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Winning Film Projects 2018

The finalists listed below were selected to receive $8,000 each to fund their film projects. The selection committee believes each of them presents a specific vision for the exploration of truly interesting and dynamic themes. Previews of the three finalists were screened during NIAF’s 43rd Anniversary Gala Weekend, October 13, 2018, and the co-winners “Il Signor Jackson” by Anton Evangelista and “The Field Afar: The Life of Fr. Vincent Capodanno” by Tim Moriarty and Jake Ehlrich, were announced during the Gala Awards Dinner.

Anton Evangelista
Il Signor Jackson
Co-Winner
Il Signor Jackson chronicles the life and contributions of a remarkable African American with an Italian spirit.
Tim Moriarty and Jake Ehrlich
The Field Afar: The Life of Fr. Vincent Capodanno
Co-Winner
The Field Afar: The Life of Fr. Vincent Capodanno celebrates the life of Fr. Vincent Capodanno, a Marine Chaplain during the Vietnam War, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery, and whose cause is currently under investigation by the Vatican for Sainthood.

Runner Up

Jeannine Guilyard

Return to Lucania
Return to Lucania tells the story of the early 20th century Italian
immigrants, the conditions they fled, and what the land they left
has become today.

Honorable Mention

Luca Martera

In the Mood in Our Own Way
Luca Martera, whose film “In the Mood in Our Own Way”
explores the history and influence that Italians and Italian
Americans have had on music in the U.S. for the past 200 years.

Additional Grant Recipients

Richard Vetere
Where Are We Now? The Italian American Today
Richard Vetere’s film contemplates whether Italian American influence in American culture is coming to an end as its population becomes assimilated; or, whether that influence has become more relevant now than ever before.”
Andrea Cordaro
Cannoli, Traditions Around the Table
Andrea Cordaro, whose film focuses on food as a connector between ourselves and our ancestors, specifically through the history, spiritual significance, and evolution of the cannoli.
https://vimeo.com/282020707/569d55f8e8
Laura Magone
Raising the Bar
Laura Magone, whose film “Raising the Bar” tells the quintessential Italian American success story of two brothers born to immigrant parents who could not read or write, but who still managed to teach the life lessons that would help their sons excel and eventually make extraordinary contributions to our country.
Nina Ignaczak
Speaking Sicilianu
Nina Ignaczak, whose film “Speaking Sicilianu” relays the predicament of Sicilians and Sicilian Americans who find themselves in a changing world, struggling to reconcile their rich ethnic history with their current reality of assimilation.