Italian program brings filmmaker Duccio Chiarini as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Italo Calvino's birth.

On November 13, 2023, the Italian program celebrated Italo Calvino, one of the most important Italian writers of the twentieth century.

This fall, the Italian program brought to campus filmmaker Duccio Chiarini as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Italo Calvino's birth. The life and work of Calvino, one of the most important Italian writers of the twentieth century, are the subject of Chiarini's latest documentary "Italo Calvino: Lo scrittore sugli alberi" (The Writer in the Trees). The documentary provides a fresh look and a unique perspective on the relationship between the author’s work and his own times, analyzed through the lens of his novel, "The Baron in the Trees" (Il Barone Rampante, 1957). The documentary premiered at the Giornata degli Autori at the Venice Film Festival in August 2023.

As part of this event, Duccio Chiarini met with our students - some of whom studied the novel "The Baron in the Trees" during the semester - for an insightful and genuine conversation on the making of the documentary. Prompted by questions from students, the master class turned into a precious dialogue on the making of the documentary and on the creative process. Later, students and members of the UMD and non-UMD communities joined in for the screening of Chiarini’s documentary.

The event was a collaboration with the Italian Department at Johns Hopkins University, the French and Italian Department and the Program in Cinema and Media Studies at UMD, the Italian Cultural Institute at the Embassy of Italy, and the Casa Italiana Sociocultural Center in Washington, DC.