Good morning Aman captures audience's interest

“The problem isn’t realizing dreams, the problem is having dreams”. This is a sentence that will resonate with any person who lost hope in life regardless of race, creed or political affiliation. It is also the focal idea behind “Good Morning Aman”, the Italian film directed by Claudio Noce and shown last night at the Italian Cultural Institute. The film tells the story of a friendship between two very different individuals, at first appearance at least.
The audience showed a great deal of interest and enthusiasm for the movie and agreed on how refreshing it was to see a film dealing with the issues surrounding immigration from a different angle, in particular the idea that people can feel like an “immigrant” even in their own country.

Discovering Carracci's Art

Tuesday night the Italian Cultural Institute had the pleasure to host a lecture about Ludovico Carracci’s paintings. The conference was held by Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, Associate Curator of European Painting and Sculpture before 1750 at the Art Institute of Chicago. She

accurately explained all the technical aspects of Carracci’style, such as the use of colour and the meaning of the lines and shapes. Historical circumstances were also mentioned, so that the public could go more deeply into the context in which Carracci was operating.

She examined Carracci’s responsibility for transforming Bolognese painting from

the staid and restricted Mannerist style of the last part of the 16th century into that

compelling blend of Classicism with naturalistic elements that would dominate 17th-

century Italian painting. The speech was accompanied by beautiful images of the

paintings of the artists, that kept up the audience’s attention minute by minute. At the end of the lecture, the Curator exhaustively answered to all the audience’s questions. 

Getting to know Maria Callas

The documentary “Maria Callas: La Divina” was shown yesterday at the Institute. Its screening was preceded by a brilliant lecture by Jesse Rosenberg, Associate Professor of Musicology at Northwestern University, who gave an extensive introduction about the American born Greek soprano. Professor Rosenberg talked about her personal and artistic life while expressing his admiration for her musical and dramatic talent. On the occasion, copies of the book "The Young Maria Callas,"edited by Bruno Tosi and published by Guernica Editions with the support of the Italian Cultural Institutes in North America, were freely given to the large audience present at the event.