Please join us on Saturday, May 9, 2015, at the Calandra Institute for a series of presentations and entertainments examining and celebrating contemporary Calabrian culture. Poetry readings, historical and sociological discussions, and two film screenings are just a sampling of the schedule for a full day's immersion in all things Calabrese. Like all events at the Institute, this will be free of admission or other charge and open to the public. For details, click here.

The purpose of Calabria in USA @ NYC is to shed light on Calabria and its history and culture; to examine through the various cultural forms such as literature, cinema, music, and theater.

Calabria has proven to be a richly cultured region too often identified with the singular phenomenon of organized crime. The program is planned as follows.

9:30 — Coffee

10:00 — Readings
Joseph Luzzi, My Two Italies
Marc Rotella, Stolen Figs
Peter Carravetta, Poetry

11:30 — Screening & Discussion
A pena do pana, dir. Lucia Grillo (2004, 18 min.)
(The Cost of Bread)
Synopsis: Calabria, Italy. 1959. Nine-year-old Mariuzzedda goes to work each morning harvesting olives, then to school, with a grumbling, empty tummy. She begins taking bread on credit at the local bakery, until the day comes when she must  pay her debt...

12:30 — Lunch

1:30 — Considerations
Margherita Ganeri, "Calabria in Italian and Italian/American Literature"
Marcella Bencivenni, "Calabrese sovversivi in the United States"
Stan Pugliese, "My Memories of Calabria"

3:00 — Screening & Discussion
Testardi: Calabresi in USA, dir. Lucia Grillo (2012, 60 min.)

4:30 — Roundtable: The New Calabria

Source: John D. Calandra Italian American Institute