Film Forum

(1963) In Parma, near the birthplace of the revered composer Giuseppe Verdi, even the street-sweepers and cops sing opera, while soprano Margherita Roberti (née Margaret Jean Roberts in Davenport, Iowa), star of a new production of Luisa Miller, frets about the notoriously tough pubblico parmigiano. Virtually unseen after airing just once on U.S. television 54 years ago, a vivid record of a not-quite-vanished culture. Directed and edited by Robert Morgan. Produced and written by J.C. Sheers. Following the screening,  August Ventura will present excerpts from his forthcoming film documenting Parma’s still-going-strong Verdimania, and will chat with filmmaker, author and NYU professor George Malko, co-producer of In the Mouth of the Wolf. Approx. 90 min.