L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2025 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 I t's striking how little we know about Elvira N o t a r i , s o m u c h s o that her very name is virtually unknown to most. Born in 1875 and raised i n e a r l y - t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y Naples – the colorful, lively Naples of clichés so entren- ched in the global imagination – she was Italy's first woman director and among the first to build an artistic bridge to Ital- ians in America. With story- Elvira Notari, the missing first chapter of Italian film history From the Editor telling that was both authentically realistic and popular, she eased the homesickness of thousands of immigrants while also fixing in place the classic image of Little Italies – an image that reads antiquated and stereotyped today but reflected reality then. It's a real shame that we know so little and that her extensive filmography – extraordinary for its time, its limit- ed means, and for being the work of a woman – has been almost entirely lost. It's as if every history of Italian cinema were missing its first chapter. This culpable gap – brought to wider attention 150 years after the pioneer's birth by the 82nd Venice Film Festival and Valerio Ciriaci's documentary Elvira Notari. Oltre il silenzio ("Beyond Silence") – should give us pause. It points to a film culture that too often lacks healthy self-awareness: the ability to know and value itself, its origins, and its evolu- tion. Because while red carpets are glamorous and cool, it isn't feathers and sequins that last. The shared heritage of craft – technique, storytelling, audience empathy, engage- ment, and the building of a common imagination – that filmmakers leave to those who follow is less flashy but far weightier and more valuable. And yet so many – far too many – names remain overlooked despite their evident merits. It is encouraging to see the Venice Film Festival give Elvi- ra Notari the stage and the spotlight she deserves. The recognition restores a missing piece to the story of Italian cinema and, just as importantly, gives visibility and credit to films made by women. Notari was not only a director. In a period that offered women few openings, she built and ran a company, observed everyday life with care, and may even have anticipated the direction later known as Neorealism. She also took concrete risks to grow her audience. In 1925, her company, Dora Film, opened an office on Mulberry Street in New York's Little Italy to reach viewers well beyond Italy. Her legacy belongs among the most significant of the silent era. She worked when cinema was still unsettled and largely experimental, and she often produced her films in highly artisanal ways. Even so, her output was never formu- laic or decorative. She founded a School of Cinematic Art where students learned naturalistic acting, a clear break from the theatrical style favored by the era's celebrated divas. Her innovations were technical as well as artistic. In a video interview from 1979, her son Eduardo recalled: "We were the first to place a singer beneath the screen who syn- chronized with the images." She went further with color. While many silent films used sepia for interiors and blue tints for exteriors, her productions were hand-colored frame by frame. These forward-looking effects show an experimental and entrepreneurial approach. Much of that work has been lost. Between 1906 and 1930, she made around 60 features and hundreds of shorts and documentaries, yet only fragments survive. The loss is sub- stantial, but what remains is more than a handful of reels: her methods, her way of seeing, and her willingness to test the limits of the medium left a practical inheritance; that know-how seeded much of what came after. It also matters where she worked. Notari built her career in Naples, a city far from being in the periphery of Italian cinema, if it's true that, together with Turin, it was one of the country's two production centers from the very first day. The day when, on the 4th of April 1896, the Lumière broth- e r s ' s h o r t s r e c e i v e d a n e a r l y s c r e e n i n g a t t h e S a l o n e Margherita café-chantant. Simone Schiavinato, Editor Simone Schiavinato NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS P.O.BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003 Member of FUSIE (Federazione Unitaria Stampa Italianaall'Estero), COGITO L'Italo-Americano Please send correspondence to P.O. Box 40156 Pasadena CA 91114 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano Newspaper (a 501(c)(3) non- profit organization), www.italoamericano.org, is the largest and longest-running Italian news- paper in America, not to mention the cultural and news resource for all things Italian in the US. A bilingual newspaper which represents an historical landmark for the Italian American Communities in the West Coast and throughout the US. L'Italo-Americano benefits from subsidies by the Italian Government, Memberships and Donations intended to support and not interrupt a mission that began in 1908 to preserve and promote the Italian language and culture in the USA Periodicals postage paid at Monrovia, California 91016, and additional mailing offices. PUBLISHER Robert Barbera Grande Ufficiale EDITOR IN CHIEF Simone Schiavinato ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Patrick Abbate EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Barbara Minafra COPY EDITOR Francesca Bezzone LOS ANGELES CONTRIBUTOR Silvia Nittoli SAN FRANCISCO CONTRIBUTOR Serena Perfetto SEATTLE CONTRIBUTOR Rita Cipalla CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mariella Radaelli, Matt Walker, Francesca Bezzone, Luca Ferrari, Stefano Carnevali, Paula Reynolds, Teresa Di Fresco Nicoletta Curradi, Generoso D'Agnese, Jessica S. Levy, Fabrizio Del Bimbo, Maria Gloria, Chuck Pecoraro, Anthony Di Renzo Serena Perfetto, Kenneth Scambray, Chiara D'Alessio, Luca Signorini, Giulia Franceschini © 2025 L'Italo-Americano Membership: One year $59 - Single copy $2.25 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to L'Italo Americano P.O. Box 40156 Pasadena CA 91114 P.O.BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003

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