Migrant Stories in Italian Cinema
Screening series
October 5-8, 2023
FACETS Chicago
1517 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago IL
The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago in collaboration with FACETS, presents a selection of Italian movies that explore issues of migration and identity through the cinematic medium. The selected movies provide an overview of film production on these topics in the past decade, spanning from documentaries to drama, representing how public discourses on immigration and its representation have changed over time.
Trieste è bella di notte (Trieste Shines at Night)
Directed by Andrea Segre, Stefano Collizzolli, Matteo Calore
Saturday, October 7 at 3:00pm CT
2023, 75’, Italian with English subtitles
Documentary | Italy
Tickets
On an internal EU border – the one between Italy and Slovenia, a few kilometers from Trieste, migrants who manage to cross the border risk being stopped by Italian law enforcement and sent back to Bosnia without being allowed to apply for international Protection. The Ministry of the Interior calls these operations “Informal readmissions” and has introduced them in May 2020. A ruling by the Civil Court of Rome forced the Ministry to change its policy: refoulements could not be made. This practice was stopped, until November 28 2022, when the Ministry restarted them. How do these operations take place? What happens to the migrants? The stories of migrants who have experienced refoulements and readmissions are interwoven with the videos recorded by the migrants themselves on their smartphones during their long journeys, as well as with the increasingly contradictory responses of the institutions. Meanwhile, in an abandoned house in Bihac, Bosnia, a group of Pakistani and Afghan migrants want to leave to reach Italy. What will happen to them? What response will Italy and the other EU Member States give? Will they continue to defy their own law to turn away migrants they consider illegal?
Tickets
$7 single feature
$10 day pass
$25 series pass
Screenings Schedule
Thursday, October 5 at 7:00pm CT
The Jungle
Directed by Cristian Natoli
2021, 75’, Italian with English subtitles
Documentary | Italy, Croatia
Friday, October 6 at 7:00pm CT
Princess
Directed by Roberto De Paolis
2022, 108’, Italian, Pidgin English, English with English subtitles
Drama | Italy
Saturday, October 7 at 1:00pm CT
Fiore Gemello (Twin Flower)
Directed by Laura Luchetti
2018, 95’, Italian with English subtitles
Drama | Italy
Saturday, October 7 at 3:00pm CT
Trieste è bella di notte (Trieste Shines at Night)
Directed by Andrea Segre, Stefano Collizzolli, Matteo Calore
2023, 75’, Italian with English subtitles
Documentary | Italy
Sunday, October 8 at 3:00pm CT
Bangla
Directed by Phaim Bhuiyan
2019, 84’, Italian with English subtitles
Comedy | Italy
Sunday, October 8 at 5:00pm
La giusta distanza (The Right Distance)
Directed by Carlo Mazzacurati
2007, 106’, Italian with English subtitles
Drama | Italy
This program is part of Chi Siamo: (Re)presenting Italian Culture, the theme selected for 2023 by the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago. This year-long series will explore the topics of representation and inclusion in Italian arts, with a specific focus on cross-cultural contamination in contemporary and modern Italy.