TORONTO, April 2, 1998 -- The Mariano A. Elia Chair in Italian Canadian Studies and the Italian Film Society of Canada present one of Canada's most respected film directors, Paul Tana, who will introduce a special screening of his 1992 film La Sarrasine (the Saracen) and take questions from the audience on Thursday, April 9.

La Sarrasine, set in Montreal in 1904, is the story of an Italian Canadian couple caught in the tensions between Montreal's Italian and French-Canadian communities. Canadian actor Tony Nardi is Giuseppe Moschella, an immigrant tailor who has settled in Montreal with his wife Ninetta (Italian actress Enrica-Maria Modugno). The film follows Giuseppe and Ninetta as they get dragged into a dispute between one of the men who boards at the Moschella house and a French-Canadian shop owner.

La Sarrasine had its world premier in 1992 at Les Rendez-Vous de Cinema Quebecois, where Tana and co-writer Bruno Ramirez won first prize for best screenplay. Praised by the Montreal Gazette as "an allegorical drama of rare strength, integrity, and eye for period detail," the film not only offers great insight into the immigrant experience, but has profound human significance and great artistic value.

Tana was born in Ancona, Italy and has lived in Montreal since 1958. His previous films include Les grands enfants (1980), and Caffe Italia Montreal (1985), co-written with Bruno Ramirez, both of which deal with the Italo-Quebecois situation. Caffe Italia was voted the best feature film of 1985 by the Association quebecoise des critiques de cinema.

The screening is the final instalment in a series of lectures and events by Italian Canadian artists, poets, filmmakers and writers sponsored by the Mariano E. Elia Chair in Italian Canadian Studies at York University. The series, titled "The Italian Canadian Imagination: Narratives, Myths, Symbols: Five Voices" is designed to bring together a range of talented Italian Canadians to celebrate the rich contributions of the community to Canadian artistic and cultural life.

The presentation will be held in the National Film Board of Canada's John Spotton Theatre, 150 John Street (corner of John and Richmond Streets), at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 9. Admission is free, but because the number of seats is limited, reservations are required. Reservations can be made by calling Silvana Stifani at York University, (416) 736-2100, ext. 88721.

For more information, please contact:

Elio Costa
Italian Studies
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 66924

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
email: sinem@yorku.ca

Alison Masemann
Media Relations Officer
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
email: masemann@yorku.ca
YU/032/98