Filmmaker and author Mark Spano, whose documentary “Sicily: Land of Love and Strife” and its new companion book Sicily: Land of Love and Strife; A Filmmaker’s Journey were released in 2018, returns to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke University (OLLI at Duke) this winter to teach a course entitled “Five Classic Italian Films.”
Spano’s continuing education class (Course ID 2767) will meet on 10 Thursdays from January 10 through March 21, 2019. The class will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Galloway Ridge Retirement Community, 3000 Galloway Ridge Road, Pittsboro, NC.
Five Classic Italian Films
The Winter 2019 catalog describes Spano’s course:
From the late 1940s through the 1970s, Italian cinema enjoyed a golden age. So many of these films from the post–World War II era remain a peculiarly Italian combination of a cinematic lyricism and the harsher realities of life. Filmmakers from this era gave the world a remarkable assemblage of passionately told stories of survival or the failure to survive. The instructor has chosen five films from this era: “Roma,” directed by Federico Fellini; “Once Upon a Time in the West”, directed by Sergio Leone; “The Leopard,” directed by Luchino Visconti; “The Conformist,” directed by Bernardo Bertolucci; and “Mediterraneo,” directed by Gabriele Salvatore.
During the 10 classes, Spano will screen the films in odd-numbered classes. In even-numbered classes, the discussion will encompass, but will not be limited to, cinematic technique, the social implications of the films in Italian culture, and the films’ influences on world culture.
Only 20 students may sign up for the course. The fee is $90 and registration is currently underway.
Mark Spano is also the author of the critically acclaimed novel Midland Club, which he has adapted for the screen. He recently completed a new book entitled Kidding the Moon, which he hopes to see published in 2019. For more information on Spano and his projects visit www.markspano.wordpress.com.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke University is a member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Network, a group of more than 120 institutes across the country dedicated to meeting the needs of older learners and to extending the demographic served by traditional universities. For more information visit www.learnmore.duke.edu.
markspano.org 