News
2018 SIFF festival features 7 films from Italy
This year's Seattle International Film Festival offers seven films from Italy, along with a few others that were directed by Italians. See the full line-up here. You can search by country, genre, day, time and several other search filters. Tickets go on sale to the general public May 3.
Our group sponsors one film each year. This year the sponsored film is "The Place," directed by Paolo Genovese. Born in Rome in 1966, Genovese directed dozens of commercials and then made his film deput in 2002 with A Neapolitan Spell (2002). He has also directed The Immature (2011) and Perfect Strangers (2016), the latter winning the Award for Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature Film at the Tribeca Film Festival, and Best Film at the David di Donatello Awards.
"The Place" tells the story of a mysterious restaurant patron who grants strangers their greatest wishes as long as they complete the peculiar task he assigns them. The film premiered in Rome in 2017 and was loosely based on the American TV series "The Booth at the End."
Fun, food and friends at March 30 member event
The movie and dinner night on March 30 was a sell-out. Thanks to all our members and Il Punto members (our co-sponsors) who attended.
We heard rave reviews of the light comedy, "Troppo Napoletano," and Professor Antonio Iannotta's insightful comments about the film and its director. The dinner that followed at La Medusa was delicious and festive. Having the restaurant just for our group was a special treat -- and members enjoyed getting to know each other better!
Thanks to our events planning committee, particularly Roberta Torgerson and Elisabetta Valentini. And a special shout-out to Il Punto for agreeing to co-sponsor this event with us.
Our next event will be in late May. Check back soon for more details.
GIVEBIG on May 9
Our Sister City Association is joining Seattle’s other 18 sister cities in Seattle Foundation’s #GIVEBIG 2018 on May 9.
As many of you know, GIVEBIG is a one-day online giving event to raise funds for nonprofit organizations serving greater Seattle. Save the date and help us continue to build meaningful and lasting global friendships, partnerships, and connections. Your donation will help SPSCA fund projects and exchanges that connect the people of Seattle and Perugia.
During our 25th anniversary year, what a great way to commemorate this long-term relationship! And prepare for the next 25 years!
Mark the date on your calendar to GIVEBIG!
Three museum exhibits in Italy cover topics from fashion to politics
If your travel plans this spring include Milan or Florence, you're in luck. Whether your interest is in politics or in fashion, you'll enjoy any of these recently opened exhibits.
In Milan at Fondazione Prada, you can view "Post Zang Turm Tuuum: Art Life Politics: Italia 1918-1943." The exhibit features more than 600 paintings, sculptures and design objects from Italy’s Fascist era, by the likes of Giorgio di Chirico, Giorgio Morandi, Gino Severini and dozens of unknowns, displayed amid countless historical documents that map the rise and fall of the interwar art world. The exhibit will be on view through June 25.
In Florence, there is "Dawn of a Nation," through July 22 at Palazzo Strozzi. The New York Times calls it "a less ambitious exhibition" that offers a window onto Italian art amid postwar reconstruction. Unlike “Post Zang Tumb Tuuum,” documentary material is displayed in an initial gallery where a newsreel montage takes us from the foundation of the republic in 1946 to the “dolce vita” of the 1960s.
Read more about both exhibits here.
A more light-hearted exhibit, also in Milan, tells the history of Italy through its clothes. "Italiana: Italy Through the Lens of Fashion,” unsurprisingly, opened as part of Fashion Week in Milan in late February.
The exhibition at Palazzo Reale runs through May 6. You can read more about the exhibit in this question-and-answer feature with the exhibit curators that appeared in the New York Times.
Seattle ceramic artist heads to Perugia in the spring
The De Poi Award brings together artists from Seattle's Pottery Northwest, the region's premier pottery facility, with artists selected by the Accademia delle Belle Arti (Academy of Fine Arts) in Perugia. The sister cities alternate hosting artists each year for three-week residencies.
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