Italian at UM

On 25 May, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆 came to a close. The aim of this microcredential, offered for the first time by the Department of Italian, was to provide an academically rigorous yet engaging experience, designed especially with an audience beyond undergraduate students in mind. The three lecturers, Dr Glen Bonnici, Dr Fabrizio Foni, and Prof. Gloria Lauri-Lucente, explored, respectively, political terrorism and in particular the so-called 'years of lead', the occult, and the mafia. Following the final lecture, a reception provided the perfect opportunity for students and lecturers to continue their discussions in a convivial atmosphere beyond the classroom walls.
Photographs courtesy of Wilfred Camilleri.

The Department of Italian participated in the International Interdisciplinary Conference "Le metamorfosi nell'età contemporanea (XX-XXI secolo)" in Thessaloniki on 19-20 May 2026!

A fascinating two days exploring metamorphosis through the lenses of language, art, politics, society, and music. Prof. Gloria Lauri-Lucente delivered a keynote on posthumanism, tracing connections from Ovid's 𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 to Cronenberg's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘺, while Dr Glen Bonnici gave a talk on meta metamorphosis in Roberta Torre's film 𝘔𝘪 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪.

Grazie Salonicco! 🇬🇷

Our two events dedicated to Lucio Fulci on the 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙖!

A tribute to Lucio Fulci: two nights of Italian horror and thriller The Department of Italian and the MA in Film Studies at the University of Malta are celebrating the Italian film-maker with a talk and screening on May 7 and 8

On Thursday, 𝟳 𝗠𝗮𝘆 at 𝟲𝗽𝗺, in Room 116 of the Dun Mikiel Xerri Lecture Centre (𝗟𝗖𝟭𝟭𝟲), Msida Campus, photographer Shyla Nicodemi (a.k.a. Shyla N.) will deliver a talk titled 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗰𝗶'𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗻-𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙏𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝘿𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜. This is an unmissable event for all fans of Italian horror, thriller, and genre cinema. The talk is open to the general public.

On Friday 𝟴 𝗠𝗮𝘆 at 𝟵𝗽𝗺, the first Maltese screening of the impeccably restored version of 𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙏𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝘿𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 will take place at Eden Cinemas. This cult film, directed by Lucio Fulci, blends thriller, horror, and social critique. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A session with Shyla Nicodemi, the photographer who restored the rediscovered photographs from the set.
The event is organised by the 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 and the M.A. in Film Studies at the University of Malta, in collaboration with Wicked Comics, the NGO behind the 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗼𝗻, and the independent horror short film festival VIDEO NASTIES! 2026

🎬 Tickets for the 8th May screening of Lucio Fulci’s cult film 𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙏𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝘿𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 are now available online. Book yours now! 💀

Don't Torture a Duckling In the backward village of Accendura, the boy Bruno Lo Casio goes missing and the police inspector and the local commissioner and the village Captain Modesti investigate the case. When his father receives the request of a ransom, the police arrest the local Giuseppe and realize that he is innocent.....

𝙏𝙬𝙤 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙤 𝙁𝙪𝙡𝙘𝙞, 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙄𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧: 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜

