The story of an Italian-Canadian tragedy

Sergio Navarretta brings Looking to Angelina to the big screen

It was the story of the century that caused an uproar around the globe and Italian-Canadian filmmaker Sergio Navarretta chose this tragic life of an immigrant woman as the subject of his feature directorial debut, Looking for Angelina.
The film tells the true story of Angelina Napolitano (played by Lina Giornofelice) who, in 1911, lived with her husband Pietro (Alvaro D'Antonio) in Sault Ste. Marie with their three children. They were a happy family, until Pietro found himself targeted by anti-immigrant racists, and unable to keep down a job. His temper got the best of him, and in order to protect herself and their children, Angelina killed Pietro in his sleep with an axe. The film details the one-day trial of the 28-year-old woman, presided by bigoted judges and lawyers. Angelina was sentenced to hang, but a worldwide outcry forced Ottawa to commute the sentence to jail time.
"I found out about Angelina's story at an Italian-Canadian writer's conference in Toronto," says Navarretta. "There was a playwright, Frank Canino, out of New York who wrote a play about it so he pitched it to me. And then I brought my partner, Alessandra Piccione, in. We had a meeting and we found the facts of the story so fascinating, almost more intriguing than the play itself. The play took a lot of artistic liberties and kind of went off, which you can do with theatre. But for the film we were drawn to the facts, and the more we dug the more we found that the playwright only scratched the surface."
Navarretta, whose short films have screened at festivals around the world, explains that the screenplay contains wording from the actual transcripts of the trial. "It's so sensational in some ways because it's hard to put into cinematic language," he says about how unfair the trial was. "It's just so over top, so arrogant and brutal."
So what happened to Angelina and her family? "We don't know," admits the director. "There were many people involved in the research, through academics and my own team. We went all over from Ottawa to Kingston just chasing clues and our research takes us to about 1933 where we found that she was in jail in Kingston and the man who helped release her from jail hired her as his housekeeper. She raised his children, which is interesting."
And what happened to Angelina's children? "She reunited with one her daughters in 1933 and they ended up in the States, and that's as far as our research takes us, and we haven't been able to find anything. There have been articles written kind of pleading for information, anybody to come forward. Our suspicion is, because they were in foster homes, their names were changed and this history just didn't carry on through the generations."
Navarretta admits that he's surprised at how universal the story of Angelina is and that travelling from one film festival to another, made him realize that domestic violence knows no borders. "We presented Looking for Angelina at IFFI, the International Film Festival of India," he explains. "There are no words that can describe this beautiful and magical country. Audiences related not only to Angelina, but to the various themes that were represented in the film. We were welcomed with an incredible hospitality. As I traveled parts of the country, I tried to observe and experience India without judgement. I realized an amazing truth about the people. They are generally happy, warm and very spiritual. We were welcomed with an incredible hospitality. As I traveled parts of the country, I tried to observe and experience India without judgement. I realized an amazing truth about the people. They are generally happy, warm and very spiritual."
Looking for Angelina premiered at the Montreal film festival last summer, but has since offered free screenings to raise awareness of spousal abuse. Education Wife Assault, COSTI Immigrant Services, Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children and the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto, in fact, held a screening in September where an audience of 300 were incredibly moved by the film and impressive panel. "One survivor told us she felt like she was Angelina; another audience member said the film was incredible, touching and sad. As a result of this screening, we gained a huge amount of community support. We will be working closely with these new community partners as we plan our public screenings," says Navarretta. "The launch of our Social Action campaign has been one of the most rewarding parts of the journey. Suddenly the film is a catalyst for dialogue on an issue that continues to plague society all over the world. The Algoma Health Unit recently released a report that outlines the impact Looking for Angelina had on their community. They recorded a measurable difference in reported cases of domestic violence and people coming forward and taking a stand against it."
Navarretta also brought the film to Italy, where he received an uproarious response. "We presented the film at the Cimameriche Film Festival in Genova Italy," he says. "We were greeted by a wonderful group of academics, artists and intellectuals. The experience was both enlightening and beautiful as they brought us from town to town in the region to sample local foods, wine and of course great cinema. The interesting thing about screening Looking for Angelina in Italy is that Italians are currently dealing with their own issues of immigration and racism. Watching the film, they witnessed the hardships 'the lost tribe', the Italians who immigrated to other countries years ago. Many noted that Italians are now treating new immigrants in their country the same way."

Looking for Angelina is currently playing at Cineplex Sheppard Grande (4861 Yonge St at Sheppard Avenue).

Publication Date: 2006-03-26
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=6098