Squatters, a new feature documentary by Catalina Santamaría, the Calandra Institute's producer for Italics, was named "Official Selection" at two film festivals in Colombia: MIDBO 23 (International Documentary Encounter Film Festival), and FICCALI (Cali International Film Festival). At the end of the 1980s, two abandoned buildings in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhoods of the "truquito" and the "maroma" were occupied by a group of young artists, mostly immigrants, who renovated them and turned them into self-sustainable homes outside the boundaries of the law. Santamaría gathers records from multiple sources to chronicle the transformation of Puerta 10 and Umbrella House based on the stories of their singular protagonists. Part of the material in this documentary comes from video recorded by them during the renovation of the buildings in order to document a community that built these houses by hand in order to inhabit them in their own way. This film pays homage to that desire by showing some of the difficulties that come with being a collective utopia, including fragility in the face of time and the looming threat of the system. Click here to see the trailer for Squatters.

The Calandra Institute's Director for Community and International Programs Joan Migliori was given the Christopher Columbus Award by the Italian Charities of America October 24 at their eighty-fifth annual dinner dance. She was recognized for her years of service coordinating study abroad programs as well as her tireless efforts on behalf of the Italian Heritage and Culture Committee, Inc., among many other achievements. Also honored at the event were Giovanni P. Silvagni, Esq.; Mary Christine Modica; Tiziano Thomas Dossena; and Dr. Stanislao G. Pugliese of Hofstra University, who graciously thanked the Institute and particularly Dean Tamburri for having supported his research in Italian American Studies over the years.

Calandra's Dean Anthony Julian Tamburri and Director for Academic and Cultural Programs Joseph Sciorra were interviewed on New York radio WBAI wiith Paul DeRienzo talking about Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day, and imperialism. Click here to listen to the sound cloud conversation.

Calandra's dean, Anthony Julian Tamburri, has published two new books this summer. Signing Italian/American Cinema: A More Focused Look (Ovunque Siamo Press). "The essays in this book all share a common notion that a greater awareness of the potentiality of signification of sign functions is an indispensable tool for a more extensive understanding of how a film might signify-indeed, about how any text might signify." (from the introduction) (You can buy the book here.) The Columbus Affair: Imperatives for an Italian American Agenda (Casa Lago Press). "The Columbus Affair engages in the intellectual, crisscrossing zigzag of a quagmire that is the Columbus Affair and demonstrates the major complexities of such argumentation. The goal, modest it may seem, is to examine aspects of each side, with the hopes of spurring on an even greater discussion among all parties within our Italian/American semiosphere." (from the introduction) (You can buy the book here.)

Click here to watch a video discussion among Calandra Dean Anthony Julian Tamburri, Queens College Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies Dr. Fred Gardaphé, Calandra's Director of Academic and Cultural Programs Dr. Joseph Sciorra, and York College Professor Dr. Donna Chirico on new directions scholars are taking while exploring the historical and contemporary experiences and output of the world's Italian diaspora. To watch all Italics programs on YouTube, click here.