Owing to often limited budgets, tight production schedules, and the genres and subgenres he explored, the work of 𝗟𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗼 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗰𝗶 (1927-1996) was long overlooked by critics and academics. For decades, Fulci was regarded, at best, as a resourceful craftsman. Nevertheless, figures such as Quentin Tarantino, Sam Raimi, and Clive Barker – all instrumental in legitimising genre cinema – have consistently expressed admiration for his work. In more recent years, Fulci’s filmography has undergone a significant critical reappraisal, extending well beyond cult audiences and earning a place within university curricula.
Spanning from the late 1950s to the early 1990s, Fulci’s prolific directorial career traversed a wide range of genres, from comedy and parody to spaghetti westerns and adventure films, and even ventures into sword-and-sorcery and postapocalyptic science fiction. However, he is most frequently remembered for his distinctive contributions to horror and thriller cinema.
The 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 and the M.A. in Film Studies, both within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Malta, celebrate Fulci’s visionary and provocative talent through two closely linked events.
The first event will take place on Thursday 𝟳 𝗠𝗮𝘆 at 𝟭𝟴:𝟬𝟬 in Room 116 of the Dun Mikiel Xerri Lecture Centre (𝗟𝗖𝟭𝟭𝟲), Msida Campus. The 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸, entitled “𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗰𝗶’𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗻-𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘿𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙏𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝘿𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜”, will focus on 𝘕𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘢 𝘶𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘰, a 1972 film that blends detective fiction, horror, and sharp social critique, marking a decisive shift towards explicit violence, elements already present in Fulci’s earlier work, but here elevated into a defining stylistic signature.
The talk, which will be delivered by Shyla Nicodemi a.k.a. 𝗦𝗵𝘆𝗹𝗮 𝗡., will offer a historical and thematic overview of Fulci’s cinematic corpus before concentrating on recently rediscovered on-set photographs from Non si sevizia un paperino. These images remained unpublished until last year, when Bloodbuster – a Milan-based bookshop and publishing house devoted to genre cinema – released them in a bilingual Italian-English volume. The more than eighty photographs were meticulously restored by Shyla N. through a rigorous analogue and manual digital process, deliberately avoiding the use of AI tools in order to preserve the material integrity of the original negatives.
The 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 will take place on Friday 𝟴 𝗠𝗮𝘆 at 𝟮𝟭:𝟬𝟬 at 𝗘𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘀 (Paceville, St Julian’s), where for the first time in Malta 𝘕𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘢 𝘶𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘰 will be screened in its newly restored version by Arrow Films, presented in Italian with English subtitles. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Shyla N.
The two events are organised in collaboration with 𝗪𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀, the NGO behind the long-running and widely renowned Malta Comic Con, and VIDEO NASTIES!, a fast-growing local festival dedicated to independent horror short films.
A sound engineer and street photographer with over two decades of experience in both analogue and digital formats, Shyla N. began working with 35mm film at the age of ten under the guidance of her grandfather, Cesare Saska, who had worked at the legendary Barrandov Studios in Prague. Her photographs have been exhibited in both solo and group shows in Milan and Berlin, and have appeared in several publications.

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In the Footsteps of Hugo Pratt: Corto Maltese between Legacies, Ruptures, and Renewal 29 - 30 April 2026

⚓ More details on the 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗲𝘀𝗲 conference here! ⚓

iicvalletta.esteri.it

The conference 𝙎𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙚 𝙃𝙪𝙜𝙤 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙩. 𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙤 𝙈𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙚 𝙝é𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨, 𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙫𝙚𝙖𝙪 / 𝙎𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚 𝙙𝙞 𝙃𝙪𝙜𝙤 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙩. 𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙤 𝙈𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖 𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩à, 𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙤 ('In the Footsteps of Hugo Pratt: Corto Maltese between Legacies, Ruptures, and Renewal') will take place on 𝟮𝟵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟯𝟬 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 in 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗮. On 29 April, sessions will be held from 14:00 to 17:00 at the Italian Cultural Institute (St George’s Square), followed by a second session from 18:00 to 19:30 at Din L-Art Ħelwa (133 Melita Street). On 30 April, the conference will continue from 9:00 to 12:30 at the Italian Cultural Institute.

Although the entirety of Hugo Pratt’s (Ugo Eugenio Prat, 1927-1995) comic-book oeuvre is today rightly regarded as both art and literature, it is undoubtedly the stories featuring Corto Maltese that have most profoundly shaped the collective imagination across several generations. The Franco-Italian conference, organised by Dominique Lanni and Fabrizio Foni (respectively lecturers in the Department of French and the Department of Italian at the University of Malta), aims to explore the legacies, ruptures, and renewals found in the adventures of Europe’s most celebrated comic-strip sailor. Its scope ranges from the cultural influences that informed his creation to the successors who have, in various ways, taken up Pratt’s mantle. As keynote speakers, the conference will welcome two distinguished specialists in Pratt’s work: the French scholar Michel Pierre, an expert in colonial history and comics, and the Italian Laura Scarpa, an author, editor, and lecturer in comics, who heads the association and publishing house ComicOut. The decision to hold this first Maltese conference dedicated to Pratt’s (anti-)hero in the nation’s capital is a fittingly symbolic one: in fiction, the popular character, the son of a sailor from Tintagel, in Cornwall, and a gypsy woman from Seville, was born on 10 July 1887 in Valletta.

