Stars of Puglia – A special night in Los Angeles

It was a great night the one at the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, where the Puglia Center of America awarded Hollywood star Joe Mantegna with the Puglia’s Italy Award of Excellence in America – Special Edition.

 

Almost 200 guests attended the evening, together with a delegation of the Comunità Pugliese della California. Several Hollywood celebrities were also present: among them, the Emmy Award Doris Roberts, Frank Mancuso (ex President of Paramount Pictures and currently chairman of Motion Picture and Television Fund Corporate Board of Directors), and Jack Gilardi of International Creative Management.

 

IIC director Alberto Di Mauro opened the ceremony underlining the value of the initiative organized by the Puglia Center of America, while Consul General of Italy Giuseppe Perrone also mentioned the architectural and artistic beauty of the Puglia Region. Vice President of Puglia Center of America Valentina Popa-Lamonarca briefly explained the story and the value of such an award, introducing actor Joe Mantegna with a collage of scenes from the most important films of his long career, until the most recent “Criminal Minds”, where Mantegna plays FBI special agent David Rossi.

 

With an entertaining but also touching speech, the actor remembered his Italian origins and shared memories of his trips to Italy; then, in front of his family and of the numerous guests, Mantegna was awarded with the Puglia’s Italy Award of Excellence in America, whose symbol was specially created by ceramist Agostino Branca of Arte Ceramiche Branca. The actor said he will be honored to promote future events organized by the Puglia Center of America.

 

Accompanied by Japanese pianist Kyomi Kato, Tenor Luciano Lamonarca, also president of Puglia Center of America, closed the ceremony with a performance of Tristezza by Francesco Paolo Tosti, of the Neapolitan song Tu ca nun chiagne di Ernesto De Curtis, and of Niun mi tema from the Opera Othello, as a homage to Giuseppe Verdi for his 200 anniversary.

 

As a perfect completion to such a ceremony, guests were offered gourmet food from the Puglia region, prepared for the occasion by Chef Giuseppe DiMola and Il Fornaio restaurant in Beverly Hills.

But the night didn’t end there: it was instead the base for two new projects to be realized soon: one is a two day festival that will feature shows, exhibitions and meetings on Puglia, which will have Mr. Mantegna as a promoter; the other one is a video that the same actor will shoot in Puglia in 2014 and that will promote the region all over the US.