Mark’s story starts in the streets of Kansas City in a neighbourhood populated by immigrant Sicilians and Neapolitans. He was born to a father of Sicilian origin and a mother whose family came from Puglia. Despite the criminality he witnessed in his hometown, Mark’s family guided him down a path that avoided the temptations of easy money, fighting the facile stereotyping faced by many families whose relatives hailed from southern Italy. He admits that he can’t quite pin-down his feeling of being Sicilian. Despite a lifetime of reading about the island, his first visit was delayed until he was sixty, but it was a visit that would have him yearning for Trinacria whenever he put pen to paper or film to camera. The truth of this is to be found within us all; we are all immigrants from somewhere, however far removed, and to deny that is part of the problem we face as humans in the complex global world of the twenty-first century. Mark has chosen to embrace his family’s past and discover more. READ MORE
New documentary will change public perception of the island nation while raising funds for food for the homeless.
The Triangle Sons of Italy (TSOI), Lodge 2817, will present the North Carolina premiere of “Sicily: Land of Love & Strife,”the new feature-length documentary by Mark Spano, a first-generation Sicilian-American who hopes his film will change public perception of the mysterious island nation.
The film will be shown at The Cary Theatre, 123 East Chatham Street, Cary, NC 27511 on Sunday, November 11, at 3 p.m., followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker. The TSOL Lodge will also host an optional buffet dinner that evening at nearby Mayton Inn (301 South Academy Street). All proceeds will support Lodge 2817’s efforts to provide food for the homeless throughout the Triangle.
From “Sicily: Land of Love & Strife”
Writer/producer/director Mark Spano, a first-generation Sicilian-American, explains the inspiration for the critically acclaimed documentary he crafted over a period of five years:
“Fewer places on the planet compare to Sicily as a place of wonder and intrigue,” he says. “Yet little has been produced about the cultural or historic relevance of Sicily. But for crime, Sicily has gone unexplored. The island’s association with the Mafia, so deeply entrenched in popular consciousness, has obscured more rounded and accurate depictions of its history and culture.”
Until now. Through “Sicily: Land of Love & Strife,” Spano is introducing sold-out audiences across the U.S. and Canada to the many facets of the island nation that are relatively unknown to the public: the natural beauty, epic human struggles, depth and diversity of culture, historic sites, and philosophic influence.
The buffet dinner will begin at 6 p.m. Tickets are $26 per person.
Tickets to the film are $20. Anyone purchasing tickets for the film and dinner must do so in advance at https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/8241717/sicilyland-of-love-strife-cary-the-cary or by sending a check made out to TSOI 2817 to Bob Giannuzzi, 548 Clarenbridge Drive, Cary, NC 27519. Film tickets only may also be purchased at the theater.
The DVD and Companion Book
The film’s recently released companion book, Sicily: Land of Love & Strife – A Filmmaker’s Journey, will be available for purchase in the lobby on November 11 or ordered now at this link. Dreamscape Media (distributor) will release the DVD on December 1. Pre-orders can be made at the same lin
For more information on “Sicily: Land of Love & Strife,” visit markspano.wordpress.com and follow the Facebook page for updates.
About filmmaker Mark Spano
Mark Spano is the son of Sicilian immigrants and holds both US and Sicily citizenships. He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, in a vibrant Sicilian-American community. Since the 1980s, he has lived in Orange County, NC. Yet for five years, he spent a huge chunk of his time in Sicily as he worked on the documentary of his family’s homeland. Recently, Thunderfoot Press released the 130-page companion book he wrote for the film, entitled Sicily: Land of Love & Strife – A Filmmaker’s Journey. The book is available on Amazon.
A new feature-length documentary created to change public perception of Sicily will be shown in New York City for the first time when the Goddard Riverside Community Center presents “Sicily: Land of Love & Strife” on Wednesday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m.
“But for crime, Sicily has gone unexplored,” said the film’s writer/producer/director Mark Spano. “The island’s association with the Mafia, so deeply entrenched in popular consciousness, has obscured more rounded and accurate depictions of its history and culture.”
Until now. Through “Sicily: Land of Love & Strife,” Spano is introducing audiences across the U.S. and in Canada to the many facets of the island nation that are relatively unknown to the public: the natural beauty, epic human struggle, depth and diversity of culture, historic sites, and philosophic influence.
