L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 4 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS T he Italian-American directors J oe and Anthony Russo are among the artists and innovators behind some of the world's most suc- cessful and iconic blockbuster films and televis ion s how s . Recently the Russo Brothers, as they are nicknamed in the film industry, directed the record- breaking Marvel Cinematic Uni- verse's Avengers: Infinity War, that became the fifth-highest grossing movie of all time. Thanks to their success at the box office, tremendous impact on the internationally celebrated superhero genre, and their dis- tinct flavor of storytelling Joe and Anthony, who were born only one year apart, have estab- lished themselves as distinct voices in the arena of ground- breaking film and television. They als o founded a film forum which gives voice to any aspiring filmmaker interested in telling a story unique to the Ital- ian American experience, a cor- nerstone example of how the Brothers both pay homage to their Italian heritage and pre- serve the voice of the culture they take such pride in. Their recent induction into a permanent exhibition at the IAMLA called "Italians in Hol- lywood" is just the last acknowl- edgement of their planetary suc- cess. L 'Italo-Am er icano had a chance to interview them. How much do you guys feel Italian-American and in what ways? We identified pretty strongly as Italian-Americans. We grew up in a very large extended Ital- ian-American family, as both sides of our family originated in Italy. We grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Cleveland, so the Italian-American culture details were very much a part of our home life, our upbringing and our social lives. We have a very strong sense of family as you can see by the fact that Joe and I work together as a team as brothers. We share a lot of the values. I think that you find the I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n c u l t u r e i n strong work ethic, dedication to social justice and people. Did growing up in an Ital- ian family have an impact on your work and eventually on your success? Yes. Our great-grandparents were the ones who emigrated from Italy so our family has been in the United States for several generations, but I think we still grew up with that immi- grant story still very much alive and the stories of the people in our family were always very important to us. We had a strong sense of the people who had pre- ceded us and I think the appreci- ation for those stories, the narra- tive of our family, the journey of our family from Italy into Amer- ica is where we developed our instinct for storytelling and our sense of character. I think it was instilled in us at a very young age and in a very personal level. I s t h e r e a n y p a r t i c u l a r story that your grandparents t o l d y o u t h a t s t r u c k w i t h you? Our grandfather, our mom's father, emigrated from Italy when he was 16 and he came to a s m a l l m i l k t o w n c a l l e d Steubenville, a couple hours from Cleveland where he went to work in the steel mills and he worked there his whole life. What struck with us was the idea of that kind of hard work and that sort of opportunity that America offered to him, the fact that he was able to find a way forward that was better than what he had available to him in Italy even though it was a very hard life in many ways… But he created a wonderful family! I think it's those sort of stories, the hard work and the opportu- nity that America provided to us that struck with us the most. What is your relationship with Italy? The Russo Brothers: Italian American pride conquers Hollywood We spent the first 10 years or so of our lives living in the same h o u s e w ith o u r g r eat- g r an d- mother who spoke almost exclu- sively Italian, but this was a period where parents wanted their children to be very thor- oughly American and to move away from the Italian heritage to some degree. They didn't want them to be stigmatized by it and that is changed since then thank- fully, but as we got older we began to appreciate the Italian culture. We were able to visit in our early 20s, we started visiting frequently after I studied Italian. I study the language and my w i f e a n d I w e r e m a r r i e d i n Venice. My sister was married in Italy as well, both of our sis- ters studied in Italy so we know we've had that opportunity to have a lot of bonding experi- ences. Joe and I have both visit- ed the towns where our family has come from and visited dis- tant relatives there. So we've had really amazing experience. Our father's side is from provin- cia di Messina, in Sicily, from a small town called Longi and another side is from Abruzzo, a l i t t l e t o w n j u s t o u t s i d e o f Pescara called Spoltore. Let's talk about cinema, did Italian movies have an impact on your career? Joe and I grew up near a real- ly wonderful theater called the Cleveland Cinematheque and they would do a lot of foreign film programming there, a lot of classics, a lot of art films and so we were exposed to all the Ital- ian classics. Our first movie "Welcome to Collinwood" was actually based on that. So Italian cinema has always been very important and very influential on us and we sort of love the whole range of it. Do you have any favorite Italian director? We love Monicelli and we've watched all the Fellini films. But we also love movies like Red D e s e r t a n d L ' a v v e n t u r a . Michelangelo Antonioni has been a big influence on us and Marcello Mastroianni is a big favorite of ours as an actor. What inspired you to create the Russo Brothers Italian American Film Forum and h e l p t h e I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n filmmakers that can be award- ed with 8000$ grant? I r e m e m b e r s e e i n g m a n y years ago that Steven Spielberg w a s v e r y a c t i v e i n t e r m s o f archiving films that spoke to the Jewish experience and primarily around the Holocaust but not exclusively and I always thought that was such an inspiring thing for him to do, to have that focus because of this cultural connec- tion. I think Joe and I always look for a way to use our pas- sion for film to help connect and celebrate our culture as well. We were looking for an opportunity to do that for many years. Our father worked very closely with two organizations, the Italian Sons and Daughters of America, for which he's the national pres- ident and another organization called NIAF, the National Ital- ian American foundation. So we did the programming in con- junction with both of those orga- nizations. I really wanted to find a way to recognize and celebrate the fact that it's a very current and alive thing that is constantly changing and growing so we thought to look for filmmakers who were finding a way to show how that culture is evolving as time goes by and what it means in the world today. What's your relationship with food? Is there any kind of dish that you guys like from the Italian tradition? Y e s , g r e w u p w i t h g r e a t cooks all around us. And we grew up helping to cook. When I was 11 years old, I started washing dishes in my uncle's Pizzeria. So we love cooking, we both love food and we're fortunate in the fact that we get t o t r a v e l t h e e a r t h . I h a v e a strange obsession with eggplant Parmesan and I seek that out wherever I go. I love that you can find amazing versions and varieties of it everywhere. So that's my sort of obsession. The Russo Brothers brought their Italian American heritage to Hollywood. Image courtesy IAMLA SILVIA GIUDICI

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