Guarini Institute Hosts Screening of "Un Mondo Nuovo"

The 2014 film Un Mondo Nuovo (A New World) directed by Alberto Negrin, narrates the creation of the “Ventotene Manifesto: For a Free and United Europe.” Written by Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi in 1941 when the authors were interned by Italy’s Fascist regime on the island of Ventotene, the Manifesto is considered a milestone for the creation of a united Europe.

The Guarini Institute for Public Affairs hosted a screening of the film on May 9, Europe Day, which marks the anniversary of the ‘Schuman declaration.’  Professor Laura Fasanaro from Roma Tre University introduced the movie, which tells the story of young men and women persecuted by Mussolini’s regime and gives a glimpse into the world of the Fascist dictatorship. Prof. Federigo Argentieri, Director of the Guarini Institute, explained that although the prisons did exist, in Italy they were actually far more humane than the ones in Germany, Spain, Portugal or Russia.

Professor Fasanaro also recalled that the Schuman Declaration led to the creation of the Europe Day celebration on May 9. It was on that day in 1950 that French foreign minister Robert Schuman proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) whose members would conduct free trade for coal and steel production. This declaration laid the foundation for the 28 member-state intragovernmental institution known as the European Union. The ECSC provided more than economic bonding between states. It is indeed the preamble to the Eurozone and EU and was the first step towards creating a lasting peace among Europeans. It was the creation of a diplomatic union, which has had no major civil or humane crises except for the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

(Daniel Brobbey)