Each month, Melanie Friesen invites a distinguished guest to Vancity Theatre’s Cinema Salon, in order to present his/her favourite film. After the screening, both audience and speaker have the opportunity to engage over drinks and snacks in the Vancity lounge. This month’s film is Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Mamma Roma.
Anna Magnani, possibly the finest actress of Italian neo-realism, is Mamma Roma, celebrating her break from prostitution by inviting herself to her pimp’s wedding. Now freed from her life of abuse and humiliation, Mamma Roma brings her teenage son back to Rome to give him a better life. But her past returns and the struggle for survival in post-war Italy encapsulates Pasolini’s fascination with the marginalized and the dispossessed.
The film, banned in Italy after its release and not screened in the US until 1995, is now a classic of Italian cinema.
[Mauro Vescera. Photo credit: robinpuga on Flickr]
This month’s Cinema Salon is hosted by Mauro Vescera, Executive Director at Vancouver’s Italian Cultural Centre. Mauro previously served as SFU’s Director of Advancement for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Program Director at Vancouver Foundation, Canada’s largest community foundation.
Mauro holds a MA in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University, a post-graduate diploma in Renaissance History from the Universita Degli Studi di Firenze, and a BA from UBC. In addition, he’s a great tennis player and makes a mean tagliatelli.
Vancity Cinema Salon with Mauro Vescera Presents Mamma Roma
Date: Tuesday, February 5, 7:30 pm
Venue: Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver
Tickets: $13.00; may be purchased online