Great Beauty wins an Oscar – After 15 years, an Academy Award for Italy, a country with a running subscription for this kind of prize, having been awarded several Oscars through the years for best foreign film (El Pais – Italia, un país abonado al Oscar). On March 2 and 3, news of the award to The Great Beauty made the rounds of the international press, from the US (Washington Post – ‘Great Beauty’ wins best foreign language Oscar; New York Times – Oscars 2014: Winners and Losers) to Brazil (O Globo – ‘A Grande Beleza’, da Itália, ganha Oscar de filme estrangeiro), Spain (El Pais – El Oscar corona a ‘La gran belleza’), Belgium (Le Soir – « La musique de la démocratie, c’est la peur ») and China (Global Times –Italian film The Great Beauty wins Oscar for best foreign language film). Along with news of the Oscar, papers also quoted Paolo Sorrentino. The Argentinian paper Clarin reported on the director’s statement that one source of inspiration was Diego Armando Maradona (Con dedicatoria a Maradona, el Oscar a la película en idioma extranjero se fue para Italia), while, in an interview a few days before the ceremony, Sorrentino told the Wall Street Journal about some of the film’s secrets, underlining that Italy is a perfect place for inspiration ” (February 28 – Director Paolo Sorrentino on Film and the Oscars | 20 Odd Questions). Finally, the spotlight fell on the movie’s real star, Roma, a city undergoing changes that were explained by Bloombuerg Businessweek (March 3 – Rome’s Oscar Triumph and the Way Cities Change (or Don’t).
Culture: from tourist attractions to the Futurists – Rome remained in center stage with suggestions for tourists published in The Times with an interactive map for visitors (March 2 – Ultimate cities: Rome * ). There were also ideas for a child-sized vacation in Lucca (The Times,March 1 – Lucca: Tuscany for toddlers and their families*) (February 28 – Renaissance villas in Veneto, Italy) and Veneto, with the Financial Times proposing a tour of the Renaissance villas in the region (February 28 – Renaissance villas in Veneto, Italy). And while culinary culture was also touched on (New York Times, March 5 –Butternut Squash Polenta With Sausage and Onion), Time browsed through Italy’s artistic history, with an article on the exhibit on the Futurists at the Guggenheim of New York (March 10 edition – The Guggenheim Goes Back to the Futurists).
Italian fashion from Milan to Paris – High interest in Italian fashion continued with a synthesis of the events of Milan Fashion Week. The Financial Times wrote on the trends seen on the catwalk (February 28 –Womenswear trends in Milan?), while the Wall Street Journal ran a piece on how new designers brought new allure (February 28 – Young Designers Bring Sexy Spirit to Milan Fashion Week *). Instead, the New York Times described the Valentino collections shown in Paris (March 5 – Valentino Goes Italian Pop), while – again in the French capital – Le Monde discovered Alessia Xoccato, the talented Italian creator who is still unknown in France (March 5 – Alessia Xoccato, architecte textile à l’italienne). And while L’Express dedicated a piece on Italian jewelry that sparkles across borders (February 28 – La joaillerie italienne, riche en héritage),the Financial Times reported on the recent investment of Blackstone in the capital of Versace and how that demonstrates the interest the funds have in the luxury goods sector (February 28 – Versace deal highlights appeal for buyout groups).
The economy – The foreign press also wrote about economic news. The Brazilian Valor Economico reported on a record drop in BTP rates (February 28 – Itália atrai forte demanda e paga juros baixos em leilão de títulos), and the Chinese Global Times ran an article on future Italian investments in Iran’s mining industry (March 2 Iran woos Italian investment to boost mining sector).
There was news from the automotive world, with papers talking about the new jeep to be manufactured in Italy by Fiat-Chrysler (Bloomberg, 3 – Jeep Baby Has Italian Accent in Fiat-Chrysler Merger Test), and the record sales of Ducati in 2013 (Expansion, February 28 – Ducati bate récord de ventas en 2013).
There were interviews on economic themes. ENI’s president Giuseppe Recchi explained to El Pais his strategy to relaunch investments and jobs in Europe (28 – “En Europa hay que acortar el tiempo de decisión de los jóvenes sobre sus estudios”), and Massimo Banzi told the Spanish paper about the application of Arduino, the platform developed at Interaction Design Institute di Ivrea, an instrument for designers and entrepreneurs (February 28 – Banzi: “Las grandes empresas están desconectadas de la realidad”).
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