[Commlist] Conference: Guglielmo Giannini: Entertainment and Political Activism

*Guglielmo Giannini: Entertainment and Political Activism*

We are pleased to announce an international conference dedicated to 
Guglielmo Giannini, the Italian playwright and politician, which will 
take place on the 18-19th of November, 2020. The conference is organised 
by Deakin University in Melbourne and by the Department of Cultural and 
Environmental Heritage and the Department of Historical Studies at the 
State University of Milan. The conference explores the life and work of 
Guglielmo Giannini, an influential figure who was active between the end 
of the First World War and into the 1950s.  We learn how Giannini moved 
effectively between the fields of entertainment and political activism, 
through the corpus of documents generously made available by the 
Giannini family and subsequently digitized by Deakin University.

The conference takes place in mixed mode, with some live sessions and 
others pre-recorded, available on the website 
http://giannini.deakin.edu.au/conference2020

The conference includes a welcome from Sabina Ciuffini, granddaughter of 
Guglielmo Giannini, as well as a presentation of the Giannini digital 
archive by Victoria Duckett (Deakin University). This archive was 
created between 2014 and 2019, and is hosted on the Deakin portal 
(Guglielmo Giannini: A digital archive of theater, film, entertainment 
and political activism 
<http://giannini.deakin.edu.au/exhibits/show/guglielmo-giannini-a-brief-int>). 
It houses a fascinating collection of Giannini’s materials (over 12,000 
pages including screenplays, film adaptations, political and personal 
writings), to which magazines, screenplays, articles, reviews and images 
have been added.

The conference will be live WEDNESDAY 18 November at 2.30- 6.30 pm (CET).
This first "live" session, coordinated by Irene Piazzoni, explores the 
political Giannini, founder of “Uomo qualunque” (the ‘Common man’ 
party). It includes a keynote presentation by Giovanni Orsina (Luiss, 
Rome) about *Giannini, la politica e la storia d’Italia* (Giannini, the 
politics and history of Italy). This is followed by contributions from 
the historians Giuseppe Parlato, Maurizio Cocco and Alberto Guasco.

The following two sessions (prerecorded) are dedicated to show business. 
The first, centered on the man of the theater, will open with a keynote 
lecture by Franco Perrelli (University of Bari) entitled *Guglielmo 
Giannini e il teatro agitprop liberale* (Guglielmo Giannini and liberal 
agitprop theatre). Subsequent interventions will focus on theatrical 
genres – in particular, on the detective story – with presentations by 
Stefano Locatelli, Mariagabriella Cambiaghi, Maria Pia Pagani, Paolo 
Quazzolo, Andrea Scappa and Paolo Caponi.

The following and final session sheds light on Giannini's film activity 
– as a magazine founder, critic, screenwriter, director – and on his 
relationship with American culture. Film historian Gian Piero Brunetta 
(Professor Emeritus of the University of Padua) will present a keynote 
entitled *Cinecittà, luogo di sogni e vie di fuga* (Cinecittà, a place 
of dreams and escape routes). This session will be followed by 
presentations from Elena Mosconi, Cristina Formenti, Raffaele De Berti, 
Mario Galeotti, Rinaldo Vignati and Luca Mazzei.

In conclusion, on THURSDAY November 19th at 2.30-6.30 pm (CET), there 
will be a live debate coordinated by Elena Dagrada and Victoria Duckett.

Access to the conference is free.
For information and to access the recorded content, write to: 
<(gianninig2020 /at/ gmail.com)>

The zoom connections are as follows:

Wednesday 18 November – 14.30-18.30 CET
Join Zoom Meeting
<https://deakin.zoom.us/j/98603325275?pwd=NkZWSkxCQjNWM3FWOFN0NFhsY1N2Zz09>
Meeting ID: 986 0332 5275
Password: 188985

Thursday 19 November–14.30-18.30  CET
Join Zoom Meeting
<https://deakin.zoom.us/j/96472888856?pwd=b0N5bVJFTG9QdjN1NjY0eThTdis5Zz09>
Meeting ID: 964 7288 8856
Password: 926898

Guglielmo Giannini (1891-1960) was a master of several trades: an 
Italian journalist, playwright, screenwriter, theater director, film 
director and politician. He became known as a young playwright in the 
1920s, establishing himself as an important figure of Italian theater in 
the 1930s and 1940s, and is celebrated for his contribution to the 
development of the noir, thriller and romantic comedy genres. Founder 
and director of the film magazine *Kines*, Giannini was also active in 
the Italian silent film industry, providing the translation for the 
national audience of titles and captions of foreign films. In the 1930s 
and 1940s some of his most famous theatrical works were adapted for the 
big screen, such as *Anonima Fratelli Roylott*, directed by Raffaello 
Matarazzo in 1936 and *Grattacieli* (directed by Guglielmo Giannini in 
1943).
With the creation of the weekly *L’uomo qualunque* ("The ordinary man"), 
Giannini founded and promoted "qualunquismo" as a political movement. 
Thanks to the 5.3% obtained in the 1946 elections, he became a member of 
the Constituent Assembly, which had the task of drafting the 
constitution of the then newly born Italian Republic.
Later, Giannini was again a protagonist, both on radio and on 
television. He was an author, performer and political figure; remaining 
a leading exponent of the Italian cultural scene until his death in 
1960. He is remembered for his interdisciplinary and transmedia 
production and for his tireless critical activity.

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