Letters to Italy by Sara Marinelli is an eighth-part series about the impact of Covid-19 on Italian immigrants in the Bay Area. How did Italian expats feel when they received news of their country being the epicenter of the pandemic in the Western world, and how did it affect their distant relationship to home? At the intersection of personal memoir and documentary, each episode features conversations with an Italian expat to hear how the pandemic reshaped their life in the U.S., and how they tried to remain connected to Italy in a time of crisis and forced separation. Conversations bring up questions of belonging, resilience, community, and how to transform challenges into possibilities.
In this last episode, writer and producer of "Letters to Italy," Sara Marinelli, concludes the series by reflecting on the conversations with her guests about home, belonging, and Italy during the pandemic; and by sharing a personal letter to her "future self," in which she had imagined the post-quarantine time that has now finally arrived. *** Episode notes Writer/Producer/Editor: Sara Marinelli Intro music: “Hopeful Motivation” - James Yan Music bed: “Passage IV” (remix) - ...
25 Jun 2021
Ep. 7 - Elisabetta Ghisini, Entrepreneur and President of COMITES SF
The seventh episode of "Letters to Italy" by Sara Marinelli features Elisabetta Ghisini, Entrepreneur and President of COMITES SF. A long time resident of the Bay Area and a very active member in the Italian community, Elisabetta shares how after the first initial moments of crisis due to the shock of the pandemic devastating her native Italian region of Lombardy, she was then able to turn this time of upheaval in opportunities for personal growth, for new professional adventures, and ...
18 Jun 2021
Ep. 6 - Laura Inserra, Composer and Musician
The sixth episode of "Letters to Italy" by Sara Marinelli features Laura Inserra, world-renown hang musician, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. Laura tells the story of how from the restrictions of her Sicilian background, she moved to the Bay Area in 2006 to experiment with new professional possibilities in music and technology. Unable to perform, teach, and produce music events during the pandemic, Laura did live streams of what she describes as sound journeys - calle...
11 Jun 2021
Ep. 5 - Angelo Greco, Principal Dancer at SF Ballet
The fifth episode of "Letters to Italy" by Sara Marinelli features Angelo Greco, principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet. Angelo tells the story of how from the prestigious Opera theater of La Scala in Milano, he relocated to San Francisco in order to perform every night. Until everything changed. When the world of performing arts came to a standstill because of Covid, the 2020 SF Ballet season was cancelled, and the current one was produced in an empty theater. Angel...
4 Jun 2021
Ep. 4 - Lorenzo Ortona, Consul General of Italy in San Francisco
The fourth episode of "Letters to Italy" by Sara Marinelli features Lorenzo Ortona, Consul General of Italy in San Francisco. Lorenzo Ortona recalls some of the most difficult moments the Italian diaspora on the West Coast went through when Italy was first hit by the pandemic, as well as the challenges that he and his team faced in support of the community. As Lorenzo's mandate is set to end this June, he also considers some of the highlights of five years in office in the vast Consula...
28 May 2021
Ep. 3 - Lucina Di Meco, Women's Rights Advocate
The third episode of "Letters to Italy" by Sara Marinelli features Lucina Di Meco, gender expert and women’s rights advocate. She is the author of #ShePersisted. Women, Politics & Power in the New Media World, and serves as the Senior Director of Girls’ Education & Gender Equality at "Room to Read." She grew up in Liguria, and has lived in the USA since 2007, and in the Bay Area for the last five years. While in Episode 2, Valentina Imbeni told us about the efforts to keep a lo...
21 May 2021
Ep. 2 - Valentina Imbeni, Founder and Head of La Scuola
The second episode of "Letters to Italy" by Sara Marinelli features Valentina Imbeni, founder and head of La Scuola International, an Italian-American school in San Francisco fostering the Reggio Emilia's approach to education. Valentina grew up in Bologna, and has lived in the Bay Area for twenty years. La Scuola is one of the few schools in San Francisco that offered in-person classes after the first wave of the pandemic. Valentina shares the challenges and efforts to keep the school...
14 May 2021
Ep. 1 - Sara Marinelli, Writer & Radio-producer - My letters to Italy
Writer and radio producer Sara Marinelli introduces the series by sharing some of her Letters to Italy that she has been writing since the onset of the pandemic. Through a collage of voice-memos, phone calls, radio news, journal entries, and music recorded on Italian balconies, Sara explores her sense of belonging and ways to connect from afar with the country she left fourteen years ago. *** Since recording this episode, Italy’s vaccination plan has sped up. 13% of the populatio...
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