The Center for Italian Culture (CIC) at Fitchburg State University will present two film screenings by award-winning directors Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee in November as part of its year-long exploration of the Italian immigrant experience.
The series, Nuovo Mondo: A Century of Migrations from and to Italy, will present a screening of acclaimed director Martin Scorsese’s documentary “Italianamerican” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9 in Ellis White Lecture Hall in Hammond Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. “Italianamerican” (1974) features the director’s parents, Catherine and Charles Scorsese, who reflect on their experiences as the children of Italian immigrants to New York City.
The series will continue with a screening of Spike Lee’s celebrated “Do the Right Thing” (1989) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, also in Ellis White Lecture Hall in Hammond Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. Lee’s classic comedy-drama explores the simmering racial tensions in a Brooklyn neighborhood between African-American residents and the Italian-American owners of a local pizzeria, culminating in violence and tragedy on a hot summer day.
In addition, the Fitchburg State University Archives and Special Collections, the CIC, and the Fitchburg Historical Society have collaborated to present a digital exhibit on Fitchburg's Italian-American neighborhood, the Patch. All materials were sourced from the Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library, the Center for Italian Culture Archives, and the Fitchburg Historical Society.
This digital exhibit was created by Ross Caputi, archival assistant at the Center for Italian Culture Archives, and Asher Jackson, archivist at Fitchburg State University, in collaboration with the Fitchburg Historical Society.
Additional information on the CIC’s series can be found online at fitchburgstate.edu/nuovo-mondo.