The Godfather (1972)

Even before the very first Special Academy Award for a foreign language film was presented to Shoe-Shine in 1947 (an award that was the forerunner of the present Foreign Language Film Oscar), an important dialogue began taking place between movie makers in the United States and Italy. Films shot in Italy often feature the country itself as one of its characters, and the American public continues to embrace films like Enchanted April, Il Postino and Under the Tuscan Sun, much as they did the work of Fellini, Rossellini and Antonioni.

That dialogue continues to this day, with prominent directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bertolucci working in both countries. In addition, many significant contributions have been made to American and international film production by numerous Italians working in the various crafts, including composers, and production and costume designers.

And Italian films continue to be recognized by the Academy, receiving 11 Oscars in the Foreign Language Film category to date, from 27 nominations. Italian performers have also broken new ground, with the only statuettes won by actors for a non-English language leading performance going to Sophia Loren (Two Women, 1961) and Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful, 1998).

	Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

The longstanding love affair between Italian and American film makers and movie lovers will be celebrated at this Academy program, featuring film clips and conversation with professional filmmakers from both countries. This evening will launch a major retrospective of recent Italian films, which will be screened at the American Cinematheque.

The program will be hosted by Michael York, who co-starred early in his career in director Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968), shot on location in Italy. Program participants include director Michael Radford, Oscar nominated for 1994's Il Postino (The Postman), and writer/director Edoardo Ponti, who will be representing his mother Sophia Loren, Oscar-winning actress for Two Women (1960).

Generous sponsorship provided by the Region of Lazio.