Events 1999
January |
Tuesday 19 January 6.30pm
Prize Presentation (in English) The 1998 John Florio Prize George Bull, Ferdinand Mount and Enrico Palandri introduced the Prize in the presence of the winner, Joseph Farrell. The 1998 John Florio prize has been awarded to Joseph Farrell for his translation of Take Off (Harvill Press) by Daniele del Giudice, published in Italy by Einaudi. The John Florio Prize is sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute, the British-Italian Society, the TLS and the Arts Council of England. It is administered by the Society of Authors. A joint event with the British-Italian Society. |
Wednesday 27 January 6.30pm
Poetry Reading Gianni Celati legge Leopardi introduced by Robert Lumley Through his reading of the works of Leopardi, Gianni Celati, a writer of today, brings to light his vision of Leopardi's poetry. Winner of the 1990 Mondello Prize, Gianni Celati is one of Italy's most original writers. His Voices from the Plains and Appearances are published by Serpent's Tail. He lives in Brighton. |
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February |
Monday 1 February 5.00pm |
Wednesday 3 February 6.30pm
Lecture (in English) Venice and its Lagoon: Scientific modeling and the policies of decay by Camillo Dejak Camillo Dejak, Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Venice, chaired the Regional Commission of surveillance over the power stations in the Venetian lagoon. He discussed the need for Venice to protect its lagoon and to plan its future through interdisciplinary research which concentrates on reconciling the protection of the Venetian ecosystem to the necessary hydraulic works. |
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Thursday 4 February 6.30pm |
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Monday 8 February 5.00pm |
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Tuesday 9 February 6.30pm
Book Presentation (in English) Ka (Jonathan Cape) by Roberto Calasso Marina Warner in conversation with the author. Roberto Calasso, publisher of Adelphi, is the author of The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony and The Ruin of Kasch (Vintage Books). "If you want a dazzling, complex, erotic and utterly original European novel of ideas, Calasso is your man, and Ka his dense and difficult masterpiece" (The Times). |
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Monday 15 February 5.00pm |
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Thursday 18 February 6.30pm
Round Table (in Italian & English) Homage to Primo Levi A round table to mark the publication of Primo Levi's collected works by Einaudi. With Paul Bailey, Robert Gordon, Marco Belpoliti |
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Monday 22 February 5.00pm
La bella vita (1993) Directed by Paolo Virzí. With Claudio Bigagli, Sabrina Ferilli and Massimo Ghini. |
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Tuesday 23 February 7.00pm
CONCERT The Prometeo Quartet Programme: F.J.Haydn, Quartet op.1 n.1; G. Verdi, Quartet ; M. Ravel, Quartet in Fa major. After its concert in November 1997, the Prometeo Quartet has returned to the Italian Cultural Institute. Established in 1993, the Quartet brings together four young artists from the soloists of the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana. They have already appeared all over the world and won many prizes. |
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March |
Monday 1 March 5.00pm |
Tuesday 2 March 6.30pm
Book Presentation (in English) Coesione, convergenza e integrazione nell'Unione Europea (Il Mulino, Bologna) by Robert Leonardi A round table discussion with the author, Antonio Polito, London correspondent for La Repubblica, Roger Casale, MP and Donald Sassoon of Queen Mary & Westfield College. The book places into focus the current debate on the impact of EMU and the Single Market on the EU's less favoured regions and the prospects for continuing the ambitious programme outlined by the Commission in Agenda 2000 for further deepening and widening of the Union. |
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Thursday 4 March 6.30pm
Lecture (in English) Cinecittà: Monument & Labyrinth by Paolo Fabbri Paolo Fabbri teaches Semiotics of Arts at Bologna University. He has taught at La Sorbonne and EHESS in Paris, and the University of San Diego, California. He is the author of La svolta semiotica (Laterza). |
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Monday 8 March 5.00pm
Tano da morire (1996) Directed by Roberta Torre. With Ciccio Guarino, Enzo Paglino and Mimma De Rosalia. |
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Monday 15 March 5.00pm
L'uomo delle stelle (1994) Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. With Sergio Castellitto and Tiziana Lodato. |
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Monday 22 March 5.00pm
Arriva la bufera (1993) Directed by Daniele Luchetti. With Diego Abatantuono, Margherita Buy and Silvio Orlando. |
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Tuesday 23 March 6.30pm
Lecture (in English) After the earthquake: Restoring the fine arts in Umbria by Stephen Eddy Stephen Eddy is the Italian Program Director for the World Monuments Fund. He has directed the restoration of the frescoes by Maso di Banco in the Bardi di Vernio Chapel in Santa Croce, Florence. He has co-ordinated the WMF project in Pompeii since its beginning in 1996 and has collaborated closely with the Italian authorities for the WMF projects after the tragic earthquake of September 1997. |
