Immigration Paths of

Paths of
Immigration
I Percorsi dell’Immigrazione
Sunday, October 27, 2013
4:30pm
Laurel Manor Banquet and Conference Center
39000 Schoolcraft | Livonia, MI 48150
The Dante Alighieri Society, under the auspices of the Italian Consulate of Italy in
Detroit, is pleased to host a presentation by Luca Guardabascio, an Italian director and
screenwriter; his works include documentaries, feature films, and TV series and shows.
Luca Guardabascio’s new project-book and movie is entitled Padula-New York-Pittsburgh:
Emigrazione Sangue Speranza - La storia di Joe Petrosino e del suo migliore amico Giovanni Esposito
(Padula-New York-Pittsburgh: Emigration Blood and Hope - The story of Joe Petrosino and his
best friend Giovanni Esposito). The story describes the strong friendship between Giuseppe (Joe)
Petrosino and Giovanni Esposito, and their childhood with their friends in Padula (Italy) near the
Certosa (the biggest monastery in Europe) until they decide to leave Italy to go to the United
States in search of a better life.
Meet the Author!
Join us for a Book Talk with Luca Guardabascio. Share your story as an immigrant!
There will also be time for Q & A.
Event free and open to public.
Light refreshments will be served by the Lauren Manor Banquet and Conference Center.
Cash Bar Available.
!
The Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan, under the auspices of the The Consulate of Italy
in Detroit, and the Italian Program in the Department of Classical and Modern
Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Wayne State University,
PRESENT
Where Her Feet Stood
Dove Posarono i Suoi Piedi
(2013)
By Luca Guardabascio
Documentary - Running time: 70’
Monday, October 28, 2013
1:00-3:30pm
Lab 368 | Manoogian Hall
Wayne State University
42 W Warren Ave, Detroit, MI 48202
Synopsis
June 4, 1947, Casanova Staffora, a rural village in the Pavia Province. We are in Italy 2 years after
WWII and the young Angela Volpini (7) meets a Lady while she was up on the hill with her friends.
The beautiful Lady says to Angela "I have come to teach you the way to be happy in this World."
After that day she becomes the protagonist of an extraordinary mystical experience, which took place
from 1947 to 1956. The documentary describes how a child was catapulted into the headlines and the
attention of multitudes of faithful who believed the World could be a better place thanks to this
experience of freedom, happiness, and creativity that is shared within the community of Nova Cana,
in the same rural village after almost 70 years. During this period important personalities like Pope
Pius XII, Father Pius (Padre Pio) from Pietrelcina, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Roman Pannicar, Jean Paul
Sartre and generations of people from all over the world, visited the town to hear Angela’s story and
to see the place where the Virgin Mary had appeared to this young girl.
~~Luca Guardabascio is working on the project with Manuela Orrù and with Porta a Porta (Rai 1).
The documentary was presented from Sweden to Portugal and Spain in September 2013, and will be
screened from Russia to Albania to Spain December 2013, from Brazil to Japan (2014), and from
America (October/November) to Australia (summer 2014)…. Angela Volpini is one of the most
important persons in the Catholic and Christian communities in the World.
!
Luca Guardabascio is an Italian director and screenwriter for film and television; his
works include documentaries, feature films, and TV series and shows.
Guardabascio has a degree in Humanities from
University of Rome La Sapienza with a thesis in
Cinema. He earned a Master’s Degree as a filmmaker
at the NUCT (Nuova Università del Cinema e della
Televisione in Cinecittà, Rome) and another Master’s
Degree in Directing, Dramaturgy and Theatre Acting
at the Academy Permis De Counduire in Rome.
Guardabascio teaches History through Italian Cinema
in Italy and frequently visits the United States for
conferences and lectures. In 2011, he was a Rooney
Visiting Scholar at Robert Morris University, PA.
He has published several novels, fairy tales, and fiction books. "Ancora un’estate o un’estate ancora/
Another Summer" deals with the story of a teenager who got into adulthood too fast. Now in its
third edition, this novel was a best seller in Italy in 2012. “La percezione de"a morte / Feeling Death” a
tragi-comical novel about a desperate and weird professor that is scared of heart quake, was
Guardabascio’s first book translated into English.
Currently, Guardabascio is working on a fictional book about Italian migration to the United States
from 1870 to 1980, “The story of Joe Petrosino and his best friend Giovanni.”.
Guardabascio is visiting the United States as a director and independent scholar to give lectures and
show some of his documentaries. These screenings will take place from Cleveland to Philadelphia,
and from Detroit to Pittsburg to close in New York at the Italian American Museum.
!