Italian American Movies

Italian American Press

Founded in 2001 Italian and Italian American Authors Italian and Italian American Books

Romance, Historical, Mystery, Food Con Amore by Janice Therese Mancuso With a focus on the history of Italian food, seven chefs attend a conference at a seaside resort to learn about Italian food in America. In between preparing recipes and during a puzzling turn of events, personalities clash, a romance is rekindled, and a family is united.

Make Italian American Movies

When you think of Italian American movies, what titles spring to mind? Where are the movies that are a more accurate representation of Italian American history, culture, and heritage? Almost any book listed on the Italian American Press would make a wonderful movie. Here are nine from IAP featured authors, each with potential genres and a brief synopsis. For more about the book and author, click on the book cover.

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War, Historical, Documentary, Epic A Camp Without Walls by Dr. Maria Lombardo A diary found in a stack of papers tells the story of an Italian soldier during World War II – his assignment to Libya, then Greece where he learns that Italy has allied with America. In Greece, he becomes a resistance fighter, but after months of living in the mountains, he is tricked into surrendering and becomes a German prisoner of war. The effects of his time in the camp and his dramatic escape follow him and his family from Italy to America.

Science Fiction, Mystery Royanna: An Extraterrestrial Affair by Raphael Ferraro Dr. Stephen Drago – a married English professor who also teaches science fiction – is transported to a strange land when he first meets Royanna. Skeptical but open- minded, he explores the concepts of alien civilizations, religious philosophies, mythology, and women in power with his friend, Father Joseph Calvi. Their search for the spectacles that were used to interpret ancient documents leads Dr. Drago on a mysterious course of events all directed closer to Royanna.

Mystery, Historical The Ghosts of the Garfagnana: Seven Strange Stories from Haunted Tuscany by Paul Salsini The northwestern tip of Tuscany – the Garfagnana, with its jagged mountain peaks and hazy valleys – provides the backdrop for a series of stories reminiscent of “The Twilight Zone.” Starting in 1225, with a friendly apparition making visits to a monastery, to the present when a theater student from America travels to the region in search of ghosts, each story combines the supernatural with the history and people of the Garfagnana.

Historical, Drama, Documentary, Epic Out of Rushmore’s Shadow: The Luigi Del Bianco Story by Lou Del Bianco A behind-the-scenes account of the making of Mount Rushmore – an American icon – the Italian immigrant who brought the faces carved into the mountain to life, and the investigative research from South Dakota to Washington, D.C. that led to his recognition. The story follows the sculptor’s life, at one point moving from New York to the Black Hills, where he lived with the locals, and later brought his family to live with him until returning to New York.

Drama, Historical, Epic Coal War in the Mahoning Valley by Joe Tucciarone and Ben Lariccia Historical documents and supplemental materials are the basis of this true story about Italian immigrants from Molise who traveled to America during the 1870s for work, and were unknowingly recruited as miners during a labor strike. The iron and coal industries during the late Industrial Revolution, the treatment of Italian immigrants and African Americans in labor disputes, and the assimilation of Italians into Italian Americans in the Youngtown, Ohio area provide a look into another facet of American history.

Drama, Historical, Epic Not for Self: A Sicilian Life and Death in Marion by Joseph L. Cacibauda Based on the true story of an Italian immigrant arriving at Ellis Island in the early 1900s and traveling to Illinois, where – after many years of work in the coal mines – he opened a tavern with a partner. Prohibition, bootlegging, the second rise of the Ku Klux Klan, World War I, unscrupulous government officials, religion, and discrimination combine to form the background to a story that takes place in an area in southern Illinois known as “Bloody Williamson.”

Comedy-Drama, Historical Memoir Vina, A Brooklyn Memoir by Joseph C. Polacco A collection of vignettes told in loving tribute to a mom and a city in the form of an Italian American I Remember Mama. Moving through the mid-twentieth-century to the beginning of the twenty-first century, the author and a cast of colorful characters of divergent backgrounds and ethnicities, share their memories of Vina, showcasing a woman of strength, humor, and compassion.

Children/Family, Fantasy, Action, Adventure The Seven Golden Apples by Robert Cirillo Based on an original folktale told by the author’s Calabrian great grandfather, this classic story of faith and perseverance is relayed through a series of adventures and settings comparable to Avatar, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings. A benevolent Royal Family questions the mysterious disappearance of the village’s symbolic apples, and one member of the family embarks on a dangerous journey to find them.

MAKE IT A MOVIE