Category Archives: Cinema and TV

"Love conquers all": these are the words that the founder of the Focolarini, Chiara Lubich (whose hundredth birthday was celebrated in 2020) heard within herself in a moment of prayer, in the midst of the bombings that were destroying her hometown of Trent (Italy) during World War II. Chiara Lubich. L’amore vince tutto (“Chiara Lubich.…

Not long ago, in early February, a certain Antonio Signore, AKA Junior Cally, with the song "No thanks" (a political song) was admitted to the competition in Sanremo (the most important music festival in Italy). The boy had, however, a history of quite sexist songs. He states: "They are just songs” and I even heard…

We're celebrating Christmas. It’s time for sharing, to spend time together with all the family and - why not? - time to watch Christmas movies with timeless values because, even as the years go by, the message always remains the same: we have to think of others at the cost of thinking less about ourselves.…

With a very pressing, very American style of storytelling, the documentary The Social Dilemma gets straight to the crux of the issue it is aims to address. Tristan Harris opens with a very poignant phrase: "If the service is free, you are the product." Professor Shoshana Zuboff (author of the book The Age of Surveillance…

I must admit: I never expected to learn anything about education from a cartoon. And instead, to my surprise, during the period of isolation caused by Covid, it happened. I'm talking about Bing, one of the most popular and beloved in the 6 and under age group. Bing is an English animated series produced by…

Halloween is over. Nevertheless, apart of this occasion when playful horror is even good business, the horror has become omnipresent. Considering the countless number of movies, TV series -not to mention the video games- we can see the increasing number of people, especially teenagers, who are more and more attracted to horror works and “consume”…

Orientaserie, available online since few months, is a new TV recommendation and orientation website, which helps us to choose in the great sea of TV series. Orientaserie is particularly addressed to parents and educators. It wants to be an agile, documented and reliable consultation tool on a world in which teenagers spend a good part…

When Maleficent came out (a 2014 Disney movie directed by Robert Stromberg), someone conjectured that the kiss with which Maleficent awakened Princess Aurora - fallen into a perennial sleep, after pricking her finger with the needle of a haunted spinning wheel - was a sign of the director’s sympathies to the LGBT world. It was…

The Oscar awards have always provided a reliable measurement of world cinema trends and and professionals’ preferences, albeit of unavoidable polemics which helps making profitable noise for the movie industry. The Oscars greatly influence the viewers choices, as well. In 2019, Hollywood honored movies focused on accepting diversity and fighting prejudice. One of these that…

In the last years, the film industry has seen the birth of a new protagonist: Netflix. The American platform, initially born as a modern video rental shop, is at the forefront today in the production of TV series and films. Here is a brief history. The company was set up in 1997 in Los Gatos,…