Italian Americans in Film and Other Media examines the representation of the Italian immigrant experience from D.W. Griffithâs Biograph Italian Dramas (1908-1913) to the present day. Building on the editorsâ previous volume Italian Americans in Film, this collection broadens their scope to address marginalized aspects of Italian Americanness, including the work of women directors and depictions of same-sex relationships. The book consists of three parts. Part I, âThe Immigrant Experienceâ, focuses on feature films and is divided into two sections: âSilent Filmsâ (which analyses some of Griffithâs early films and Barkerâs The Italian, 1915), and âRevising Gender Perspectivesâ, which includes chapters focusing on single films â such as Dmytrykâs Christ in Concrete (1949), De Michielâs Tarantella (1995), and Bonifacioâs Amexicano (2007) â and survey essays that discuss the Italian American âcelluloid closetâ and some of Savocaâs films. Part II, âItalian Americans in Other Mediaâ, offers a wide range of essays informed by different approaches that investigate the immigrant experience in terms of transmediality and transnationality. The types of media examined in this section include television and graphic novels as well as puppetry, Instagram, and Internet memes. Part III contains interviews with Italian American scholars, movie directors, and performers. Together, the contributions to this collection demonstrate the vitality, mutation, and persistence of Italian Americanness in visual media.
