Culture

In 1954 a group of intellectuals and movie buffs decided to organize a film festival in one of the most beautiful regions of Italy, Sicily. Today after 60 years the Festival di Taormina (Taormina Film Fest) has just finished celebrating …

When we think of jazz music, we usually think of New Orleans or, more generally, of the southern United States where it originated in the late 19th and early 20th century. When we think of jazz in Italy, we also …

In 1924 the L.U.C.E. Institute (Educational and Cinemato-graphic Union) was founded to narrate Italian history through images, stories and movies. One year later, the name was changed to Luce National Institute (Istituto Nazionale Luce) and taken over by Benito Mussolini, …

Dear Readers, As the July 4th celebrations begin, let me refresh your memory and mine on the Declaration of Independence which began “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands …

By some accounts, to say that Salieri and Mozart were professional rivals, is putting it mildly.  A rivalry between Mozart and Salieri was well known and is believed to have originated when Mozart applied to be the voice teacher of …

There has been a great deal of talk about why Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia was defeated in a primary since he had little support from his own Republican Party. There is even speculation that his different viewpoints on …

Dear Readers, June jottings with an Italian connection:   Benevento (meaning Good Winds), a city of some 65,000 “abitanti” always triggers memories of  my father, Vincenzo, in his happy host role on Sunday afternoons offering “liquore” to his  visiting “paesani”. …

Unfortunately on June 24th Italy lost 1-0 to Uruguay in their Group D World Cup match. The defeat meant that Italy was eliminated from the 2014 World Cup tournament. Yet, besides the disappointment of the many Italians who were following …

Tuscan people are usually amiable and friendly, but they can also be very competitive and mocking, especially when it comes to horse racing. In several small Italian towns, from northern to southern regions, the typical horse races known as Palio …

L’esodo istriano, conosciuto anche come esodo giuliano-dalmata, è un evento storico consistito nella diaspora forzata della maggioranza dei cittadini di etnia e di lingua italiana, che si verificò a partire dalla Seconda Guerra Mondiale e negli anni successivi dai territori …