Pace Press 41st Parallelo Articolo

Poppin another article featured in the Pace Press about Mr. Antonio Monda and Davide Azzolini's film festival up. Check it out on page 10.

41st Parallel with Antonio Monda

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 41^st 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 41^st 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 41^st 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 8^th edition of the 41^st Parallelo Film Festival if I am correct. How did the 41^st 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 8^th 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.” 

41^st Parallelo opens this week in New York City

November 28^th 6pm – SchermoNapoli

A collection of shorts by Neapolitan filmmakers

November 29^th 8:15pm – La Grande Guerra

A classic Mario Monicelli film produced by Dino DeLaurentiis

November 30^th 6pm – O’ Mast

A documentary on the sartorial arts

December 1^st 6pm – Catene

A classic film by Raffeallo Matarazzo starring Amedeo Nazzari

Check Casa Italiana, 41^st Parallelo’s partners website for additional details.

http://www.casaitaliananyu.org/

Muscle for Your Hustle

I just reviewed homeboy Adam Bernard's brand new E-Book -Muscle for Your Hustle. Check it.

B-Lister Adam Bernard’s A+, debut E-book –Muscle for Your Hustle provides independent artists with the recipe needed for success. Though not every recipe will come out like a Giada DeLaurentiis dish, Mr. Bernard supplies you with all the ingredients called for. Being a pop culture journalist and host of a radio show he has watched artists mount successful careers while others fall flat. As Bernard indicates, the successes and failures of independent artists don’t have as much to do with talent, but instead revolves around the steps the musician makes to get there. Though written specifically as an advice book for up and coming artists, it can easily applied to anyone looking to further their brand and personal reputation. As a musician and aspiring journalist myself, Muscle for Your Hustle makes for a very inspirational and helpful read.

The secrets of marketing oneself are all inside the book. Some artists sell themselves short, while others try to sell themselves for too much. There is a huge difference between making it known that you exist and being obnoxious about your existence. Much of his book can be attributed to common sense that doesn’t seem to very common anymore.

Muscle for Your Hustle is divided into three sections; promoting, performing and people skills. It is shocking how many DIY artists don’t use their common sense or reflect on their tactics objectively in order to better exhibit themselves as something that you actually want to listen to. It covers everything, from the seemingly forgotten about sampler album and the best social media techniques, to how to turn a crowd into loyal followers, to the basic understanding of how to deal with other human beings. The latter should not even have to be mentioned, but it there are a plethora of musicians that take interaction with media and fans for granted. As an independent artist, you do not want ignore press members that want to expose you, let alone insult them. Bernardo tells a tale of an artist who during a showcase went as far as trash talking him on account of not being able to stick around for his set. This particular rapper began name-dropping some of hip-hop’s brand names, then decided that it was appropriate to, in front of all the other artists of the showcase, blurt out that he was the most important rapper of the show. Muscle points how such obvious faux pas’ can be avoided and even result in future listeners. Instead, this gentleman became an example of what not to do.

The point is Bernard knows what makes and breaks the future of an independent artist, making Muscle for Your Hustle a great and inexpensive buy for anyone looking make way in a world where DIY musicians are a dime a dozen. For the 99 cents that it costs, you can potentially be one in a million instead of part of the aforementioned dime a dozen crowd. Get it boy boy.

You can check Muscle for Your Hustle at Lulu.com 

And check Adam's blog Adam's World for good measure.

Anthony Mastroianni

Hudson Yards

Some shit about the development at Hudson Yards on the west-side. Word is Fashion Week is going to be moved there. Check it at the Pace Press.

The future of Hell's Kitchen

Oh Boy & the Girls

Check out Oh Boy & the Girls. We are dope.

Confucius Institute

I just recently interviewed one of the directors of the Confucius Institute -an organization run by the Chinese government in universities across the world. Somewhat interesting, somewhat creepy. Check it at the Pace Press Issuu page.

Read it here

Theophilus vs Morrissey

Theophilus London just released the video for "Love is Real" featuring Holly Miranda of the Jealous Girlfriends fame. Its awesome. This song invokes a vibe that only Mr. London ...............and Morrissey could deliver. "Love is Real" is all too reminiscent of the Smiths' "How Soon is Now?" I'm sure Theophilus wouldn't deny this, considering the title of his mixtape This Charming Mixtape is an homage to the Smiths itself. They must have been big Charmed fans.

Cool? Yea.