April 26, 2024 at 10:30 am
The Italian Cultural Institute of Washington, the Department of Romance, German & Slavic Languages & Literatures, at the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences of George Washington University, and New York University, present the screening of “Ninna Nanna Prigioniera” (Imprisoned Lullaby), a film by Rossella Schillaci.
The movie tells the story of a young woman, Yasmina, who is in preventive custody with two of her children, Lolita who is two years old, and Diego who is a few months old, and their day-to-day life in prison. The story follows this small family’s life as the months go by, showcasing the times of hope, expectation and resistance that inevitably accompany time “on the inside”. Simple everyday tasks, like bathing, lunch, or taking walks along the prison corridors, reveal the drama that Yasmina has to face: trying to keep her children by her side or letting them be free.
The movie presents an intimate portrait of motherhood, responsibility, and choices, flanked by the vibrant energy of childhood, an energy even capable of transforming the world inside a prison.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Italian Director Rossella Schillaci and a Q&A session with the public.
Join us at 10:30 am at George Washington University in Washington, DC to participate in an opportunity for reflection, celebration, and discussion on issues faced imprisoned women.
Directed by Rossella Schillaci
Italy, France 2016
Documentary film
Total runtime: 88 minutes
Language: Italian, with English subtitles
Registrations required by April 16 to lauralazzari@gwu.edu
LOCATION
📍Funger Hall 108
George Washington University
2201 G St NW, Washington, DC 20052
ROSSELLA SCHILLACI
Rossella Schillaci is an award-winning filmmaker and visual anthropologist. Her works are based on her in-depth anthropological research using cutting-edge audio-visual methodologies. She obtained her PhD in Digital Media, with practice-based research in digital media and anthropology. Her PhD project, the experimental Virtual Reality documentary Affiorare (Surfacing), won the Best Practice Research prize from BAFTSS and several prizes in international documentary festivals.
Schillaci co-founded the independent production company Azul (www.azulfilm.com) where she works as a researcher, author, and filmmaker. She has produced and directed more than 20 films, broadcast on TV by ARTE, Sky, and Al Jazeera. All her documentaries have been awarded in international film festivals, including: RAI, NAFA, Fespaco, Jean Rouch, Venice film festival, Sheffield doc fest. Among her latest films, Les enfants en prison was co-produced and broadcast by French television Arte and won the Etoile de la Scam, recognition given to the best documentary films broadcast in France, and Libere has been distributed in more than 200 Italian cinemas.
She has published several journal articles about her multimodal research and methodological contribution to anthropology. She is part of the Colab International Research Program involving Portuguese universities and the University of Texas at Austin. Her Master’s degree in Visual Anthropology is from the University of Manchester (UK).