This conference proposes a rereading of the various declinations through which the tragedy of the Holocaust has been represented in Italian cinema from the post-war period to today. The central question that emerges from a viewing of these films is, in fact, the re-proposal of a paradigm, that of sacrifice, promptly applied to a good part of the characters presented and the events told. Particular attention will be paid to some case studies – including Kapò (1959, G. Pontecorvo) placed in comparative relation to other international cinematographic experiences that have marked the construction of a global imaginary of the Holocaust between Europe and the United States.
Saturday January 27th 2024 – 4pm
Cinémathèque Québécoise – 335, boul. De Maisonneuve East Montreal
Free admission – RSVP
This conference will be held in English
Damiano Garofalo is an Assistant Professor at Sapienza University of Rome, where he teaches Cinema History, Television History, and Serial Narratives. He has worked mainly on the relationship between cinema, history, and memory, with particular reference to the cinematographic representation of the Holocaust, the cultural and social history of cinema and television in Italy, and the distribution of Italian cinema abroad from a historical perspective. In his latest book, C’era una volta in America. Storia del cinema italiano negli Stati Uniti (2023), he studied the distribution and reception of Italian cinema in the United States from the postwar period to the present.