American Film, The Gangster in Italian American Literature, and Making American Identities. He is the author of Italian Signs, American Streets.

• Dr. Gardaphè's will trace the gangster created by Hollywood, a cinematic figure that has had a profound effect on the development of an ethnic stereotype. He will posit the question as to what the gangster means in American culture, how it is expressed in film and on TV, and how Italian American directors, past and present, use the figure differently. The lecture promises some unexpected insights into the past, present and future of American culture

The Italian American Short Film Night, presented by director Marco Ricci. This unique selection of short films celebrates new visions of the Italian American experience. The films span various themes: the immigrant experience, growing up and working in Italian American families and neighborhoods, and the search for self-realization, among others. From the dramatic to the comedic, these films are simply unforgettable! Titles to be announced. In English or Italian, subtitled.

                                                           Contact Info. Email: trubianom@mail.montclair.edu; (973) 655-7950