Charles L. Leavitt IV
@clliv.bsky.social
William Payden Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and Associate Director of the Center for Italian Studies, U. of Notre Dame.
Author of Italian Neorealism: A Cultural History (https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487507107)
Author of Italian Neorealism: A Cultural History (https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487507107)
Pinned
Charles L. Leavitt IV
@clliv.bsky.social
· Dec 16
“In Mezzo Agli Africani”: Forgetting Fascist Colonialism in Natale al Campo 119
Pietro Francisci’s 1947 film, Natale al campo 119, offers unacknowledged insights into the representation, redirection, and repression of the memory of Italian colonialism in the immediate aftermat...
doi.org
Just in time for Christmas, my article on the 1947 Italian Christmas film Natale al Campo 119.
It's a movie about Italian prisoners of war in California. But it's also a movie about the aftermath of Italian colonialism.
That makes it a far more important film than it seems.
doi.org/10.1080/0161...
It's a movie about Italian prisoners of war in California. But it's also a movie about the aftermath of Italian colonialism.
That makes it a far more important film than it seems.
doi.org/10.1080/0161...
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
Please sign this petition to save modern languages courses at the University of Leicester.
We Can Make an Impact.
Save Modern Languages courses at the University of Leicester
c.org
November 12, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Please sign this petition to save modern languages courses at the University of Leicester.
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
And JINGLE ALL THE WAY is just a remake of BICYCLE THIEVES with a super-happy Hollywood ending!
November 7, 2025 at 9:19 PM
And JINGLE ALL THE WAY is just a remake of BICYCLE THIEVES with a super-happy Hollywood ending!
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
November 2, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
Exciting new documentary entering circulation! ELVIRA NOTARI: BEYOND SILENCE about Italy’s first woman director + journey to bring her work back to life. Trailer (w/ English subs) here. First learned of Notari via Giuliana Bruno’s classic monograph STREETWALKING ON A RUINED MAP
vimeo.com/1125241996
vimeo.com/1125241996
October 23, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Exciting new documentary entering circulation! ELVIRA NOTARI: BEYOND SILENCE about Italy’s first woman director + journey to bring her work back to life. Trailer (w/ English subs) here. First learned of Notari via Giuliana Bruno’s classic monograph STREETWALKING ON A RUINED MAP
vimeo.com/1125241996
vimeo.com/1125241996
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
RIP Claudia Cardinale (1938-2025), an icon of Italian cinema and the embodiment of postwar European glamour.
Alongside her work with Fellini, Leone and Visconti she appeared in five Radiance releases, ranking amongst our most featured actors.
Alongside her work with Fellini, Leone and Visconti she appeared in five Radiance releases, ranking amongst our most featured actors.
September 24, 2025 at 8:31 AM
RIP Claudia Cardinale (1938-2025), an icon of Italian cinema and the embodiment of postwar European glamour.
Alongside her work with Fellini, Leone and Visconti she appeared in five Radiance releases, ranking amongst our most featured actors.
Alongside her work with Fellini, Leone and Visconti she appeared in five Radiance releases, ranking amongst our most featured actors.
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
Can't believe I'm writing another post like this: RIP to a cinema giant. Claudia Cardinale was maybe the most beautiful woman in film history, but more, her unforgettable feline presence graces some of the greatest movies of all time, from Visconti to Leone to Comencini. :(
September 24, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Can't believe I'm writing another post like this: RIP to a cinema giant. Claudia Cardinale was maybe the most beautiful woman in film history, but more, her unforgettable feline presence graces some of the greatest movies of all time, from Visconti to Leone to Comencini. :(
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
Join Kellogg’s Visiting Fellows program at the University of Notre Dame! We seek scholars and practitioners from diverse social science disciplines working on global democracy. Apply today to advance your research in an ideal scholarly environment.
🔗 Learn more & apply: kellogg.nd.edu/vfellowships
🔗 Learn more & apply: kellogg.nd.edu/vfellowships
September 13, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Join Kellogg’s Visiting Fellows program at the University of Notre Dame! We seek scholars and practitioners from diverse social science disciplines working on global democracy. Apply today to advance your research in an ideal scholarly environment.