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April |
Monday 12 April, 5.45pm
Zuppa di pesce (1992, 125 mins.) Directed by Fiorella Infascelli. With Philippe Noiret, Macha Meril and Chiara Caselli. |
Wednesday 14 April, 6.30pm
BOOK PRESENTATION (in English and Italian) Italiani si diventa (Rizzoli) by Beppe Severgnini. Alessio Altichieri (Il Corriere della Sera), John Lloyd (New Statesman) and Daniel Franklin (Editorial Director of The Economist Intelligence Unit) will discuss the book with the author. An autobiographic view of growing up in Italy follows on from the successes of the author's previous books on the English way of life. Severgnini, former London correspondent of Il Giornale, recollects the life of a generation born into the boom years of '50s Italy. Beppe Severgnini will read from his book |
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Monday 19 April, 5.45pm
Ferie d'agosto (1996, 110 mins.) Directed by Paolo Virzì. With Silvio Orlando, Sabrina Ferilli and Laura Morante. |
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Thursday 22 April, 6.30pm
Presentation of the Italian Film Festival with Patricia Dobson (Screen International) and Richard Mowe (Film critic and Festival Director). Paolo Virzì and Enrico Lo Verso will also be present. The Italian Film Festival will take place at Riverside Studios Cinema, Crisp Road, London W6. Box Office: 0181 237 1111. (For more details see Sponsored Events elsewhere). |
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Monday 26 April, 5.45pm
Il tè nel deserto (1990, 135 mins.) Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. With Debra Winger, John Malkovic, Campbell Scott and Jill Bennett. Based on the novel by Paul Bowles. |
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May |
Monday 10 May, 5.45pm
Le affinità elettive (1996, 98 mins.) Directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. With Isabelle Huppert, Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Jean-Hugues Anglade. Based on the novel by J. W. Goethe. |
Monday 10 May, 11.00am
LECTURE (in Italian) Euro: istruzioni per l'uso by Eugenio Namor, Banco San Paolo, IMI, London. A joint event with Il Circolo. |
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Thursday 13 May, 6.30pm
LECTURE Architecture, Symbol and Context by Manfredi Nicoletti. Introduced by Dennis Sharp (Hon. Sec. of the Architectural Association and Special Professor of Architecture, University of Nottingham) The lecture coincides with the publication of the catalogue of Nicoletti's complete works and the exhibition of his drawings and sketches at the Book Art & Architecture Gallery, 12 Woburn Walk, WC1 |
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Monday 17 May, 5.45pm
Sostiene Pereira (1995, 105 mins.) Directed by Roberto Faenza. With Marcello Mastroianni, Stefano Dionisi and Nicoletta Braschi. Based on the novel by Antonio Tabucchi. |
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Tuesday 18 May, 7.00pm |
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Friday 21 May, 2.30-5.30pm
MULTIMEDIA COURSE PRESENTATION (in Italian and English) Italiano contemporaneo parlato e scritto: analisi di testi. Francesco Sabatini, Professor of History of the Italian Language at Università di Roma Tre, and Italia 2000, an association of European Universities, will present the multimedia course Italia 2000 and the Italian dictionary Disc, (Ed. Giunti). |
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Friday 21 May, 6.30pm
DIALOGUE Serendipities & Other Departures A conversation between Umberto Eco and Michael Caesar, chaired by David Robey. Umberto Eco's latest book in English is Serendipities (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1999); Michael Caesar's Umberto Eco. Philosophy, Semiotics and the Work of Fiction is published by Polity Press on 12 May. |
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Monday 24 May, 6.30pm
LECTURE (in English) A Europe of nations, a Europe of regions. A conversation between Lord Dahrendorf and Lucio Caracciolo. Lord Dahrendorf, a Liberal Democratic Peer, is the author of numerous publications on social and political subjects. He is a regular contributor to La Repubblica. Lucio Caracciolo, a political journalist, is the editor of LiMes, a magazine devoted to international issues. |
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Thursday 27 May, 7.00pm
RECITAL by Brunella Bellone (soprano) accompanied by William Hancox (piano) Music by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini and Gounod. |
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June |
Tuesday 1 June, 6.30pm
PRESENTATION (in English) The Centre for Contemporary Arts, Rome Zaha M. Hadid, winner of the international competition, will present the project along with Sandra Pinto (Director of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome), Richard Burdett (Director of the "Cities, Architecture and Engineering Programme" at the LSE), and Frances Morris (Art Programme Curator, Tate Gallery of Modern Art). |
Monday 7 June, 5.45pm
Turné (1990, 90 mins.) Directed by Gabriele Salvatores. With Diego Abatantuono, Laura Morante and Fabrizio Bentivoglio. |
