Wednesday 15 April, 6.30pm
The Italian Library #25
Ornella Tarantola presents Luca Bianchini in conversation with Marco De Luca
In Italian
Strange words like “Manubba” spoken by Luca’s grandfather during the Christmas tombola ritual. Luca listened and, like all children, didn’t pay much attention to them. Then came the first questions and the discovery of a story that led his family to flee poverty in Sicily and find themselves in Tunisia. Amid Claudia Cardinale, Mina’s early songs, and the sheets hung on the roof that hid the sea and the ships departing toward unknown places, here are the adventures of Anna and of all those who, like so many others, at a certain point have to change everything. Le ragazze di Tunisi is the story—unknown to many—of an emigration that should not be forgotten.
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Luca Bianchini was born in Turin in 1970. He loves following tennis, writing in the kitchen, and eating in every room except the bedroom. For Mondadori he has published many successful novels, including Io che amo solo te (The One I Love Only You), Dimmi che credi al destino (Tell Me You Believe in Destiny), and Nessuno come noi (Nobody Like Us), some of which have been adapted into films. The Girls of Tunis is his most personal novel, inspired by the life of his mother.
Marco De Luca is an Italian director and screenwriter who lives and works in London, where he alternates fiction films with directing documentaries and international television productions. His latest feature film is Buio come il cuore (Dark as the Heart), a noir distributed in Italy and France, which confirms his interest in the darkest and most complex areas of the human soul. Alongside his filmmaking work, in London he directs documentaries and television series, including Rankin 2020 for Sky Arts, made with the renowned fashion photographer Rankin, and Palmyra: Rising From the Ashes, an investigative documentary on the brutal ISIS attacks on the archaeological site of Palmyra.