Spano is the son of Sicilian immigrants (and holds dual citizenship). He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, in a vibrant Italian-American community. He held the U.S. premiere of the film in Kansas City in April, where it sold out the host theatre.
Since the 1980s, Spano has lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Yet for five years, he spent a huge chunk of his time in Sicily as he worked on the documentary. (Click here to view the trailer.)
“The most invaded place on earth, Sicily rivals Greece and Egypt as a primary source for Western ideas,” he noted. “And fewer places on the planet compare to Sicily as a place of wonder and intrigue. Yet little has been produced about the cultural or historic relevance of Sicily.” He pauses and smiles. “I should’ve made this film decades ago.”
Angelo Coniglio of Buffalo, NY, where a special screening of the film sold out in advance, is a genealogist specializing in Sicilian heritage and the author of columns and books set in Sicily. “I’ve been interested in and I’ve supported this project since I first discovered Spano’s plans several years ago,” he said. “The customs, colors, and sounds of both ‘old’ and modern Sicily are vividly brought to life by this film. If you’ve never been to Sicily, the film will invite you to visit. If you have already been there, then ‘Land of Love & Strife’ will haunt you.”
Mark Spano will lead a panel discussion with Sicily aficionado Karen La Rosa and Sicilian-American author/scholar Gaetano Cipolla after the September 12th show.
The Goddard Riverside Community Center is located at 593 Columbus Avenue at 88th Street, New York, NY 10024 (212-799-9400). Tickets are $20 and can be ordered in advance at www.goddard.org or purchased at the center that evening.
For more information on “Sicily: Land of Love & Strife” and filmmaker Mark Spano, visit markspano.wordpress.com. Those interested can also follow the film on Facebook.
This and images to follow were lifted from “Sicily: Land of Love and Strife”
When The Italian Cultural Center of Buffalo, New York (ICCB), the Federation of Italian-American Societies of Western New York (FASWNY), and the Per Niente Club of Buffalo sponsored a special screening of the new feature-length documentary “Sicily: Land of Love and Strife” as a fundraiser, they didn’t know what to expect in return.
Would a film devoted solely to Sicily be compelling to Buffalo’s Italian-American community?
Would the general public accept the contention that there’s more to the mysterious three-sided island than its much-publicized relationship to organized crime?
When advance tickets sold out and the tally hit $11,000, the Buffalo sponsors knew they’d made the right decision.
So did Sicilia Canta, the Cinema Insieme film club, the Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF), and Festitalia, all in Hamilton, Ontario, whose special screening also sold out and brought in $10,000.
In Kansas City, Missouri, where writer/producer/director Mark Spano held the U.S. premiere, the small theatre there also sold out. A native of Kansas City whose parents were first-generation Sicilian immigrants, Spano was thrilled.
“Holding the premiere in my hometown not only allowed me to see friends and family I hadn’t seen in years, but it also gave me the opportunity to present my film to a very diverse Middle-American audience,” he said. “Their responses were both informative and heartwarming. I could not have asked for more. The theater was sold out, and the crowd loved the film. I was truly humbled by their responses.”
Spano’s film celebrates the island nation’s natural beauty, its passionate people and epic human struggles, the depth and diversity of its culture, the philosophic insights that originated in Sicily, and its wealth of historic sites – all facets of Sicily that have been obscured by the mysterious country’s association with organized crime. He hopes the documentary he worked on for three years will change public perception of his family’s homeland.
Frank Cherrito, former president of UNICO’s Kansas City chapter (2009-2011), remembers when the enthusiastic filmmaker first told him about the documentary he wanted to make.
“Mark came to us with an idea,” Cherrito recalled. “Although it wasn’t really clear to us, the vision he had for this wonderful film was crystal clear to him. And it proved to be an incredible fundraiser for our organization. Many people came out to support the film primarily, I think, because it highlights the Italian-American culture in a positive way.”
Sam Cino and Joe Baiardo of Sicilia Canta and Charles Criminisi of Cinema Insieme sent the filmmaker the following statement: “The film was beautifully created with breathtaking images and a captivating soundtrack. Diverse perspectives on the history, culture and norms of Sicilian life were presented by international scholars and authorities who introduced facts that were unknown to many about this beautiful three-sided island. Feedback from many of the 300 viewers was very favorable. Funds from the screening will be used to promote future community initiatives and events of particular interest to the local Sicilian community.”