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Thursday 10 June, 6.30pm
LECTURE (in English) Looking backwards: Reflections at/on the end of a century. A conversation between Sergio Romano and Niall Ferguson. Sergio Romano, historian and journalist, is the author of various books on 20th-century history and a regular contributor to Il Corriere della Sera. Niall Ferguson (Jesus College Oxford) is a well-known historian who has written extensively on 20th-century issues. His latest book is The Pity of War (Penguin). |
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Monday 14 June, 5.45pm
Con gli occhi chiusi (1994, 105 mins.) Directed by Francesca Archibugi. With Stefania Sandrelli, Marco Messeri, Alessia Fugardi and Sergio Castellitto. Based on the novel by Federigo Tozzi. |
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Wednesday 16 June, 6.30pm
LECTURE Popular Italian Music in 18th Century Britain by Jane Clark The speaker is a professional harpsichordist, eminent musical researcher and recognised authority on Scarlatti. The talk will be illustrated by recorded excerpts. A joint event with the British-Italian Society. |
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Monday 21 June, 5.45pm
I laureati (1995, 93 mins.) Directed by Leonardo Pieraccioni. With Gianmarco Tognazzi, Massimo Ceccherini and Maria Grazia Cucinotta. |
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Thursday 24 June, 7.00pm
CONCERT Donald McCall (cello) and Marco Rapetti (piano) Music by Beethoven, Grieg and Rachmaninov. |
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Monday 28 June, 5.45pm
Splendor (1988, 114 mins.) Directed by Ettore Scola. With Marcello Mastroianni, Massimo Troisi, Marina Vlady and Paolo Panelli. |
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July/August |
Friday 30 July - Friday 27 August |
September |
17 September- 1 October
Hidden Light. Photographs by Marco Sanges In his second London based exhibition, Marco Sanges presents 40 prints focusing on nudes and portraits in black & white. |
Monday 27 September, 5.45 pm
La commare secca (1962, 100 mins, with English subtitles) With Francesco Ruiu, Gabriella Giorgelli, Giancarlo de Rosa, Vincenzo Ciccora and Alvaro D'Ercole. |
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Tuesday 28 September, 6.30pm
LECTURE (in English) Nelson at Naples in 1799 by Carlo Knight Prof. Carlo Knight, himself a Neapolitan, has made a special study of the part played by the great Admiral in the Neapolitan events of 1799 when he was involved in the suppression of liberal forces seeking to overthrow the Bourbon monarchy. Carlo Knight has developed a new theory about the role of Nelson at this dramatic time. A joint event with the British-Italian Society |
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Wednesday 29 September, 5.45pm
Prima della rivoluzione (1964, 112 mins, with English subtitles) With Adriana Asti, Francesco Barilli, Allen Midgette, Morando Morandini and Gianni Amico. Inspired by Stendhal's Charterhouse of Parma. |
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Thursday 30 September, 6.30pm
LECTURE (in English) Mona Lisa: the best known girl in the whole wide world by Donald Sassoon The Louvre currently exhibits some 6,000 paintings. Of these, at least 200 are regarded as outstanding masterpieces. Yet only the Mona Lisa has achieved a status similar to that of an international celebrity. Prof. Donald Sassoon (Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London) will discuss why |
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October |
Monday 4 October, 5.45pm
Amore e rabbia (1969, 100 mins.) Play in multiple scenes. Directors: Bernardo Bertolucci, Carlo Lizzani, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Jean-Luc Godard, Marco Bellocchio. With Julian Beck, Ninetto Davoli, Nino Castelnuovo and Christine Guého. |
7-29 October
Storie di mare Exhibition of works by Lino Mannocci. On the occasion of his main exhibition at the Art First Gallery. Private view Thursday 21 October, 6-8.30pm. |
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Monday 11 October, 5.45pm
La strategia del ragno (1970, 97 mins, with English subtitles) With Giulio Brogi, Alida Valli, Tino Scotti, Pippo Campanini and Franco Giovanelli. |
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Tuesday 12 October, 5.45pm
Il conformista (1970, 110 mins.) With Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Dominique Sanda, Pierre Clementi and Gastone Moschin. Based on the novel by Alberto Moravia. |
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Thursday 14 October, 7pm
CONCERT by Cristiano Burato (piano). Music by Chopin. Cristiano Burato, one of the most talented and exciting Italian pianists of his generation, won the 2nd prize at the 1997 World Piano Competition, London. |
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Monday 18 October, 5pm
Novecento - Part 1 (1976, 150 mins. ) With Gérard Depardieu, Robert De Niro, Burt Lancaster, Laura Betti, Stefania Sandrelli, Dominique Sanda and Alida Valli. |
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Tuesday 19 October, 5pm
Novecento - Part 2 (1976, 168 mins.) |
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Monday 25 October, 5pm
L'ultimo imperatore (1987, 169 mins.) With John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Victor Wong, Dennis Dun and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The film was awarded 9 Oscars. |
