Monda: What would be the scientific purpose of killing it?
Zissou: Revenge.
Antonio Monda, Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach
An article I did with journalist, author, filmmaker, critic, socialite, host, actor -Mr. Antonio Monda for L'Italo-Americano.
Anthony Mastroianni 11/27/11 Antonio Monda Interview
The 41st parallel is the imaginary line that
connects New York City to Naples, Italy. The 41esimo Parallelo also happens to
be the name of the Napoli Film Festival’s American counterpart. The mission is
to cross the paths of Naples and New York through film. Italian journalist,
professor, author, director, critic, you name it, renaissance man Antonio Monda
curates the 41st Parallelo along with fellow countryman Davide
Azzolini. Monda has been referred to in the New York Times as “arguably the most well-connected New York
cultural figure you’ve never heard of,” and its no surprise that he has his
hand in bringing together the tales of Neapolitan culture to it’s seemingly
unlikely twin city. With the 41st Parallelo opening this week, we
got the chance to catch up with Mr. Monda and talk about this year’s upcoming
film festival.
L’Italo-Americano: This week marks the 8th
edition of the 41st Parallelo Film Festival if I am correct. How did
the 41st Parallelo begin?
Antonio Monda: It started as an idea by Davide Azzolini,
however it was an idea to tie together two cites: New York and Napoli. New York
and Naples as you know are on the same parallel. They are similar cities in
that they are melting pots. They are harbors, both great cities with a long
histories. Naples, of course has a much longer history. New York is the city of
today, while Naples is one of the eternal cities. The idea is to bring
Neapolitan culture or something related to the Mediterranean to New York City.
L’Italo-Americano: Though Parallelo is a part of the Napoli
Film Festival, you are showing more than strictly Neapolitan culture?
Antonio Monda: Not only that. We started from that (Naples
related film), but we have other stuff to relate to the Mediterranean area, to
all of Europe. In particular, this year we have an homage to Dino DeLaurentiis,
a legendary producer who was born in Naples, actually outside of Naples. We
have a film by Raffaello Matarazzo, which was very successful in the 50’s, and
a selection of shorts that Davide personally curated.
L’Italo-Americano: Why Dino DeLaurentiis in particular?
Antonio Monda: Dino DeLaurentiis was by far the greatest
Italian producer. He made legendary films such as La Strada or Nights of Cabiria, but also great American films like Serpico
and King Kong. He discovered talents like Jessica Lange and Arnold
Schwarzenegger. He passed away when he was 92, two years ago and we decided to
pay homage to him with a celebration of one of his greatest films La
Grande Guerra.
L’Italo-Americano: Can you tell us about O’ Mast and
SchermoNapoli, the other films being screened at the festival. They are
collections of short films by Neapolitan contemporaries?
Antonio Monda: Yes, to be honest I haven’t seen them, but
knowing Davide I am positive of the quality if them.
L’Italo-Americano: Would a film like Gomorrah ever be screened at your festival and do you think
films such as the aforementioned Gomorrah negatively depict Naples too much as opposed to promoting its vast
culture?
Antonio Monda: We try to screen films that were either never
released here (the United States) or classics. Gomorrah was released two years ago and hugely successful. I
am a huge fan of the film, but there would be no reason to screen it again,
though I want to go on record that I am a huge fan of the film and the book.
There are a lot of pictures of Naples. I’m not denying that
there are problems of the city. From the camorra to the garbage situation,
there are a lot of huge problems. At the same time, Naples is not only one of
the most beautiful, but one of the most vital cities in the world and I think
that this should be emphasized. One of the things that we try to do with the
festival is to try to emphasize this element.
L’Italo-Americano: Do you see any other parallels between
Naples and New York, besides the imaginary line that connects the two?
Antonio Monda: Yes, the melting pots, the harbors, the
parallel, but they are both cities that welcome whoever comes to them. They are
made for foreigners, everyone feels at home after one minute in both cities.
L’Italo-Americano: You played a role in Wes Anderson’s The
Life Aquatic, do you see any bridge between
Italian and American cinema?
Antonio Monda: No, I did play a little role in his film and
I want to say that the film was shot entirely in Italy. My scenes were shot in
Naples, but that is just a strange coincident. But, honestly, the beauty of
Wes’s film is that it is by an American who is in love with Europe and the culture,
but he is American, from Texas and brings his own elements of that culture to
the film.
L’Italo-Americano: You also run and host literary
discussions with world famous authors called Le Conversazioni. Are there any
more of these projects coming up in the near future?
Antonio Monda: The next project will be on May 8th
at the Morgan Library. I still don’t have the guests, we will announce the
guests in a few weeks, but I can anticipate the theme, which will be
“politically incorrect.”
41st Parallelo opens this week in New York City
November 28th 6pm – SchermoNapoli
A collection of shorts by Neapolitan filmmakers
November 29th 8:15pm – La Grande Guerra
A classic Mario Monicelli film produced by Dino DeLaurentiis
November 30th 6pm – O’ Mast
A documentary on the sartorial arts
December 1st 6pm – Catene
A classic film by Raffeallo Matarazzo starring Amedeo
Nazzari
Check Casa Italiana, 41st Parallelo’s partners
website for additional details.
http://www.casaitaliananyu.org/
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