Grandparents and Grandchildren in Italian America - Matilda Raffa Cuomo & Amanda Cole

GRANDPARENTS AND GRANDCHILDREN IN ITALIAN AMERICA is a video series featuring the relationship between different generations of Italians in America narrated firsthand by couples of grandparents and grandchildren. Their conversations touch on all central issues concerning Italian identity in the US, from immigration to religion, from language to cooking and traveling in Italy. In this episode Matilda Cuomo, mother of the current Governor of the State on New York Andrew Cuomo, talks with her niece Amanda Cole. Their extraordinary conversation culminates in an emotional and unscripted moment when grandmother and granddaughter decide to read a letter written in 1999 by former Governor Mario Cuomo (Matilda’s husband and Amanda’s grandfather), a kind of spiritual last will and testament for his thirteen grandaughters. This first series of “Grandparents and Grandchildren” was produced by i-ItalyTV and ANFE in 2015-2016, with the support of Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Direzione generale per gli italiani all’estero e le politiche migratorie. The videos were shown on TV as part of the weekly program “i-ItalyNY”, airing every Sunday at 1PM on NYC Life (Channel 25 & HD 525), and then made available on the Web (www.iItaly.org). The protagonists of this first series include: Matilda Raffa Cuomo and Amanda Cole Joseph Tusiani and Paola Tusiani Aileen Riotto Sirey and Emma Bankier Rosaria Liuzzo and Mara Sparacino John P. Calvelli and John D. Calvelli GRANDPARENTS AND GRANDCHILDREN IN ITALIAN AMERICA Based on an idea of Letizia Airos, Gaetano Calà and Ottorino Cappelli Written and Directed by Letizia Airos Director of Photography Matteo Banfo Filmed and Edited by Matteo Banfo. Mattia Minasi. Ennio Serafini Production Assistant Mila Tenaglia Music: Audionautixcom; Bensound Translations and Subtitles: Bianca Soria, Roberta Cutillo, Francesca Maltauro, Lorenzo Lasagna, Sian Gibby, Athena Mellor Special thanks to Elisabetta Recchione Calello, Elisabetta Briguglio, Maria DiMeo Calvelli, Annalisa Liuzzo. The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute. Queens College, CUNY.