The Secret Life of Language

• Choc-tops and Cassata - Bonus Episode - The Castle: the most quintessential Australian movie with an Italian vibe?

  In this bonus episode of Choc-tops and Cassata, Elisabetta and Mark call on their co-host Santo to justify his bold claim from part 3 of Choc-tops that The Castle – the much-loved classic Australian comedy which he co-wrote – is, in fact, an ‘Italian film’. In this series, Choc-tops and Cassata, part of The Secret Life of Language, hosts Elisabetta Ferrari (Italian Studies Program) and Mark Nicholls (Screen and Cultural Studies) are joined by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro to dig into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne.In making a case for The Castle’s italianità (Italianness), Santo shares memories of the collaborative screenwriting process with Rob Sitch, Tom Gleisner and Jane Kennedy, reminiscing about shooting on a shoestring budget. He recalls how the writers drew directly from their own families to capture those moments of warmth, chaos and loyalty that give this unique film its charm. They discuss the quirkiness of the film’s characters and their ability to delight in life’s small pleasures in an honest and unpretentious way.Santo also reveals why an Italian language version of the film was nearly made but fell over due to one big cultural difference.Choc-tops and Cassata is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series is produced and edited by Elisabetta Ferrari, Alice Garner and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.Choc-tops and Cassata is made with support from ACIS (Australasian Centre for Italian Studies)If you have any stories or info about the Melbourne cinema scene as discussed in the podcast, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

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• Choc-tops and Cassata - Part 4: From vision to legacy: Antonio Zeccola and Italian cinema in Australia

  Antonio Zeccola, founder and owner of Australia’s largest independent cinema chain, Palace Cinemas, joins Santo, Elisabetta and Mark to talk about the early days of running Italian language cinemas in Melbourne. He sheds light on the sourcing, exhibition and distribution of Italian films for suburban cinemas and explores how Melbourne’s cultural landscape was transformed along the way.In this series, Choc-tops and Cassata, part of The Secret Life of Language, hosts Elisabetta Ferrari (Italian Studies Program) and Mark Nicholls (Screen and Cultural Studies) are joined by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro to dig into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne.Antonio shares his back story, including his father’s small theatre and cinema in Naples and his uncle’s prisoner of war experience in Australia, and explains how at nineteen, he came to run his first cinema in Noble Park (the Pix) and later the Metropolitan in Brunswick.He recounts big hits like The Ten Commandments and the comedies of Franco Franchi e Ciccio Ingrassia, competition with other Italian suburban cinemas, the evolution of Palace, the daily challenge of staying afloat financially and his part in the development of film festivals in Australia.Choc-tops and Cassata is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series is produced and edited by Elisabetta Ferrari, Alice Garner and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.Choc-tops and Cassata is made with support from ACIS (Australasian Centre for Italian Studies)If you have any stories or info about the Melbourne cinema scene as discussed in the podcast, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

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• Choc-tops and Cassata - Part 3: Jan Sardi on Italian cinema and Australian screenwriting

  Acclaimed Italo-Australian screenwriter and director Jan Sardi joins the Choc-tops and Cassata team to reflect on how Melbourne’s Italian social and cultural landscape has shaped his work in cinema.In this series, Choc-tops and Cassata, part of The Secret Life of Language, hosts Elisabetta Ferrari (Italian Studies Program) and Mark Nicholls (Screen and Cultural Studies) are joined by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro to dig into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne.Starting with his grandparents’ migration from the island of Elba and experiences on the Queensland canefields, Jan takes us to glamorous floorshows and Hollywood filmstars at Mario’s restaurant in Melbourne, where his father worked. He revisits his childhood obsession with Westerns screened at the Adelphi (now the San Remo Ballroom) and the discovery of Italian stars like Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida. Screenwriter of movies such as Moving Out and Oscar nominated Shine, he also talks about his directorial debut in Love's Brother, his time as a teacher and how one of his high school students, Vince Colosimo, came to be cast in Moving Out.Choc-tops and Cassata is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series was produced and edited by Elisabetta Ferrari, Alice Garner and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.Choc-tops and Cassata is made with support from ACIS (Australasian Centre for Italian Studies)If you have any stories or info about the Melbourne cinema scene as discussed in the podcast, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

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• Choc-tops and Cassata - Part 2: Saturday Nights at the Metropolitan: Melbourne’s Italian Cinema Experience

  Melbourne cinemas provided an invaluable opportunity for the Italian community to gather and speak and hear their language, in a time when very little non-English media was available. When SBS and video came along, everything changed.In this series, Choc-tops and Cassata, part of The Secret Life of Language, hosts Elisabetta Ferrari (Italian Studies Program) and Mark Nicholls (Screen and Cultural Studies) are joined by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro to dig into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne.In this episode of Choc-tops and Cassata, guests Carlo and Giovanni Zeccola invite our hosts to step back into the 1970s and join them on a lively Saturday night at the Metropolitan. Their family ran this Italian language cinema in Melbourne’s inner northern suburb of Brunswick from the late 1960s to the early ‘80s. Patrons rolled up at the grand 1920s-era, 1800-seat theatre dressed in their finest, ordering cassata and orange cordial from a very young Giovanni, who ushered them to their seats.Choc-tops and Cassata is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series was produced and edited by Elisabetta Ferrari, Alice Garner and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.Choc-tops and Cassata is made with support from ACIS (Australasian Centre for Italian Studies)If you have any stories or info about the Melbourne cinema scene as discussed in the podcast, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

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• Choc-tops and Cassata - Part 1: How multicultural movies saved the Melbourne cinema scene

  Italian film nights in 1950's -1970's Melbourne were an excuse for a multigenerational night out. Movie screenings brought places, faces and voices from the old country to a hungry audience. But they also helped save some of Melbourne’s favourite suburban cinemas from demolition.In this series, Choc-tops and Cassata, part of The Secret Life of Language, hosts Elisabetta Ferrari (Italian Studies Program) and Mark Nicholls (Screen and Cultural Studies) are joined by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro to dig into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne.In this episode, we speak with Gus Berger, cinema owner-operator and producer of the documentary The Lost City of Melbourne. Gus explains how suburban cinemas fit into the big picture of Melbourne’s mid-20th-century urban redevelopment and demolition frenzy.The trio discuss cheap rent and architectural marvels, including the Metropolitan Cinema’s space age ticket booth, and bemoan the gap in the photographic archive. We also discuss the impact of the introduction of Television in general, but especially the multicultural public tv network, SBS, launching on to our tv screens in 1979.Choc-tops and Cassata is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series was produced and edited by Elisabetta Ferrari, Alice Garner and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.Choc-tops and Cassata is made with support from ACIS (Australasian Centre for Italian Studies)If you have any stories or info about the Melbourne cinema scene as discussed in the podcast, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

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