To date, two more special screenings of “Sicily: Land of Love and Strife” are scheduled:
The New York City premiere will be held in the Bernie Wohl Center on Columbus Avenue on Wednesday, September 12.
The Triangle Sons and Daughters of Italy, Lodge 2817, in Cary, North Carolina, will present the film as a fundraiser on Sunday, November 11.
Also, Westdale Theater, a soon-to-open art house in Hamilton, and North Park Theatre in Buffalo are planning theatrical runs. No dates have been announced yet.
For its first film in 2016, the MoHo Architecture Movie Series will screen “Romanza: The Structures of California Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright” on Thursday, January 7, in the James B. Hunt Library auditorium on NC State University’s Centennial Campus in Raleigh.
Directed by Michael Miner, “Romanza” features 25 buildings Wright designed along the West Coast, including Eddie’s House, a doghouse in keeping with the family’s home, the Robert Berger house, which he had designed previously. In 1973 the doghouse was thrown away. For a segment in “Romanza,” however, Berger’s sons Jim and Eric rebuilt Eddie’s House from the original plans. The doghouse remains the smallest structure Wright ever designed.
The film weaves details of the architect’s design principles and his life with the exploration of the 25 structures. Miner includes personal interviews with Wright experts, clients, and people who live in and work in these buildings. To see a trailer: http://bit.ly/1k3olTf
The Hunt Library is located at 1070 Partners Way. Raleigh, NC 27606. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door. Cash and credit cards are accepted. Mod Squadmembers are admitted free until capacity is reached. The first 100 NCSU students with IDs also get in free. NCSU Friends of the Library receive 10 percent off tickets when they present their Friends of the Library cards.
Sarah Sonke of MoHo Realty is sponsoring the entire 2015-16 Architecture Movie Series. Other sponsors include VMZinc, The Kitchen Specialist, and Hill Country Woodworks of Chapel Hill.
For more information on NCMH and the entire MoHo Realty Architecture Movie Series, go to http://ncmodernist.org/movies.
About NC Modernist Houses:
North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH) is an award-winning, 501C3 nonprofit organizations established in 2007 and dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design. The website is now the largest open digital archive for Modernist residential design in America. NCMH also hosts popular architecture events every month and frequent home tours, giving the public access to the most exciting residential architecture, past and present. These tours and events raise awareness and help preserve these “livable works of art” for future generations. For more information: www.ncmodernist.org. Find NCMH on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
This year’s MoHo Realty Architecture Movie series, sponsored by North Carolina Modernist Houses and MoHo Realty, continues on Thursday, December 3, at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library Auditorium, NC State University Centennial Campus, in Raleigh with another double feature.
The first film, “Xmas Meier” (2013, 37 minutes)takes viewers, during the Christmas season, into the heart of a working-class neighborhood in the suburbs of Rome that a church built by Richard Meier lifted from obscurity. Controversy, caustic irony, and free speech are juxtaposed with the faithful’s devotion. L’espresso, an Italian news magazine, called the film, “Delightful, wonderful, cheeky, hilarious! Not to be missed!”
The second feature, “Gehry’s Vertigo” (2013, 45 minutes) offers a rare trip onto the roofs of the world-famous Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. By following the climbing team in charge of cleaning the glass — their ascensions, their techniques, and their difficulties – the documentary observes the good and not-so-good complexity ofFrank Gehry’s architecture.
Monthly through February 2016, the MoHo Realty Architecture Movie Series screens hard-to-find architecture-related films in the Hunt Library Auditorium.
Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door. Cash and credit cards are accepted. Mod Squad members get in free until capacity is reached. The first 100 NCSU students with a student ID are admitted free of charge. NCSU Friends of the Library receive a 10 percent discount off tickets with a “Friends of the Library” card. The Hunt Library is located on Centennial Campus at 1070 Partners Way, Raleigh. Free parking is available adjacent to the library.
Series sponsor MoHo Realty specializes in modern and unique architect-designed homes in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. Other series sponsors include VMZinc and Hill Country Wood Works.
North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH) is an award-winning, 501C3 nonprofit organizations established in 2007 and dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design. The website is now the largest open digital archive for Modernist residential design in America. NCMH also hosts popular architecture events every month and frequent home tours, giving the public access to the most exciting residential architecture, past and present. These tours and events raise awareness and help preserve these “livable works of art” for future generations. For more information: www.ncmodernist.org. Find NCMH on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Filmmaker Matt Silva will be on hand for Q&A session.
