© 2010 Redhead Productions | documentary | 52 min

What happens when you realize that your family is part of a global superstition that is neither spoken about openly nor even referred to by name? Filmmaker Agata De Santis sets out on a quest to uncover the world of MAL'OCCHIO - the evil eye - where one can become physically ill by another's envious glances, where the only remedy is a phone call to the old woman down the street, and prevention involves wearing strange-looking amulets. Agata travels to Italy, New York, and to her mother's kitchen in Montreal to decide once and for all if the evil eye is real.

Writer | Director | Producer | AGATA DE SANTIS
Editor | ALFONSO PECCIA
Camera | ELIAS C. VAROUTSOS & AGATA DE SANTIS
Original Music | PETER DE SANTIS & MANNY AGOSTINO



MAL'OCCHIO is now available on Vimeo on Demand.


FORMAT

PARTICIPANTS
(in order of appearance)
Franca Gasparrini, Lucia Della Ripa, Assunta De Santis, Licia Canton, Steven J. Belluscio, Nancy A. Caronia, James Pasto, Ernest Rossi, Raffaele Ferrara, Paolo Bisogno, Eduardo Apellano, Elena Mastrangelo, Stuart A. Vyse, Sam Migliore, Laurence J. Kirmayer, Nadia Verrucci, Sabrina D’Alelio, Cristina Bortolotti, Maria Sangineto, Grace Fahrun, Lina Simone, Peter De Santis, Audrey Moores, Moshe Daniel Block

TELEVISION BROADCASTS
June 16, 2012 CBC Television / “Absolutely Canadian”
August 20, 2011 CBC Television / "CBC Montreal Presents"

COMMUNITY SCREENINGS
October 2012 Italian American Museum (New York, NY, USA)
October 2012 Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere (Staten Island, NY, USA)
October 2012 Westchester Italian Cultural Center (Tuckahoe, NY, USA)
April 2012 Center for Italian & Italian American Culture (Wayne, NJ, USA)
April 2012 New York Italians (New York, NY, USA)
April 2012 Italian American Community Center (Albany, NY, USA)
March 2012 Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 (Halifax, NS, Canada)
February 2012 National Congress of Italian Canadians/Dante Alighieri Society (Ottawa)
November 2011 Casa D'Italia / Co.As.It. (Sydney, Australia)
November 2011 Museo Italiano (Melbourne, Australia)
October 2011 Boston Public Library North End Branch (Boston, MA, USA)
October 2011 Italia Unita (Boston, MA, USA)
May 2011 Scarborough Italian Association (Scarborough, ON, Canada)
May 2011 Basilicata Cultural Society of Canada (Woodbridge, ON, Canada)
May 2011 Association of Italian Canadian Writers "Arte Montreal" (Montreal, QC, Canada)

*If you would like to organize a MAL'OCCHIO community screening in your city, please contact us by email.

FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
2012 Les rendez-vous du cinéma italien (Montreal, Canada)
2011 Semaine Italienne de Montreal - Casa D'Italia (Montreal, Canada)
2011 Female Eye Film Festival (Toronto, Canada)
2011 Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois (Montreal, Canada)
2010 Semaine Italienne de Montreal - Leonardo da Vinci Center (Montreal, Canada)
2010 Real to Reel Film Festival (Cleveland County, NC, USA)
2010 Jersey Shore Film Festival (Jersey Shore, NJ, USA)

AWARDS
2010 Best Foreign Feature Documentary (Jersey Shore Film Festival)