On the occasion of the Second Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, join us for the world premiere of the documentary “La Pizza, il cuore di Napoli” presented by director Luca Verdone. The screening will be followed by a pizza tasting.
Pizza is a Neapolitan celebration that boasts a tradition dating back to the first half of the eighteenth century. Today it is the most popular food found on any table around the world. The documentary tells the evolution of the pizza both from the historical and the gastronomic point of view and reveals the secrets of the ancient Neapolitan cuisine that have led the pizza to stand out as the tastiest and the cheapest food, being popular among the poor as well as with the rich. The reasons for this success belongs only to the culture of Naples, to its philosophy, and to its “way of life”, as the greatest Neapolitan pizza makers unanimously, with the most famous actors and musicians of the city of Naples, can testify. Food and philosophy of life identify each other in producing a singular combination, as sociologist Domenico De Masi and psychotherapist Massimo Ammaniti explain.
Last year Italy has chosen Neapolitan pizza as its candidate for protection under UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
Director: Luca Verdone
Italy, 2017 – 30 min
Documentary in Italian with English subtitles
Pizza tasting is kindly sponsored by Marra Forni and Oro Catering
LOCATION
Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven Street NW
Washington, DC 20008
LUCA VERDONE
Film, documentary and opera director, Luca Verdone has won numerous awards and his career has led him to top the Italian box office in 1986 with “The Seven Pounds in Seven Days”. Since then he has made the following feature films: “La Bocca”,”The Pleasure of Pleasure”,”The Wonderful Adventure of Antonio Franconi”,”The Memories by Giorgio Vasari, Tuscan Artist”. With his brother Carlo he has done “Dialetti miei diletti” for the Italian Telelevision, and “Alberto il Grande”, a portrait of Alberto Sordi.
He has produced about fifty documentaries and numerous television programs from 1980 to today, which are still screened, obtaining acclaim from both critics and audiences. In the opera field his productions of works by Rossini, Verdi and Mozart have obtained unanimous consensus.