Multimedia

The image of Italian-American women has changed over the course of film history.  In American film, this female character is often presented as intimately linked to the gangster figure.  In Italian cinema, on the other hand, depictions of women are considerably more varied and complex.

During the 1950s and 1960s Italian actresses Anna Magnani and Sophia Loren redefined the cinematic representation of Italian-American women by starring and wining Academy Awards for their performances in American films.

Vera Dika, of New Jersey City University, examines the work of five actors – Anne Dvorak in Scarface (1932), Magnani in The Rose Tattoo (1955), Loren in Two Women (1962), and Annabella Sciorra and Isabella Rossellini in The Funeral (1996) – and discusses their embodiment of “Italianicity.”

This conference was held in New York at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute (Queens College, CUNY) on May 18, 2009 and was broadcasted live on the Internet by i-Italy.