NewsRelease

“Feast of the Dead” Premieres Oct. 5 at UNCG

GREENSBORO – Anthony Fragola, professor of broadcasting and cinema at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, will host a free screening of his personal documentary “Feast of the Dead,” Sunday, Oct. 5.

The 56-minute film will be shown at 7 p.m. in the Elliott University Center auditorium. The event will include a reception at 6 p.m. and a reading from Fragola’s 1998 collection of short stories titled “Feast of the Dead.”

As a boy growing up in New York, Fragola was fascinated by the stories his grandmother wove about her native Italy - the destructive power of Mt. Etna, the harsh conditions, and above all, the rituals of the “Feast of the Dead,” also called All Souls’ Day.

A week-long festival celebrated at the beginning of November, the Feast of the Dead honors the spirits of one’s ancestors. The Sicilians pay their respects to the departed by decorating and polishing graves, holding mass and visiting cemeteries. Parents put out cookies called “bones of the dead” for the spirits, who are said to leave presents for the living.

Nearly two decades after his grandmother’s death, Fragola made the journey to her hometown of Linguaglossa in southern Italy. Linguaglossa, translated as “large tongue,” is nestled on the slopes of volcanic Mount Etna. Led by his guide and relative Antonino Vecchio, the professor visited the small village during the Feast of the Dead and documented his experiences on film. Scenes include preparation for the festival, a visit to his ancestral home, a processional through the streets and interviews with family, a priest and a sculptor.

Fragola teaches film studies and screenwriting at UNCG and developed its fiction screenwriting sequence. He completed his undergraduate work in Italian at Columbia University and holds a Master of Professional Writing from the University of Southern California. To his credit are numerous articles and a book about Alain Robbe-Grillet and various works of short fiction. He has also directed and written the films “Mythic Etna” and “The Secret Miracle,” which is adapted from the short story by Jorge Luis Borges.

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