L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 36 L'Italo-Americano " In 2021 we present- ed the story of four s u c c e s s f u l I t a l i a n women in Los Ange- les who have chosen to build their careers in the United States. The goal is to inspire other women, every- w h e r e , t o c e l e b r a t e e a c h other. The starting point was to give visibility to great Ital- ian women." Italian director and producer Chiara Tile- s i t e l l s L ' I t a l o - A m e r i - cano how the project of the d o c u m e n t a r y O n e Of Us began, and how after the success of the first season it expanded its borders up to New York and Washington DC. After giving voice to the stories of actress Stefania Spampinato, entrepreneurs Elisa Sednaoui and Assia Grazioli-Venier, and scientist Cinzia Zuffada, the second part of One Of Us focused on the personal and professional journey of four other women in Los Angeles: chef Giada De L a u r e n t i i s , t h e h e a d o f Brands & Advertisers Solu- t i o n s a t t h e E p i c G a m e s Unreal Engine Raffaella Cam- era, the scientist Federica Raia and the actress Gabriella Pession. But also five on the East Coast: Isabella Rosselli- ni, actress, author, philan- thropist, and model; Natalia Bergamaschi, Head of Strate- gic Partners - Global Publish- ing Partners of Google; Cecil- i a A l e m a n i , c u r a t o r a n d artistic director of the Venice Biennale; Cristina Cassetti, s c i e n t i s t ; a n d t h e I t a l i a n Ambassador to the United States, Mariangela Zappia, the first Italian woman to be a US Ambassador. F o r I n t e r n a t i o n a l Women's Day, the second West Coast episode was pre- miered at the Mr. Brainwash Art Museum in Beverly Hills. You can see the documentary on the YouTube channel of t h e C o n s u l a t e G e n e r a l : https://www.youtube.com/u ser/ConsLosAngeles How did the idea come about? T h e p r o j e c t s t a r t e d i n 2020 when consul Silvia Chi- ave called me because she wanted to do something spe- cial for Women's Day. Since I deal with gender equality, I p r o p o s e d a d o c u m e n t a r y about four Italian women who live and work here in Los Angeles, because the stories o f e m i g r a n t s a r e a l w a y s thought of as men's stories. I thought it would be nice to expand it and turn it into a sort of database of Italian women overseas. Why did you decide to keep it up? From the first episode, it emerged how necessary it was to tell this kind of stories. We found ourselves in them, and it made us understand the importance of continuing to talk about women who I define extraordinary, also because in the word you find "ordinary," too. Extraordi- n a r y b e c a u s e t h e y h a v e achieved extraordinary goals in their life and career, ordi- nary because they are like us, they had the same difficulties, d r e a m s , a n d h o p e s a s w e have. From the West Coast, the documentary expand- ed geographically to tell t h e s t o r i e s o f w o m e n from the East Coast, too. How did this transition happen? In Washington DC, for the first time, we have a female Italian ambassador. After she saw One Of Us she expressed the desire to do something similar on the East Coast, which we did. There we pre- sented the documentary in the presence of Nancy Pelosi and also of the Ukrainian a m b a s s a d o r b e c a u s e w e wanted to dedicate this docu- mentary to the women in Ukraine. What kind of approach did you have in investi- gating these women's sto- ries? A full approach. I wanted to start with their family, to understand if they had some sort of inspiration. These are w o m e n w h o b r o k e t h e famous "glass ceiling," so I always wonder where they started from. What struck you about this aspect? Almost all of them have a p e r s o n i n t h e f a m i l y w h o pushed them, who stimulated them. It is almost always the mother who believed in them beyond any possible limita- tion. The common denomina- tor is a very present mother. In other cases, however, it w a s t h e i r f a t h e r , a s f o r a m b a s s a d o r Z a p p i a a n d C r i s t i n a C a s s e t t i , w h o s e father was a scientist, just like she is today. I want to say this because mothers are often behind the scenes, but they have been a point of support for these women. My parents have always believed in me, too, and have been funda- mental, so roots are impor- tant. Then I ask them about their path, difficulties, private life and finish by asking them w h a t t h e i r n e x t d r e a m i s because these are women who never stop dreaming. What did this experi- ence give you? I learned that women's strength is infinite, and also that there is a sense of unity b e t w e e n w o m e n . T h e s e women always have other women who helped them, not only in their family but also in their profession. The narra- tive that we women are com- petitors is old and medieval, it is a Cindarella's narrative, where the prince chooses o n e . T h e s e , o n t h e o t h e r hand, are women who are aware that they do not need to be chosen by any prince charming. What message would you like to give to young girls? That everything is possi- ble, that there are no limits for women. Also, what they s a y . . . t h a t i f a w o m a n becomes a mother she cannot have an important career: it's not true. Our ambassador, in the middle of her career, had two children. She felt it was important to be with them, so she dedicated four years to h e r f a m i l y . W h e n s h e returned to work she became n o t o n l y t h e f i r s t I t a l i a n woman ambassador to the US but also the first Italian woman representing Italy in NATO. And all this after she became a mother. So the big message is that for us women everything is possible, just as it is for men. What was your career path? At 18, I moved from Flo- rence to Los Angeles, where I graduated in film production. I immediately understood that my passion was to tell stories that gave me some- thing important. I decided to dedicate my career to projects that enrich me personally, and that consequently enrich others. But it all started from my personal quest because in the end I never saw myself represented. When I came to the US, I founded We Do It Together, but first I made a film, All The Invisible Chil- dren, and now another film is going to be released, Tell It Like a Woman, directed by eight great women directors and with eight great actress- es. What new projects do you have in the pipeline? I have several. We have confirmed One Of Us number 4, which will expand to other American cities. Then, I also have the Giving Back Genera- tion 2 and 3 series coming out, after the success of the first Season. Chiara Tilesi (Photo: Debora Guetta @deboraguetta) Italian director/producer Chiara Tilesi about the women in the documentary "One of Us" SILVIA GIUDICI LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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