As an addition to its 2015-2016 Architecture Movie Series, North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH) and series sponsor MoHo Realty present a special screening of the documentary “Modern Ruin: A World’s Fair Pavilion” on Saturday, November 14, 6:30 p.m., at King’s in downtown Raleigh.
Filmmaker Matt Silva will fly in from New York for a Q&A session after the screening. Dr. Marsha Gordon, Professor of Film Studies at NC State University, will introduce Silva.
“Modern Ruin” tells the story of the New York State Pavilion designed by Philip Johnson, the highlight of the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, New York. It was saved from the fate of many of the venues in the World’s Fair, but it has only been used sporadically over the past 50 years and is now in ruins. In the 1990s, it was prominently featured in the film “Men in Black.”
In his documentary, Silva illuminates the steps architects and other staunch supporters have taken to protect and re-purpose the Pavilion.
“Silva packs this documentary with people who lived during that time and people who have taken a great interest in the preservation of the pavilion,” wrote Christopher Inoa for Untapped Cities.com after the premiere.
“I hope that the film helps people re-imagine the space and are inspired to dream for what it can be in the future,” Silva says.
Adam Carrington of Carrington Electric is co-hosting the event at King’s, 14 West Martin Street, Raleigh. Beer, wine, and soft drinks will be available for purchase. The doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10.
For more information on NCMH and the entire MoHo Realty Architecture Movie Series, go to http://ncmodernist.org/movies.
About NC Modernist Houses:
North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH) is an award-winning, 501C3 nonprofit organizations established in 2007 and dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design. The website is now the largest open digital archive for Modernist residential design in America. NCMH also hosts popular architecture events every month and frequent home tours, giving the public access to the most exciting residential architecture, past and present. These tours and events raise awareness and help preserve these “livable works of art” for future generations. For more information: www.ncmodernist.org. Find NCMH on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
This year’s MoHo Realty Architecture Movie series, sponsored by North Carolina Modernist Houses and MoHo Realty, starts this Thursday, October 1, at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library Auditorium in Raleigh with a special screening of the 2014 documentary “The Competition.”
“The Competition” is a raw account of how some of the best architects in the world, including Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, and Zaha Hadid, struggling to beat the competition for the National Museum of Art in Andorra, a tiny nation between France and Spain. Called “mud wrestling with architects, this is the first competition to be documented, producing an unclassifiable film that turns into an intense thriller.”
Monthly now through February, the MoHo Realty Architecture Movie Series will screen hard-to-find architecture-related films in the Hunt Library Auditorium at NC State University with one additional film in downtown Raleigh in November.*
The series line-up includes:
Small Houses Double Feature:“Lustron: The House America’s Been Waiting For” and “Little Boxes: The Legacy of Henry Doelger,” on Thursday, November 5.
*Downtown Special Event:“Modern Ruin,” the story of Philip Johnson’s New York State Pavilion at the World’s Fair, on Saturday, November 14, at Kings Barcade, 14 West Martin Street in downtown Raleigh.
Holiday Starchitecture Double Feature:“Xmas Meier” and “Gehry’s Vertigo” on Thursday December 3.
“Romanza: The Structures of California Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright,” on Thursday, January 7
Double Feature:“Archiculture” and an animated short feature “Me and My Moulton” on Thursday, February 4.
Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door. Cash and credit cards are accepted. Mod Squad members get in free until capacity is reached. The first 100 NCSU students with a student ID get in free. NCSU Friends of the Library receive 10 percent off tickets with their Friends of the Library Card. The Hunt Library is located on Centennial Campus at 1070 Partners Way, Raleigh. Free parking is available adjacent to the library.
Series sponsor MoHo Realty specializes in modern and unique architect-designed homes in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. Other series sponsors include VMZinc and Hill Country Wood Works. For more information on the series, the films, and to view trailers, go to www.ncmodernist.org/movies.
About NC Modernist Houses:
North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH) is an award-winning, 501C3 nonprofit organizations established in 2007 and dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design. The website is now the largest open digital archive for Modernist residential design in America. NCMH also hosts popular architecture events every month and frequent home tours, giving the public access to the most exciting residential architecture, past and present. These tours and events raise awareness and help preserve these “livable works of art” for future generations. For more information: www.ncmodernist.org. Find NCMH on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
A film on Santiago Calatrava’s “Turning Torso” building and a
Santiago Calatrava’s “Twisted Tower” residential building in Sweden.
networking event at Kontek.
