(29 February 2016) War and Peace, Women and history, film and modernity. The Italian Cultural Institute of Stockholm plays host on Wednesday, March 9 at 6pm to an event with historian Monica Quirico entitled “Women and world peace: from the World Wars to Afghanistan.” The occasion is the screening of “Umanità”, a silent film from 1919 by Elvira Giallanella (35 min) – recovered only a few years ago in the National Archives and restored by the feminist association Orlando initiative at the laboratory L’Immagine Ritrovata of Bologna. The short film will introduce the debate on the involvement of women in the First and Second World Wars. Historically, the traditional role of women in nationalist representations of war is that of the willingness to sacrifice the lives of their loved ones for the sake of the nation; is it so still today, when wars in different parts of the world appeal to universal values such as peace, the fight against terrorism, and the protection of rights of women themselves? Monica Quirico will try to answer this and other questions. The story of “Umanità” and that of its same director, who disappeared from the public scene with the advent of fascism – in clear contract wite the pacifist and revolutionary themes that she dealt with – is still mysterious. The film is an adaptation of the story “Tranquillino dopo la guerra vuol ricreare il mondo” by Vittorio Emanuele Bravetta. The protagonists are two siblings, Tranquillino and Serenetta: it is a visionary fairty tale of peace, the dream of two children who want to change the world. (PO / red)
