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“3 Portraits of italomontrealesi of yesterday and today / 3 Portraits of Italian-Montréalais d’hier et d’aujourd’hui”: Paul Tana, Gianni and Roberto Princigalli Zorfini show with film images a new page of “Caffè Italia”

A year ago on October 19, the Italian Cultural Institute of Montreal, the École des médias of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQàM) and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures of McGill University launched, on the occasion of the 17th Week of Italian Language in the World “, the” Caffè Italia “project, inspired by the homonymous work (1985) by the well-known Italian-Canadian director Paul Tana, professor of” Media and Cinema “at UQàM.

As “Caffè Italia”, which tells a true story of Italians in Montreal, an active comunity since the late 19th century,like Giovanni Princigalli, Roberto Zorfini and the same Paul Tana return to narriate with their images the methods and customs of Italian immigrants in Canada, from the past to today.

The Italian Cultural Institute and the École des médias dell’Université du Québec à Montréal are pleased to present the cinematographic work entitled “3 Portraits of italomontrealesi of yesterday and today / 3 Portraits of Italian-Montréalais d’hier et d’aujourd’hui“. “3 Portraits” is a tale of the three stories:

“Il fico/ Le figuier” by Paul Tana (28 min)
Il fico (Ficus carica), tree grown in the Mediterranean, it arrives in Montréal thanks to the Italians, who generously preserve its vitality, making it rise again every year.

“Giorni migliori/ Jours meilleurs” by Gianni Princigalli (24 min)
Three stories of young Italian emigrants in Montreal: Barbara, who lives with Ihab, a Palestinian from Syria; then Luca, a talented researcher who lives with his partner Marco and finally Claudia and Publio who have three children and a pizzeria.

“Il tempo di un caffè/ Le temps d’un café” by Roberto Zorfini (15 min)
Five italians living in there dwellings, and talking with a friend, they prepare a coffee and gives them the opportunity to speak about their own immigration experiences in Canada.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018, at 7pm
Cinéma Beaubien
2396 Rue Beaubien Est
Montréal QC H2G 1N2
Entrée libre

The work “3 Portraits” is born from the project “Caffé Italia” conceived by Francesco D’Arelli and Paul Tana and produced by the Italian Institute of Culture Montreal and the École des médias at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Paul Tana, Born in Ancona in Italy in 1947, he arrived with his family in Québec in 1958. He studied at the Université de Montréal and teaches at the École des Médias of the Université du Québec à Montréal. He began his film career in the 70s with the production cooperative ACPAV, making a long series of short films and memorable films, including to remember especially Grand Les enfants (1980), Caffé Italia (1985), La Sarrasine ( 1992) and La Déroute (1998).

Giovanni Princigalli, graduated in political science in Italy and Cinema at the Université de Montréal, he was trained as a documentary filmmaker in Paris and Italy. In addition to Les fleur à la fenêtre (2010), he has made two documentaries Japiga gagì (2003) and Ho fatto il mio coraggio (2009), screened in numerous festivals all over the world. He taught Italian cinema at McGill University and holds a scriptwriting course at the Université de Montréal. Italian living in Montreal since 2003, ethnographer and filmmaker, has made several documentaries presented in Africa, Cuba, South America, etc., Winning numerous awards.

Roberto Zorfini, is an Italian director, who moved to Montréal in 2010. He graduated in 1995 at the Roberto Rossellini Institute for Cinematography and Television in Rome. He has more than 20 years of experience in video projects and has worked for almost a decade with Italian television RAI. In 2013, his short film Imperfetto Equilibrio won a special award at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival (Toronto). In Canada he has produced commercials for several companies and worked as creative director for Panoramitalia. After working as an author for RAI World, he won the first prize in 2014 at the 48 Hour Film Project in Ottawa with the short film Alice.

  • Organized by: Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Montréal
  • In collaboration with: École des médias dell’Université du Québec à Montr