iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

The Arctophile @phewtus.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

#NowWatching Four Ways Out (D: Pietro Germi, 1951) "Noir meets neorealism. The simple morality of how crime doesn't pay with everyone being doomed from the very beginning. Fellini, Comencini share writing credits, Germi's direction is expectedly strong and the location photography is great."

0154

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Giuseppe De Santis's classic “Bitter Rice” brought sex appeal and genre thrills to neorealism. It was released in Italy on this day in 1949:  buff.ly/FNowOjN

buff.ly

Bitter Rice: A Star Is Born, Toiling In The Fields — Crooked Marquee

Giuseppe De Santis's 1949 classic brought sex appeal and genre thrills to neorealism.

021

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

MidCenturyCinema @midcenturycinema.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

BOTD Michelangelo Antonioni!!! MCCT5: 5)L'Eclisse 4)L'Avventura 3)Blow Up 2)La Notte 1)The Passenger More: @tnyfrontrow.bsky.social: www.newyorker.com/culture/rich... Rodrigo Perez/ @theplaylist.bsky.social: theplaylist.net/the-essentia... @geoff-andrew.bsky.social: geoffandrew.com/2019/01/11/m...

3143

Charles L. Leavitt IV @clliv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The Italian program at the University of Notre Dame is seeking a dynamic Assistant OR Associate Teaching Professor of Italian to join our team in August 2027. Please share this with anyone who may be interested! (Deadline: November 9, 2026) apply.interfolio.com/194213

apply.interfolio.com

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

001

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Harper’s Magazine @harpers.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

“Realism wasn’t really Pavese’s aim. He was more concerned with the myths, both classical and eternally contemporary.” Max Norman on Cesare Pavese. harpers.org/archive/2026...

harpers.org

Missing in Action, by Max Norman

The myth of Cesare Pavese

211

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

New York Review Books @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"under the influence of the Elizabethans, particularly Shakespeare, Pavese began to embrace the expressive power of imagery as a narrative nucleus." Max Norman on Cesare Pavese's Hard Labour, translated into English by William Arrowsmith and reissued by us last year. @harpers.bsky.social

harpers.org

Missing in Action, by Max Norman

The myth of Cesare Pavese

094

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Harper’s Magazine @harpers.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

“Though he fancied himself of peasant stock, Pavese’s hands were soft, his arms skeleton-thin. In Turin, he benefited from the rigorous classical education that still distinguishes Italian public schools—but with a political twist.”—Max Norman buff.ly/nk7uoZr

buff.ly

Missing in Action, by Max Norman

The myth of Cesare Pavese

031

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Neckties of Noir @neckties-of-noir.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

#filmsky #moviesky #ItalianCinema One of the founding members of the cleft chin actors club. Happy 92nd to Sophia Loren! #BOTD The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)

04713

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

1946 News @80yearsago.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

[September 18th, 1946] Roberto Rossellini's neorealist war masterpiece "Paisan" had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.

021

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Matt Zoller Seitz @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Have you seen Paisan? Incredible Roberto Rossellini movie. Six stories about the Allied liberation of Italy. My fave is the Black US Army policeman (Dotts Johnson) who doesn't want to go home bonding with a poor Italian boy who steals to live. Moving and honest. www.bfi.org.uk/film/f6d498b...

A monochrome image from the film Paisan (1946) showing a Black American military policeman in uniform having an intense conversation with an Italian boy of perhaps 10 years age while sitting together on top of a pile of rubble.

210712

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Disc-Connected: Your trusted news source in physical media @disc-connected.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

***ANNOUNCEMENT*** Coming on December 7th on Blu-ray in the UK from @filmsradiance.bsky.social: #Obsessione (1943)! Gino (Massimo Girotti, Senso), a drifter, arrives at a dusty trattoria in the Po Valley where he meets unhappily married Giovanna (Clara Calamai, Deep Red). Their first encounter

252

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Cool Bike Art @coolbikeart1.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

TV comedy pioneers Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, and Imogene Coca take Italian neorealism to the next level on Your Show Of Shows, December 23, 1950. Happy #BicycleBirthday, Sid Caesar! September 8 (1922-2014)

youtube.com

SID CAESAR: La Bicycletta (YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS, Dec 23, 1950)

