An all-Italian evening has been scheduled for April 27 in Los Angeles, where the Italian Institute of Culture will offer the West Coast the premiere of the award-winning documentary “Emergency Exit: Young Italians Abroad” directed by Brunella Fili’. The screening will be followed by a debate with the director, chaired by Victor Laruccia, executive director of the San Diego Italian Film Festival, now at its tenth edition. The documentary is a collection of stories of Italian emigrants who left the country to settle abroad, in the pursuit of a better future – stories telling what young Italians abroad do, think and dream of.
Presented at over 20 Italian and international film festivals, the film has received numerous awards. “I got the idea to make this documentary when I saw my friends and colleagues leaving,” said Fili’. “Some of them were not driven by an in-born curiosity and a desire to have an experience abroad, but rather by economic necessity and a lack of options to leave their precariousness behind and begin their adult life. It seemed that no one was paying much attention to this ‘open wound’, or specifically investigating these forced exiles. Listening to these distant voices is a necessary starting point for a sincere reflection on these times and on the years to come.” In April, the documentary will be screened in Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Detroit and St. Louis as part of the Italian Film Festival USA, which screens the best of Italian cinematography in 12 different cities.
