L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano I f we had to describe the 47th edition of the National Ital- i a n A m e r i c a n F o u n d a t i o n ( N I A F ) G a l a i n a f e w words, we could not find a better way than "it was a memorable celebration at many, if not all, levels." Washington DC became the place to be for Italian A m e r i c a n s i n t h e U S o n October 29th, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, when NIAF put together one of the most a w a i t e d a n d e n j o y a b l e moments for the community in the last few years. NIAF is the largest repre- sentative of the more than 20 million Italian American citizens living in the United States. The Foundation's activities aim at encouraging Italian Americans to contin- ue keeping their heritage and traditions alive and present and try to ensure the great contribution Italians made to the history and progress of the United States isn't for- g o t t e n . T o t h i s e n d , t h e Foundation actively collabo- rates with the United States C o n g r e s s a n d t h e W h i t e House on all major issues affecting Italian Americans. Following the New York G a l a b a c k i n A p r i l , m o r e than 800 dinner attendees welcomed honorees, cele- brated the region of Tuscany, and learned about future plans. The day featured, among others, a forum on Italy's role in transatlantic com- merce; a panel to understand what makes Italy the second- largest manufacturing coun- try in Europe; and a conver- sation on the importance of Italy-US relations. The free seminars offered an opportu- nity to learn and network w i t h I t a l o p h i l e s , I t a l i a n Americans, and experts. NIAF joined the Sbarro Health Research Organiza- tion (SHRO) and the Giovan Giacomo Giordano Founda- tion for a conversation on the oncological research col- laborations between Italy and the United States, and the challenges of providing cancer care to underprivi- l e g e d c o m m u n i t i e s . D r . Antonio Giordano – Director of Temple's Sbarro Institute f o r C a n c e r R e s e a r c h a n d Molecular Medicine and Cen- ter for Biotechnology – and D r . A n d r e a M o r r i o n e – Director of the Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer Signal Transduction Program in the Institute – presented the 2022 Giovan Giacomo Gior- dano NIAF Lifetime Achieve- ment Award for Ethics and C r e a t i v i t y i n M e d i c a l Research to Dr. Antonio Di C a r l o , M D , P r o f e s s o r o f S u r g e r y a n d C h i e f , L e w i s Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, and Sur- gical Director at Temple Uni- versity Hospital. From medicine and sci- e n c e t o f i l m - m a k i n g , t h e Russo Brothers Italian Amer- ican Film Forum presented the finalists of their $8,000 grants for films exploring the Italian American experience. Finalists included Leaving t h e F a c t o r y , b y A l e s s i a Crucitelli and Andrew Levay, on the mistreatment of Ital- ian immigrant women facto- ry workers, and their struggle t o o v e r c o m e o p p r e s s i o n ; Rossi & Company, by Agata De Santis, on the history of t h e 1 1 2 - y e a r - o l d I t a l i a n American gift shop in NYC's Little Italy, and the struggle of its 71-year-old owner to keep it open; Defending the Peninsula, by Charles Vin- cent Sabba, on how Italian Americans in law enforce- ment work with Italian law enforcement to protect the artistic and cultural patrimo- ny of Italy. A l e s s i a C r u c i t e l l i , announced as the winner during the Gala, commented: "This is a story about Italian immigrants, written by an Italian immigrant, and made by a multicultural crew that included Italians. I'm grate- f u l t o e v e r y o n e i n v o l v e d because they stuck with the project during pandemic- related setbacks." The forum dedicated to the Italian American Reputa- tion Lab was also a not-to- b e - m i s s e d m o m e n t . T h e 2022 report assessed the reputation values of Italy and Italian Americans in the US: the overall rate has improved by 38.3% in the last thirty years. Nevertheless, Italian Americans are the third com- munity for the number of mentions and the first of E u r o p e a n - d e s c e n d a n c e SERENA PERFETTO Giada de Laurentiis awarded by Maria Bartiromo and Joe Piscopo (Photo: Patrick G. Ryan) NIAF 47th Anniversary Gala brings a weekend of celebration while strengthening new collaborations & existing partnerships LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE Continued to page 32

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