YouTube video by Sid Caesar: Your Show of Shows / Caesar's Hour / Admiral Broadway Revue

0112

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Cinefeast33 (demon version) 📽📺📚 @cinefeast33.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

#NowWatching MIRACLE IN MILAN (1951). Director: Vittorio De Sica. Francesco Golisano, Emma Gramatica. Following neorealist masterpiece BICYCLE THIEVES, De Sica turned more fanciful with this fairytale about an impoverished community finding wealth. Rewatch. #filmsky 📽 Criterion Collection 1119

0151

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 03/09/2026

‘In many of Leonardo Sciascia’s novels, any attempt to reveal the intricacies of a mafia plot invariably collapses in favour of a simpler but false explanation.’ Thomas Jones (@moonjets.bsky.social) on the Sicilian writer: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

lrb.co.uk

Thomas Jones · How to Choose Your Friends: Sciascia’s Sicily

The importance of Sicily to Leonardo Sciascia’s writing can’t be overstated, but Italo Calvino perhaps put it best...

1133

Charles L. Leavitt IV @clliv.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Coming soon: Ruins and Rubble in Postwar Italy, a book I've co-edited with @silviaross.bsky.social and Monica Seger. Chapters by @efbond.bsky.social and many more. The book argues for the centrality of ruins and rubble as key objects in the study of Italian modernity. www.mhra.org.uk/publications...

mhra.org.uk

Ruins and Rubble in Postwar Italy - Edited by Charles L. Leavitt IV, Silvia Ross and Monica Seger

Modern Humanities Research Association - Ruins and Rubble in Postwar Italy - Edited by Charles L. Leavitt IV, Silvia Ross and Monica Seger

010

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Society for Renaissance Studies @srsrensoc.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

#CfP: “Crossing Boundaries, Fostering Dialogue: Humanities, Academia and the City of Rome”, 19-20 October 2026, Notre Dame Rome Via Ostilia 15, 00184 Roma (RM), Italy. Abstracts by 30 July 2026 #Skystorians rensoc.org.uk/announcement...

Call for papers - Boundaries and Intersections in Premodern Italy
(October 19, 2026)

The giornata di studi invites reflection on how boundaries both define and destabilize. Boundaries expose the fragility of inclusion and exclusion, shape identities, delimit canons, construct centers and margins, and separate the sacred from secular, political from literary, the human from the non-human. Yet they are never static: negotiated, contested, transgressed, and redrawn across time and space.

024

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

EMoDiR @emodir.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

#CfA 📢 Job opportunity: Pamela Stewart Visiting Professor in Italian Studies 🏫 McGill University (Canada) | 📆 Winter 2027 term ⏰Application deadline: 30 September 2026 🔗 mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/McGill... #JobOpportunity #ItalianStudies

012

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Silent Movie GIFs @silentmoviegifs.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Sangue blu (1914) was directed by Nino Oxilia, who was killed by an Austrian shell while serving in the Italian army in 1917. Most of his films are now lost

35517

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Radiance Films @filmsradiance.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Returning home from the war, Ernesto (Amedeo Nazzari) tries to make an honest living but gets catapulted into a life of crime.

162

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

MidCenturyCinema @midcenturycinema.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

8/25/70: Bernardo Bertolucci's Spider's Stratagem w/The Conformist, ruminations on fascism & memory Ciment: "we suddenly find ourselves, stunned, on the threshold of the unknown" More: @bilgeebiri.bsky.social: www.villagevoice.com/between-revo... W W Dixon: www.sensesofcinema.com/2020/cteq/in...

sensesofcinema.com

Into the Web: The Spider’s Stratagem (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970) – Senses of Cinema

3132

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Trailers From Hell @trailersfromhell.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Postwar Italy goes noir. Glenn Erickson dives into World Noir Volume 5, a trio of Italian crime tales that blur the line between film noir and neorealism, beautifully restored by @filmsradiance.bsky.social. trailersfromhell.com/world-noir-v...

trailersfromhell.com

World Noir Volume 5 - Trailers From Hell

So you think life is tough where you are? … these three Italian crime tales teach a lesson beyond noir, that hope and hunger drive men to crime. Or does criminality just becomes part of life on its ow...

