Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi’s three documentaries to date – Improvvisamente l’inverno scorso (Suddenly, Last Winter, 2009), Italy: Love it, or Leave It (2011) and What is Left? (2014) – reflect on some of the critical challenges of today’s Italian society, from the country’s backward civil legislation preventing LGBTQ rights to the poor working conditions and opportunities for youth, women and immigrants, to the transformation and disorientation of leftist politics. At the center of all three projects is the experimentation with an inventive and innovative cinematic style testifying a renewed interest in documentary genre in Italian cinema.

Lecture by guest speaker Clarissa Clo from San Diego State University.