🔗 Learn more & apply: kellogg.nd.edu/vfellowships
🔗 Learn more & apply: kellogg.nd.edu/vfellowships
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
🎬 In 1946, Italian director Vittorio De Sica released Shoeshine, a poignant tale of two boys caught in postwar poverty. Its raw realism earned an honorary Oscar and helped define the neorealist movement—reshaping global cinema’s moral lens. #CinemaHistory
September 12, 2025 at 8:52 PM
🎬 In 1946, Italian director Vittorio De Sica released Shoeshine, a poignant tale of two boys caught in postwar poverty. Its raw realism earned an honorary Oscar and helped define the neorealist movement—reshaping global cinema’s moral lens. #CinemaHistory
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
🎬 In 1945, Italian director Roberto Rossellini began filming Paisan, blending fiction with real wartime experiences. Shot amid postwar ruins with non-professional actors, it pioneered neorealism and reshaped global cinema’s approach to truth and storytelling. #CinemaHistory
September 11, 2025 at 6:32 PM
🎬 In 1945, Italian director Roberto Rossellini began filming Paisan, blending fiction with real wartime experiences. Shot amid postwar ruins with non-professional actors, it pioneered neorealism and reshaped global cinema’s approach to truth and storytelling. #CinemaHistory
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
Happy to share that the exhibit I curated w/ @josephsciorra.bsky.social , Creativity and World War II Italian POWs in the United States, has been extended through November 26, 2025. Check it out!
Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm
25 W 43rd St Fl 17, New York, NY
@calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm
25 W 43rd St Fl 17, New York, NY
@calandrainstitute.bsky.social
September 13, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Happy to share that the exhibit I curated w/ @josephsciorra.bsky.social , Creativity and World War II Italian POWs in the United States, has been extended through November 26, 2025. Check it out!
Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm
25 W 43rd St Fl 17, New York, NY
@calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm
25 W 43rd St Fl 17, New York, NY
@calandrainstitute.bsky.social
"Sooner or later someone misreads the Italian and the system breaks down."
- Gore Vidal
- Gore Vidal
September 12, 2025 at 4:47 PM
"Sooner or later someone misreads the Italian and the system breaks down."
- Gore Vidal
- Gore Vidal
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
8 September 1915 | Italian Jewish woman, Milena Modigliani, was born in Livorno.
She was deported to #Auschwitz from Milan on 30 January 1944 with her son Paolo. They were both murdered in a gas chamber after the arrival selection.
She was deported to #Auschwitz from Milan on 30 January 1944 with her son Paolo. They were both murdered in a gas chamber after the arrival selection.
September 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM
8 September 1915 | Italian Jewish woman, Milena Modigliani, was born in Livorno.
She was deported to #Auschwitz from Milan on 30 January 1944 with her son Paolo. They were both murdered in a gas chamber after the arrival selection.
She was deported to #Auschwitz from Milan on 30 January 1944 with her son Paolo. They were both murdered in a gas chamber after the arrival selection.
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
The new issue of @modernitaly.bsky.social is finally out & it's the special issue I guest edited with Maria Stella Chiaruttini, entitled: Turning Points and Transformations in Contemporary Italy: A Century of Big Changes Through ‘Small Histories’
snappy, I know...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
snappy, I know...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Modern Italy: Volume 30 - Turning Points and Transformations in Contemporary Italy: A Century of Big Changes Through ‘Small Histories’ | Cambridge Core
Cambridge Core - Modern Italy - Volume 30 - Turning Points and Transformations in Contemporary Italy: A Century of Big Changes Through ‘Small Histories’
www.cambridge.org
September 4, 2025 at 1:56 PM
The new issue of @modernitaly.bsky.social is finally out & it's the special issue I guest edited with Maria Stella Chiaruttini, entitled: Turning Points and Transformations in Contemporary Italy: A Century of Big Changes Through ‘Small Histories’
snappy, I know...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
snappy, I know...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
An Italian Countess and Austrian Lieutenant embark on a lustful forbidden affair in Luchino Visconti's masterful period melodrama SENSO.
August 26, 2025 at 4:03 PM
An Italian Countess and Austrian Lieutenant embark on a lustful forbidden affair in Luchino Visconti's masterful period melodrama SENSO.
