A NEW ITALIAN POLITICAL CINEMA?

'A New Italian Political Cinema?' is a cross-disciplinary network to examine the politicization of Italian cinema in the new millennium, a phenomenon evidenced through a proliferation of films which have explored the country's economic and social instability, its environmental problems, and the misuse of institutional power- an issue notably explored in Moretti's Il caimano (2006). But while different generations of directors are being drawn to explore Italy's changing socio-economic realities; 'A New Italian Political Cinema?' will ascertain whether their depictions of Italian society are merely motivated by a desire for fresh appearance forms and stark local colour, or by a radical impulse for change. The network will also investigate phenomena that are instrumental in obstructing or facilitating the production and diffusion of radical film projects in Italy, factors ranging from state and self-censorship to distribution oligopolies. In theoretical terms, the project will revisit the writings of cultural scholars such as Terry Eagleton and Fredric Jameson to consider whether Italian cinema - and, by implication, UK and other national cinemas - has become a locus where the ideological and political hegemony of dominant socio-economic groups is realistically depicted and challenged. Conversely, is this new wave of cinematic work merely producing imaginary resolutions to the social antagonisms that it portrays, for example by repressing problematic social content via mythical narrative reconciliations? In recent Italian films, which signs or ideologemes - Jameson's term - have become the focal point of antagonism between conflicting class interests? For example, in the films of Gabriele Salvatores, mass culture and virtual reality technology have both functioned as loci for conflict between progressive, emancipatory impulses and dominant, hegemonic forces.

The network will initially centre on three workshops and film screenings in London (November 2010), Adelaide (January 2011) and Conegliano/Venice (July 2011). It will pool the expertise of cinema scholars, film directors, members of Italy's immigrant communities, trade unions, environmental groups, and representatives of the Partito di Alternativa Comunista, the party emerging in 2006 following a schism within the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista. Input from the Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore, via recorded interviews, will also inform the project. At each event, the ongoing work of researchers in the field of modern Italian cinema will be integrated with the personal testimonies and individual experience of the workshop facilitators to form a group analysis of the socio-political issues that have characterized a range of contemporary Italian films, many of these questions also being relevant to the UK and other film-producing nations. These questions include: the problematic integration of immigrants in post-industrial society; the vulnerability of both the bourgeoisie and working classes in a context of declining job security; the social repercussions of profit accumulation prevailing over environmental protection; the implications of Berlusconi's political, economic and cultural influence upon society as evidenced both directly and indirectly through the medium of film. The workshops will be open to all and their different locations will facilitate access to the project for its participants. and reduce their travel costs. Subsequently, an international conference at the University of Salford (January 2012) will advance the network's research within a more structured context. Research findings will eventually be disseminated via the University of Salford's Working Papers series, a published volume of essays in Italian, a monograph in English, and a dedicated, open-access website in English. There will also be further bi-annual events during the subsequentphases of the network.

1. The wider public will benefit from the network's findings as the events and publications will sensitize individuals to: the manner in which socio-economic and political issues are articulated on screen; the problems faced by radical film-makers and producers in accomplishing their projects; the ways in which cinema is conditioned by political and economic factors. The network's open-access website, containing key material from the workshops and conference, will be publicized during its events and may be consulted by the general public.

2. Associations such as immigrant welfare groups, trade unions, environmental groups, and organizations for the protection of free speech will benefit from research detailing the way in which socio-economic and political issues are being a) portrayed in a mainstream medium such as cinema, and/or b) conditioned by state institutions and influential economic interests. The findings of the network will be relevant to such groups both in Italy and in countries across the developed world.

3. Independent film-makers and producers, not just in Italy, will derive useful information from the network's events and publications, which will ascertain the ways in which the production and distribution of radical film projects in Italy is currently being hindered, and outline strategies to bypass these problems.

4. Journalists from the Italian mainstream press who have reported on Italy's socio-economic problems and abuses of political power, e.g. the newspaper Repubblica, will be invited to attend the workshop in Italy and report on its findings as a first stage of information dissemination. Given the correlation between the investigations of newspapers such as Repubblica and the thematic remit of the network, it is envisaged that a beneficial synergy will be created.

The research will impact on the culture of all nations with an active film industry;
a) by identifying patterns and even prejudices in the way sections of Western society such as ethnic minorities and the economically vulnerable are depicted on screen;
b) by establishing how socio-economic and political issues are explored - or deliberately overlooked - within the particular context of Italian cinema;
c) by ascertaining the impact of factors that facilitate or hinder the elaboration of 'radical' film projects.
This research has implications for the UK and its film industry, for other film-making countries, and also for policy makers in all these countries, since it will identify how vulnerable groups such as asylum seekers and uncontracted workers are represented in the medium of cinema and, by implication, how they are perceived within the public imagination. Two years is a realistic timescale to organize the initial stage of public events, establish the open-access website, and publish the first written outputs. During this period, academics working on the project will develop a greater awareness of the socio-economic and political realities behind the films being analysed, and the professionals participating in the network will acquire a more global awareness of mainstream media representations of their specific area of expertise, e.g. the environment, employment rights. To maximize the impact of the network's research, it will be made available via: a) electronic resources (dedicated website in English); b) low-cost printed resources (University of Salford's Working Papers series); c) scholarly publications such as the projected edited volume and monograph. The Principal Investigator will be responsible for organizing and editing printed research outputs ranging from Working Papers to full-length monographs. To date, he has successfully negotiated five projects with three different publishers (Troubador, Peter Lang, Cambridge Scholars Press). Organization of the network's events will also be overseen by the P.I., who