The Italian Consulate in Erbil has enthusiastically adhered to the proposal of the MAECI addressed to the diplomatic-consular representations and the Italian Cultural Institutes, to promote the screening in the world of the film “Dante”, directed by the director Pupi Avati.
In Erbil, on December 2nd, at the Empire Cinema, more than 150 people attended the screening, including the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Autonomous Region, Arian Salahaddin. On the following 6 December, at the City Cinema in Sulaymaniyah, the second largest city in the region, more than 110 people were present.
Consul Michele Camerota introduced the events, illustrating the importance that the Supreme Poet has for the Italian culture and language, of which he is considered the father.
The Consul, noting the dynamism found in the region’s film production, then wanted to pay tribute to the well-known local intellectual of international fame Aziz Gardi (1947-2022), who dedicated 15 years of his activity to the translation of the “Divine Comedy” into Kurdish, with the reading of the first Canto of the Inferno by a young student. Camerota then shared the curiosity that the Italian Dominican missionary Maurizio Garzoni, who lived for a few decades in the historic town of Amedi, in the north of the region, is considered as the father of the Kurmanji language (the other great strain is Sorani) for having published in Rome, in 1787, the first work entitled “Grammar and Vocabulary of the Kurdish Language”.
Appreciation has been received from the local authorities and from the resident Italian community for this additional cultural proposal promoted by our diplomatic representation in Erbil.
