Finding the Mother Lode: Italian Immigrants in California

Location

Mother Rosalie Hill Hall, Warren Auditorium

Free

Finding the Mother Lode: Italian Immigrants in California
Film screening and discussion with filmmakers Gianfranco Norelli and Suma Kurien

Italians first came to California in large numbers with the Gold Rush. While most found little gold, they did find a mother lode in farming, fishing, commerce and making wine.

Finding the Mother Lode documents the experience of Italian immigrants in California, which was markedly different from that of their compatriots elsewhere in the United States. Through stories set in seven Italian communities throughout California, this film examines how economic and social mobility became possible for many Italians in the Golden State. It is also a look at how immigrant identity is maintained and transformed as immigrants become assimilated into mainstream America.

The current film is a follow-up to the filmmakers' critically acclaimed Pane Amaro (Bitter Bread) on the Italian immigration to the East Coast. Finding the Mother Lode too, is based on extensive research and weaves together oral histories by community members with scholarly analyses which provide the larger historical context.

Gianfranco Norelli was born in Rome and received a Degree in Political Science from the University of Rome "La Sapienza." He moved to the U.S. in 1979 to pursue a graduate degree in Journalism at New York University, and in 1980, was awarded the ITT International Fellowship for Television Journalism. In the last 30 years, Norelli has produced a wide range of award-winning documentaries for American and European television networks, including PBS, BBC, HBO, National Geographic and RAI-Italian National Television. His films have focused on social and cultural issues such as environmental pollution in Russia, euthanasia, the experience of immigrants in the United States, and violence against women on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Suma Kurien is a nationally recognized authority on issues of immigrant education and Director of LaGuardia Community College's Center for Immigrant Education and Training at the City University of New York. The Center provides educational and training programs designed to help low-income immigrants improve their economic status and become full participants in civic life. A native of India who grew up in Africa, Suma has lived in the U.S. for over 30 years. Suma holds a doctorate in Education from Columbia University's Teachers College and is the co-producer and co-writer of the documentary Pane Amaro. Norelli and Kurien are a husband/wife team.

Sponsored by the San Diego Italian Film Festival and USD's Dept. of Languages and Literatures. Supported by an ESFI grant.