The Mayor of Sorrento Massimo Coppola will inaugurate the 28th edition of the Premio Penisola Sorrentina (Sorrento Peninsula Award) together with its godmother Giuliana De Sio, to whom he will present the lifetime achievement award for this special tribute to the Mediterranean poet
Sorrento, October 13th, 2023 – The appointment is one of great occasions when exponents of culture, cinema and live entertainment will arrive in Sorrento from all over Italy, but also from Europe and the United States to inaugurate the 28th edition of Sorrento Peninsula Award.
The opening evening will feature mainly young people, thanks to the synergy initiated with the Department of Political Sciences of the Vanvitelli University of Campania.
A moment of great importance is the special tribute to Rocco Scotellaro produced by Luna Nuova directed by Gianluigi Esposito which will accompany the reading by the actress Giuliana De Sio, dedicated to the peasant poet, mayor of Tricarico, whose 100th anniversary this year marks birth and 70 years after death.
Scotellaro was a politician, poet, essayist. He was also involved in cinema, collaborating with Carlo Levi and working on films such as Sulla strada di Carbonara (On the street of Carbonara) (November 1947) and (Fires of San Pancrazio) (1951-1952). As early as 1942 he collaborated with the Lucanian periodical Potenza fascista (fascist power) with articles on cinema and discussed with his friend Alfredo Pieroni, owner of a column on “cinemagazzino”.
The homage to Scotellaro is connected to the special Mezzogiorno e Mediterraneo (Southern and Mediterranean) project that the Premio Penisola Sorrentina (Sorrento Peninsula Award) has launched from this year until 2025, which will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the prestigious national recognition.
Gianluigi Esposito, president of Luna Nuova which produces the reading proposed in Sorrento, focuses on the poetics of the lyrical moment in which he will be the protagonist together with Giuliana De Sio – honorary prize winner of the evening:
“The South is a non-geographical but sentimental identity. You can be from the South in any North of the world. We are honored with Giuliana to participate in this event, which places the South front and center in a Mediterranean context“, states the artist and cultural operator.
