The Italian Cultural Institute of Washington presents the screening of “I Villani”. The movie, directed by Daniele De Michele, documents the life of four seemingly unimportant characters from dusk till dawn as they go about their lives tending to their responsibilities in agriculture, fishing, livestock farming, cheese-making, and family cooking.
Join us as we uncover these four individuals’ lives, their way of being in the world, their relationship with the land they are tied to, and the history of the places they come from, and how their life choices impact Italian culinary heritage and encourages us to reflect on how essential they really are to Italian culinary traditions.
This movie is the result of fifteen years of research that has crystalized into a documentary that shows Daniele De Michele’s perspective on cooking traditions and the contribution of individual excellence in creating and recreating living culinary knowledge which makes Italian cuisine so special.
I Villani
Directed by Daniele De Michele
Produced by Antonio Badalamenti and Davide Nardini in collaboration with Rai Cinema and MIBACT
Italy 2018, 84 minutes, color
Language: Italian, with English subtitles
VIDEO Trailer
LOCATION
📍Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR DANIELE DE MICHELE
Daniele de Michele Donpasta, the company’s director, has been a writer, director, and performer since 2000. He teaches The Language of Food in Food Science at Roma 3 University. He has directed the following films for Rai Cinema: “I Villani”, “I Naviganti,” and “I Mastri” and has collaborated with Geo – Rai3 for seven years. He has published several books, including: “Il Pranzo della Domenica” (Saggiatore); “Artusi Remix” (Mondadori); “Food Sound System” (Feltrinelli); “La parmigiana e la rivoluzione” (Stampa Alternativa). With Treccani and Corriere della Sera, he created the web series “Nonne d’Italia in cucina.” With his show “Food Sound System,” he has toured the world and many important museums, such as the Maxxi, combining traditional Italian cuisine with the new languages of music and video creations. For Audible/Amazon, he published the podcast “La Repubblica del Soffritto,” twenty-two 50-minute episodes on popular Italian cuisine. For Zetema and the Municipality of Rome he participated in various events for New Year’s Eve and the Night of the Museums. He is a true promoter of Italian cuisine and its traditions.
SYNOPSIS
Italian folk cuisine, beloved and imitated around the world, is dying. But many are trying to save it. The film follows four characters, from dawn to dusk, from the beginning to the end of their workday. The passing of the hours punctuates the introduction of each character. We initially see them in their spaces, performing their tasks, and then delve into their daily struggles. As the sun sets, the solution emerges, through their ethics, their knowledge, the community they create, and the legacy they leave behind. Four characters chosen to represent Italian cuisine, respecting the various characteristics that comprise it: North and South, men and women, young and old. Four “villani” (peasants) who talk about agriculture, fishing, livestock farming, cheesemaking, and family cooking. Four characters whose daily lives embody the infinite resistance and reticence to adopting a uniform gastronomic and cultural model worldwide. Four people and their families exploring the living heritage of Italian cuisine, the passage of knowledge between generations, and the future survival of Italian cuisine.