The conference is organised with the support of: Ambasciata d'Italia a Malta, Ambassade de France à Malte, Istituto Italiano di Cultura di La Valletta, Din L-Art Ħelwa, as well as the Department of Italian, the Department of French and the M.A. in Film Studies of the University of Malta's Faculty of Arts.

Find below the conference programme!

𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶 𝟮𝟵 𝗮𝘃𝗿𝗶𝗹 / 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗱ì 𝟮𝟵 𝗮𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗲

Istituto Italiano di Cultura – La Valletta
St George’s Square, Valletta

14h00 : Accueil des participants, allocutions de bienvenue de S.E. l’Ambassadrice d’Italie à Malte et de S.E. l’Ambassadrice de France à Malte. Présentation du colloque par Fabrizio Foni & Dominique Lanni / Accoglienza dei partecipanti, discorsi di benvenuto di S.E. l’Ambasciatrice d’Italia a Malta e di S.E. l’Ambasciatrice di Francia a Malta. Presentazione del convegno a cura di Fabrizio Foni & Dominique Lanni

14h30 : Michel Pierre - 𝘜𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦 : 𝘏𝘶𝘨𝘰 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘦𝘵 𝘭’𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘳𝘴

15h15 : Dominique Lanni - 𝘓𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦 𝘭𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 : 𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳é𝘴𝘰𝘳, 𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘻 𝘏𝘶𝘨𝘰 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴

15h45 : Delphine Gachet - 𝘛𝘰𝘱𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘦: 𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘪 𝘥𝘪 𝘶𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘰, 𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢, 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘻𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦

16h15 : Pause.

16h30 : Cédric Perolini – « 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘭 𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘵 » : 𝘶𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘮é 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘰

Din L-Art Ħelwa
133 Melita St, Valletta

18h00 : Tables rondes autour de Hugo Pratt et Corto Maltese. Modérateurs : Fabrizio Foni & Dominique Lanni

19h30 : Apéritif offert par l’Ambassade de France à Malte

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𝗚𝗶𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱ì 𝟯𝟬 𝗮𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗲 / 𝗝𝗲𝘂𝗱𝗶 𝟯𝟬 𝗮𝘃𝗿𝗶𝗹

Istituto Italiano di Cultura – La Valletta
St George’s Square, Valletta

9h00 : Laura Scarpa – 𝘓𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘯 è 𝘶𝘯’𝘢𝘷𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢 (𝘮𝘢 𝘭’𝘢𝘷𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦)

9h45 : Mariano D’Anza & Fabrizio Foni – 𝘔𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘦 𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯 “𝘍𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘢 𝘥𝘪 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘻𝘪𝘢” 𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦: 𝘶𝘯𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢

10h15 : Pausa / Pause

10h30 : Ġorġ Mallia – “𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭”: 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴

11h00 : Adolfo Fattori – 𝘏𝘶𝘨𝘰 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢 𝘥𝘪 (𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦) 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘦. 𝘜𝘯𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘭’𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘰: “𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢”, “𝘓’𝘖𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢”, “𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘯”

11h30 : Stefano Cristante – 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢, 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘢 𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘨𝘪𝘢 𝘥𝘪 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘻𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘦

12h00 : Tavola rotonda e discussione con Ada Natale / Table ronde et échange avec Ada Natale

12h30 : Pranzo di chiusura al Café Jubilee / Déjeuner de clôture au Café Jubilee (125 St Lucia’s Street, Valletta)

Pomeriggio / Après-midi : Sulle tracce di Corto Maltese a La Valletta / Sur les traces de Corto Maltese à La Valette