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Friday 29 October, 10.30am-5pm
CONFERENCE Why Read the Classics? On the occasion of the publication in English of Calvino's Why Read the Classics? (Jonathan Cape). Martin Mc Laughlin (translator), Alberto Asor Rosa, Piero Boitani, Michael Caesar, Paola Colaiacomo, Sir Frank Kermode and Agostino Lombardo will discuss Calvino's literary canon in relation to the larger field of literature and its influence at the end of the second millennium. |
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November |
Monday 1 November, 5.45pm
Il piccolo Buddha (1993, 132 mins.) With Keanu Reeves, Alex Wiesendanger, Ying Ruocheng, Bridget Fonda and Chris Isaak. |
Tuesday 2 November, 7pm
Renaissance Harpsichord CONCERT by Sharona Joshua on a copy of the Alessandro Trasuntino inner, Venice 1531. Stravaganzas, toccatas, partitas and variations from the golden age of Italian harpsichord music played by the young and talented Israeli performer, Sharona Joshua. |
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Thursday 4 November, 6.30pm
PRESENTATION AND VIDEO (in English) Frederick Stibbert and his Museum Presentation by the museum's director, Kirsten Piacenti. F. Stibbert, designer and collector, turned his Florentine mansion into a neo-medieval castle full of furnishing, military and civilian costumes, armours and books. On his death in 1906, his house with its collection became a public museum. |
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Monday 8 November, 7pm |
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Tuesday 9 November, 6.30pm
LECONFIELD LECTURE (in English) Can you have too much of Italy? The Earl of Harewood, a patron and former President of the British-Italian Society, will be interviewed by John Tusa, Managing Director, Barbican Centre. A joint event with the British-Italian Society. |
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Thursday 11 November, 5.45pm
Io ballo da sola (1996, 118 mins.) With Liv Tyler, Jean Marais, Donald McCann, Stefania Sandrelli and Rachel Weisz. |
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Monday 15 November, 5pm
L'albero degli zoccoli (1978, 170 mins.) Directed by Ermanno Olmi. With a cast of non-professional actors taken from the countryside around Bergamo. Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, 1978 |
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Wednesday 17 November, 6.30pm
LECTURE (in English) Archives of Vanished and Future Worlds/The end.com by Daniele Del Giudice Daniele Del Giudice is one of the best-known of today's Italian writers. Most of his novels have been published in English (The Stadium of Wimbledon, Western Atlas, Mania). The most recent, Take-off, has been translated by Joseph Farrell, winner of the 1998 John Florio Prize. |
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Monday 22 November, 5pm.
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988, 170 mins.) Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. With Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin, Philippe Noiret and Antonella Attili. Winner of the Oscar for best foreign film of 1989, and placed second at the Cannes Film Festival. |
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Friday 26 November, 6.30pm
LECTURE (in Italian) Il romanzo sperimentale italiano del Novecento by Giorgio Pressburger The lecturer, a well known Italian author and playwright, is currently the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Budapest. |
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Monday 29 November, 5.45pm.
Lamerica (1994, 135 mins.) Directed by Gianni Amelio. With Enrico Lo Verso, Michele Placido, Piro Milkani and Elida Janushi. Winner of the Premio Felix for best European film of 1994. |
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December |
Thursday 2 December, 6.30pm
DIALOGUE (in English) From the Short Century to the New Century Prof. Eric J. Hobsbawm in conversation with Antonio Polito (London correspondent of La Repubblica) and John Lloyd (Associated Editor, New Statesman). On the occasion of the publication of Intervista sul nuovo secolo (Laterza), in which Antonio Polito interviews Prof. Hobsbawm on his views at the beginning of a new century. |
Friday 3 December, 6.30pm
LECTURE (in English) Who is in Love with Virginia Woolf? by Nadia Fusini (editor of Virginia Woolf's collected works in Italian - published by Mondadori- and Professor of English at the University of Rome), introduced by Hermione Lee (literary critic and biographer of Virginia Woolf ) and Ann Caesar (Professor of Italian at the University of Warwick and author of a number of studies on women's writing in Italy) |
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Monday 6 December, 5.45pm
La Famiglia (1987, 123 mins.) Directed by Ettore Scola. With Vittorio Gassman, Stefania Sandrelli, Fanny Ardant, Massimo Dapporto, Ottavia Piccolo and Philippe Noiret. |
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Tuesday 7 December, 7pm
La vida de Colin CONCERT by Ensemble Acantus. Acantus will perform popular mediaeval music on copies of ancient instruments. |
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Monday 13 December, 5pm
Francesco (1989, 150 mins.) Directed by Liliana Cavani. With Mickey Rourke, Helena Bonham-Carter, Andréa Ferréol, Mario Adorf. |