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SICILY: LAND OF LOVE & STRIFE Is Coming to The Triangle

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Blueplate PR client: Mark Spano, filmmaker

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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.

Sicily documentary
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.

Book Cover ArtThe 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.

 

 

“Modern Ruin:” Movie Series Presents Documentary on The World’s Fair Pavilion

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PromoPosterFilmmaker 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 Pavilion PhotoPhilip 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.

To see a trailer of “Modern Ruin,” go to https://vimeo.com/61415780.

For more information on NCMH and the entire MoHo Realty Architecture Movie Series, go to http://ncmodernist.org/movies.

redchair smAbout 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.

MoHo Architecture Movie Series Moves To Hunt Library, Opens Oct. 1.

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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 The Competition_artspecial 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.

NCMH Opens 2015 With Back-To-Back Events In Downtown Durham

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A film on Santiago Calatrava’s “Turning Torso” building and a

NCMH
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.

PrintThe 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.

redchair smAbout 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.