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
I’m obviously a fan of Calvino — a few of the reviews of my book rightly invoke him as an inspiration for the way I write — and one of my favorite things that he does is how he can condense the tragedy of a life in one or two paragraphs. It’s so light, but it doesn’t feel like anything is missed
August 12, 2025 at 10:22 PM
I’m obviously a fan of Calvino — a few of the reviews of my book rightly invoke him as an inspiration for the way I write — and one of my favorite things that he does is how he can condense the tragedy of a life in one or two paragraphs. It’s so light, but it doesn’t feel like anything is missed
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
if you want to get a sense of just how crazy poor WW2 Italy was, I strongly recommend Norman Lewis' incredible book NAPLES '44. By 1971 that same country had become the world's dominant producer of white goods. (Judt's POSTWAR is also very good on this)
Italy was a pre-modern country with some modern cities under fascism. It was democracy — specifically Christian Democracy — that gave everyone houses, sewers, cars and fridges. I remember an interview with a rural person who finally got an indoor bathroom and said “I finally feel like a human being”
August 8, 2025 at 7:21 PM
if you want to get a sense of just how crazy poor WW2 Italy was, I strongly recommend Norman Lewis' incredible book NAPLES '44. By 1971 that same country had become the world's dominant producer of white goods. (Judt's POSTWAR is also very good on this)
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
really recommend ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS for a cinematic look at the kind of poverty that was pretty typical in early post-war italy
if you want to get a sense of just how crazy poor WW2 Italy was, I strongly recommend Norman Lewis' incredible book NAPLES '44. By 1971 that same country had become the world's dominant producer of white goods. (Judt's POSTWAR is also very good on this)
Italy was a pre-modern country with some modern cities under fascism. It was democracy — specifically Christian Democracy — that gave everyone houses, sewers, cars and fridges. I remember an interview with a rural person who finally got an indoor bathroom and said “I finally feel like a human being”
August 11, 2025 at 6:49 PM
really recommend ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS for a cinematic look at the kind of poverty that was pretty typical in early post-war italy
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
I would love it if neorealism made a comeback, but in the United States right this minute
July 23, 2025 at 3:46 AM
I would love it if neorealism made a comeback, but in the United States right this minute
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
The struggles of an Italian fishing family are told in Luchino Visconti's classic LA TERRA TREMA. Combining documentary realism and poetic tragedy, it remains one of the finest examples of neorealism put on film.
June 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
The struggles of an Italian fishing family are told in Luchino Visconti's classic LA TERRA TREMA. Combining documentary realism and poetic tragedy, it remains one of the finest examples of neorealism put on film.
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
Your excruciating wait is almost over!! In just 143 days you will be able to read my new book, Encounters in Wartime Italy: A Social History of Invasion, Liberation, and Occupation, which Oxford University Press will publish on 10 November 2025!!
Preview it on the OUP website: lnkd.in/e4tMffRX
Preview it on the OUP website: lnkd.in/e4tMffRX
June 20, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Your excruciating wait is almost over!! In just 143 days you will be able to read my new book, Encounters in Wartime Italy: A Social History of Invasion, Liberation, and Occupation, which Oxford University Press will publish on 10 November 2025!!
Preview it on the OUP website: lnkd.in/e4tMffRX
Preview it on the OUP website: lnkd.in/e4tMffRX
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
You don't see that many top Italian Studies heads in the same room every day (and not all of them are in the picture...).
Great day Yesterday at the Italian Cultural Institute... e tanti auguri Modern Italy per i tuoi primi 30 anni!!
Great day Yesterday at the Italian Cultural Institute... e tanti auguri Modern Italy per i tuoi primi 30 anni!!
June 14, 2025 at 6:32 PM
You don't see that many top Italian Studies heads in the same room every day (and not all of them are in the picture...).
Great day Yesterday at the Italian Cultural Institute... e tanti auguri Modern Italy per i tuoi primi 30 anni!!
Great day Yesterday at the Italian Cultural Institute... e tanti auguri Modern Italy per i tuoi primi 30 anni!!
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
R.I.P Enzo Staiola, maybe THE face of Italian neorealism after Bicycle Thieves. I’m quoted in this Washington Post obituary of him archive.ph/fydat
June 6, 2025 at 3:11 PM
R.I.P Enzo Staiola, maybe THE face of Italian neorealism after Bicycle Thieves. I’m quoted in this Washington Post obituary of him archive.ph/fydat
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
📣 Stipendiary Lecturership in Italian: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNJ207/s...
Stipendiary Lecturership in Italian at University of Oxford
Explore an exciting academic career as a Stipendiary Lecturership in Italian. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.
www.jobs.ac.uk
June 5, 2025 at 8:39 AM
📣 Stipendiary Lecturership in Italian: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNJ207/s...
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
A fantastic role at UCFL ECA SIG: university-council-for-languages.org/early-career... @ucfl-eca.bsky.social
June 5, 2025 at 9:52 AM
A fantastic role at UCFL ECA SIG: university-council-for-languages.org/early-career... @ucfl-eca.bsky.social
Reposted by Charles L. Leavitt IV
From a very grateful Assistant Director of the Center for Italian Studies (and a newly hooded Dr): thank you Prof. @clliv.bsky.social for supporting my graduate studies since the beginning and for making this moment happen. We did it!
#PhD #ClassOf2025 #NotreDame #ItalianStudies #ItalianCinema
#PhD #ClassOf2025 #NotreDame #ItalianStudies #ItalianCinema
May 17, 2025 at 9:43 PM
From a very grateful Assistant Director of the Center for Italian Studies (and a newly hooded Dr): thank you Prof. @clliv.bsky.social for supporting my graduate studies since the beginning and for making this moment happen. We did it!
#PhD #ClassOf2025 #NotreDame #ItalianStudies #ItalianCinema
#PhD #ClassOf2025 #NotreDame #ItalianStudies #ItalianCinema