0146

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Denis J.-J. Robichaud @djjrobichaud.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

The Program of Liberal Studies ( pls.nd.edu ) is hiring a tenure track professor with a specialization in the history of philosophy. Please share widely. If interested please apply here: apply.interfolio.com/188951?appli... Deadline: 1 October, 2026. Come be my colleague!

pls.nd.edu

Program of Liberal Studies

Following an integrated curriculum composed of small discussion-based Seminars and Tutorials spanning the arts, history, literature, natural and social sciences, philosophy, politics, and theology, st...

074

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Tico Romao 🍁 @tico-romao.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

National Cinema Dictionary: V is for Vittorio De Sica. Italian filmmaker and central figure of Italian Neorealism used non-professional actors and stark humanism to capture the post-WWII working-class struggle with tragic beauty, as illustrated by Bicycle Thieves (1948).

0177

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Wilson Dizard III @wpd3.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

During the brutal German occupation of Italy in WWII, Allied Gen. Alexander advises partisan resistance units to retreat to the mountains & lay low. Defying these orders, a courageous squadron led by Commander Vento & commissar Lorenzo descends upon Pontedecimo, a town on the outskirts of Genoa.

youtube.com

Achtung! Banditi! (Attention! Bandits!) | Full Movie | Classic War Drama / Italian Neorealism | HD

YouTube video by English Movie Hub

011

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Wanted in Rome @wantedinrome.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Bologna opens a new library containing more than 32,000 books from Umberto Eco's private study - arranged exactly as he left them - a decade after his death.

wantedinmilan.com

Umberto Eco library opens in Bologna, 10 years after his death

The University of Bologna has opened a new public library housing the personal book collection of writer Umberto Eco, a decade after his death.

503324846

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

tnyfrontrow.bsky.social @tnyfrontrow.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

On the @criterion.bsky.social War Trilogy boxed set: www.newyorker.com/magazine/201... and the 1949 Talk piece: www.newyorker.com/magazine/194...

newyorker.com

The Ex-Axis

011

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

tnyfrontrow.bsky.social @tnyfrontrow.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

With Roberto Rossellini's Paisan at @lincolncenter.bsky.social 8:30pm (+ the documentary Roberto Rossellini, Living Without a Script (apologies, already in progress), a word about the film and many more from him, from 1949 ("'This,' I say to myself, ‘is the corpse of the movie industry.'")...

141

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Radiance Films @filmsradiance.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

UK/US: After having an affair, Ugo Tognazzi fixates on how easily his loving wife (Claudia Cardinale) could also commit infidelity in THE MAGNIFICENT CUCKOLD. Featuring a 4K restoration from Cineteca di Bologna, our release includes a new interview with Richard Dyer and writing by @phuonghhle.com

162

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Radiance Films @filmsradiance.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

UK: Selecting gems from Italian neo-realism, WORLD NOIR VOL. 5 shows genre thrills from the edge of post-war desperation. This set includes 4K restorations, new interviews with Imogen Sara Smith, @christinalefou.bsky.social , and @manilazic.bsky.social plus a 80-page book ft. new writing.

1113

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Radiance Films @filmsradiance.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

The rugged Italian actor Gian Maria Volonté (BOTD, 1933-1994) was described by Francesco Rosi as having "stole[n] the soul of his characters." Famous for his roles in Spaghetti Westerns, he also starred in social dramas such as 'The Working Class Goes to Heaven'

2388

Charles L. Leavitt IV @clliv.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

I've arrived in windy and rainy Naples. It's almost lecture time.

Poster for a lecture at the University of Naples L'Orientale on 26 March 2026: "The Tragic Myth of Our Defeat: Tombolo and Occupied Italy," by Charles Leavitt.

000

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Medieval Manuscripts @blmedieval.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

The Yates Thompson Divine Comedy has been returned online. Commissioned by Alfonso V, King of Aragon, Naples and Sicily, this copy of Dante's work has illuminations on every single page (Yates Thompson MS 36) Consult the whole manuscript online now: searcharchives.bl.uk/catalog/040-...

