Orange County Italian Cultural Association

April 29-30, 2005

GIUSEPPE BERTO (1914-1978)

Journey into the Depths of the Soul and Back and
SANDRO SANNA: Recent Works
Tribute to Giuseppe Berto

The Italian Cultural Institute, Los Angeles, presents Conference on Giuseppe Berto at the Italian Cultural Institute, 1023 Hilgard Avenue, Westwood, April 29 and 30, 2005. 

The traveling exhibition SANDRO SANNA: Recent Works, in a tribute to the late writer, Giuseppe Berto, will be presented during the conference. The artist will be present.

The exhibition opens at Spazio Italia on Friday, April 29, 2005, at 6 pm, and runs through Wednesday, May 25, 2005.  It is the first solo exhibition of the artist's work in the U.S.

The wife of Giuseppe Berto, Manuela Berto, will attend both the opening ceremony and the conference.

Giuseppe Berto was born in Mogliano Veneto (Treviso) on December 27th, 1914, and studied at the University of Padova with Concetto Marchesi and Manara Valgimigli. Deployed to Africa during World War II, and eventually captured by the Americans and deported as a prisoner of war to Hereford, Texas, he met Dante Troisi and Alberto Burri, who encouraged him to write for the magazine Nuovi Argomenti. In 1946 he was finally freed and returned to Italy to teach in a high school for a short period. There he launched his writing career with a novel composed during his internment in Texas, Il cielo e’ rosso (1949). Other titles published at that time include: Il brigante (1951) and Le opera di Dio (1948), which were followed, after a long period of quiescence, by Un po’ di successo (1963) and Il male oscuro (1964), which is still recognized as his most important novel. In the latter, inner conflicts with the father are combined with a joycean stream of consciousness yielding a literary result of terrific consequence. Other important novels of Berto are La cosa buffa (1966) and La Gloria (1982), his very last book.
Recipient of many literary awards, including the Viareggio, the Campiello (1964), and the Bancarella (1974), Berto was also a scriptwriter for RAI: Fantarca (1965), La cosa buffa (1966, from his previous novel), and Anonimo Veneziano (1971) made him famous.

Opening Ceremony April 29, 2005 (BY INVITATION ONLY):
6 pm  Welcoming remarks by IIC Director Francesca Valente. Spazio Italia
6:10 pm  Exhibition by Sandro Sanna, Recent Works, in a tribute to Giuseppe Berto
Opening Reception. Spazio Italia
7 pm Introductory remarks by Massimo Ciavolella, Chairman, Department of Italian, UCLA.
Sala Rossellini
7:15 pm  Manuela Berto, the wife of the late writer, will be interviewed by the Consul General of Italy, the Honorable Diego Brasioli. Sala Rossellini
7.30 pm  Screening of Anonimo Veneziano (1971, by Enrico Maria Salerno) to follow. Sala Rossellini

Conference Schedule April 30, 2005 (FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC):
9:30 am  Welcoming remarks by IIC Director Francesca Valente. Sala Rossellini
9:45 am  Lecture by Giose Rimanelli, Professor Emeritus at SUNY Albany: "L'ambivalente civilta' letteraria italiana degli Anni Cinquanta: Giuseppe Berto" followed by a panel discussion. Sala Rossellini
Coffee break. Patio Mariotti
11 am  Lecture by Elena Coda, PhD UCLA, Purdue University, Department of Foreign Languages, on "Nevrosi e umorismo ne Il male oscuro di Giuseppe Berto". Sala Rossellini
11:30 am  Lecture by Cristina Villa PhD UCLA, on "Giuseppe Berto al cinema: le sceneggiature, la critica cinematografica e gli adattamenti delle sue opere". Sala Rossellini
12 pm -1 pm  Discussion and conclusion. Sala Rossellini

In cooperation with the Department of Italian, UCLA
For more information call 310.443.3250 or visit www.iicusa.org