Apr. 21 – Cinema has always had a special relationship with food, the nourishment necessary for life, but also a symbol and expression of culture, and the representation of historical and social conditions. Food has always been a part of cinema’s imaginary. From film to film, from one era to another, food on the big screen has been able to tell the deep and constant change of culinary traditions, costumes and history of a country. For Italy, iconic foods in cinema are ‘pasta e fagioli’ in “I Soliti Ignoti,” Sophia Loren’s colander full of spaghetti in “La ciociara,” the spaghetti Toto makes in “Miseria e Nobilità,” or those eaten y Alberto Sordi in “Un Americano a Roma”. The strong link between cinema and food will be discussed at a conference on Thursday, April 23 (at 8pm). The Livraria Cultura – Shopping Iguatemi in Sao Paulo organized the event (with the patronage of the Italian Institute of Culture) on the theme “The post-war reconstruction.” This is the first of two meetings (the second is scheduled for April 30 ) that will star Italian cinema and culinary history. “We will showcase – says the website of the Italian Institute of Culture in Sao Paulo – a series of clips from the film that best capture the complex relationship that Italians have had with food since World War II. Images of hunger and abundance will share screen time with the memories of gastronomic traditions and new flavors. The event will show, through the eyes of the directors, how Italian food needs have changed over the years.”
