Italian Migration Cinema Set for Staten Island's Garibaldi-Meucci Museum Today

As part of the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum's Terza Domenica Heritage Series, today, March 17 at 2 p.m. Dr. Alberto Zambenedetti will present, "Through the Lens of Emigration: America(ns) in Italian Migration Cinema."

Dr. Zambenedetti is a pioneer in the study of Italian Migration Cinema, which he considers "a forgotten chapter in Italian film history." He is writing a book on the subject to offer, for the first time, a coherent framework for the multitude of films produced in Italy that have Italian emigration as their topic. He says, "The number of films I watched before I set out to write (this book) is 176. This does not mean that my book will address all of these titles, but it gives you an idea of how large this group of films actually is. My book aims at introducing this critical category into the academic discourse on Italian film at large."

"Through the Lens of Emigration: America(ns) in Italian Migration Cinema" has grown out of his research, which is very much still in progress. Using a combination of stills, promotional material and film clips, Dr. Zambenedetti will show how Italian Migration Cinema has depicted America and its inhabitants since the 1930s. He will offer a panorama of the oftentimes unflattering portrayal of America depicted in this little-known area of film history, and offer specific examples to demonstrate the complicated relationship between Italy's most prominent Cultural Industry and the dreams of the many who have left that country in search of a better future.

Vittorio de Sica's film, "Due Cuori Felici" will be featured in this presentation as an important example of the exchange of people and capital between Italy and America in the early 1930s, and is the perfect starting point for the discussion of Italian Migration Cinema.