A page from an illuminated manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy showing a historiated initial 'L'(a gloria) of Christ in a chariot with Evangelist symbols, and Adam and Eve; (below) miniature of Dante and Apollo before Parnassus.

A page from an illuminated manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy showing a historiated initial 'N'(el) of Dante and Virgil in a dark wood, with four half-length figures representing Justice, Power, Peace and Temperance; (below) arms of Alphonso V, king of Aragon, Naples, and Sicily.

A page from an illuminated manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy showing a historiated initial 'P'(Per) of Dante setting sail for Purgatory.

19031

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Corriere della Sera @mm-corriere-bot.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Fosse Ardeatine, la cerimonia con il presidente Mattarella: diretta video video.corriere.it/fosse-ardeatine-l…

021

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

DiabolikDVD @diabolikdvd.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

NOW AVAILABLE: Elvira Notari – Pioneer of Italian Cinema (Blu-Ray All Region) diabolikdvd.com/product/elvi... #diabolikdvd #physicalmediaadvocates #elviranotari #italiancinema

061

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 21/03/2026

‘D’Alfonso’s son is left waiting for answers, as the number of surviving ex-Red Brigades members gets steadily lower and the years of lead still weigh heavily on Italy.’ John Foot (@footymac.bsky.social) on the trial of three former Red Brigades members. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma...

lrb.co.uk

John Foot | Years of Lead Revisited

On 5 June 1975, four carabinieri officers, in one car, drove up a winding road to an isolated farmhouse above Acqui...

087

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Joe Meyers @joesview.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

BOTD: Pier Paolo Pasolini

094

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

The Film Stage @thefilmstage.com · 05/03/2026

Gianfranco Rosi's Pompei: Below the Clouds exudes a style that accentuates the rich gradients, textures, and legends of Naples’ near-mythical world. Read our Critic's Pick review as the documentary opens in U.S. theaters: thefilmstage.com/nyff-review-...

042

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

If I were still a college teacher, I would do a film studies seminar called "Persistence of Neorealism," that would give a foundation in the Italian classics and then spread out to consider the dispersal and continuance of the aesthetic and themes in movies up to the presence

131

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Robin Baker @robinalexbaker.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

1/9. First time watch of the pulpy, noirish, neorealist Bitter Rice (Giuseppe De Santis, 1949). No idea why it’s taken me so long - probably the most enjoyable film I’ve watched this year. If you haven’t seen it, see 🧵 for a few reasons why you should.

3254

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Immigration and Ethnic History Society @iehs.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

New book by @selenadaly.bsky.social : Emigrant Soldiers: Mobilising Italians Abroad in the First World War (Cambridge University Press, 2025) www.cambridge.org/core/books/e...

11910

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Giuseppe De Santis's 1949 classic “Bitter Rice” brought sex appeal and genre thrills to neorealism. Its new 4K restoration opens Friday at @filmforumnyc.bsky.social:

crookedmarquee.com

042

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

Radiance Films @filmsradiance.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

One of Italian cinema's fiercest voices, Elio Petri (BOTD, 1929-1982) fused political satire and genre filmmaking into something urgent and unsettling. Our releases include THE WORKING CLASS GOES TO HEAVEN, A QUIET PLACE IN THE COUNTRY and WE STILL KILL THE OLD WAY.

1223

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

DishonoredLady @dishonoredlady.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

“Without Pity” (1948) is the Italian stars Carla Del Poggio as a woman who witnesses the shooting of John Kitzmiller, a U.S. serviceman. Shady people surround them as they try to escape their desperate situations. Produced by Carlo Ponti for Lux Film. #FilmNoir #neorealism #italiannoir

0145

Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV

kottke.org @kottke.org · 27/01/2026

“Archivio Grafica Italiana is the first online archive dedicated to the entire Italian graphic design heritage.” [kottke.org]

kottke.org

An Archive of Italian Graphic Design

“Archivio Grafica Italiana is the first online archive dedicated to the entire Italian graphic design heritage.” (via sidebar)

0305