North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH) will open 2015 with two back-to-back Durham events: a special screening of a film about world-renowned architect Santiago Calatrava and a “Thirst4Architecture” (T4A) design networking event at Kontek Systems.
On Wednesday, January 7, at 7:30 pm, the NCMH MODTriangle Architecture Movie Series will present “The Socialist, The Architect, and The Twisted Tower,” the dramatic, behind-the-scenes story about building the tallest residential tower in Malmo, Sweden, that Santiago Calatrava said was inspired by a turning human torso. The environmentally sustainable, 620-foot-high, twisted building once was once named the “world’s best residential building project.”
The film will be shown at Full Frame Theatre, 320 Blackwell Street, on the American Tobacco Campus in Durham. Tickets are $10 per person at the door. Space is limited so early arrival is recommended. Sarah Sonke of ModTriangle, specializing in Modernist real estate sales and auctions, is sponsoring the entire movie series. The Calatrava film’s specific sponsor is Center Studio Architecture, specializing in modern downtown Durham development.
The following night, Thursday, January 8, Frank Konhaus and Wes Newman of Kontek Systems will host NCMH’s first T4A networking event in 2015 in their downtown Durham headquarters at 318 Holland Street from 6-8 pm. Free and open to the public, the event will include an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of one of Kontek’s audio/video design and integration projects in downtown Durham.
T4A events connect hundreds of Modernist design enthusiasts in a casual environment. The host business provides refreshments and other entertainment while attendees build relationships, create strategic alliances, and make new contacts. Emilie Huin of 501 Realty sponsors the 2015 T4A series.
NCMH is an award-winning non-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design across the state. For the dates and locations of future movies and T4A events, visit www.ncmodernist.org.
About NC Modernist Houses:
North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH) is an award-winning, 501C3 nonprofit organizations established in 2007 and dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design. The website is now the largest open digital archive for Modernist residential design in America. NCMH also hosts popular architecture events every month and frequent home tours, giving the public access to the most exciting residential architecture, past and present. These tours and events raise awareness and help preserve these “livable works of art” for future generations. For more information: www.ncmodernist.org.
A look at the life and legacy of a great American architect.
March 6, 2012 (Cary, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) will conclude the 2011-2012 Nowell’s Architecture Movie Series with “Philip Johnson: Diary of an Eccentric Architect” on Thursday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the Galaxy Cinema in Cary.
One of the best-known and most influential American architects of the 20th century, Philip Johnson, FAIA (1906-2005) founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1930. It was there that he and friends Alfred H. Barr, Jr. and Henry-Russell Hitchcock assembled the landmark exhibition “The International Style: Architecture Since 1922″ in 1932. The show introduced the American public to the modern architecture that Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, and others were designing in Europe.
A few of Johnson’s most famous projects include Minneapolis’s IDS Tower, the Crystal Cathedral megachurch in Southern California, the AT&T Building in Manhattan, and his own Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, where he died in his sleep in 2005. (The Glass House is now open to the public.)
Directed by Barbara Wolf, the film “depicts Johnson at work, the importance of the architectural act, and the buildings’ interaction with their environment,” according to Design Intelligence (di.net/videos).
Tickets to the film are $9. The Galaxy Cinema is located at 770 Cary Towne Boulevard, Cary, NC 27511 (919-463-9989).
Hosted by Triangle Modernist Houses, the annual Nowell’s Architecture Movie Series features hard-to-find films about Modernist architects and architecture. Films are shown one Thursday of each month from October through March. All proceeds from ticket sales support Triangle Modernist Houses’ mission of documenting, preserving and promoting Modernist residential design from the 1950s to today. For more information on the award-winning non-profit organization, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.
About Triangle Modernist Houses:
Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) is a 501C3 nonprofit established in 2007 to preserve and promote Modernist architecture. The award-winning website, now the largest educational and historical archive for Modernist residential design in America, continues to catalog, preserve, and advocate for North Carolina Modernism. TMH also hosts popular Modernist house tours several times a year, giving the public access to the Triangle’s most exciting residential architecture, past and present. These tours raise awareness and help preserve these “livable works of art” for future generations. Visit the website at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH also has an active community on Facebook.
The DVD and Companion Book
Client News and Media Recognition 