ARTISTIC DIRECTOR'S NOTE

This film festival demonstrates that in order to invade the world, the only weapons needed are a strong sense of community and a flexible and receptive culture.

Following the success of The Weird Mob Film Festival 2005, FILEF (Federation of Italian Migrant Workers and their Families) is proud to announce The Weird Mob 2, The Italian Invasion screening from 4-9 June 2007. This year The Weird Mob has evolved with a new international flavour and continues to embrace the Italian diaspora around the world.

Italian migration is a weird phenomenon.

Since the 1860s, over 30 million Italians have moved into practically every corner of this planet in search of a better life. Over a span of 140 years, 18 million Italians settled abroad, by choice or by necessity. Many others eventually returned home.
Even today, amongst the countries of the European Union, Italy has the highest number of emigrants: about four million.
This phenomenon is certainly "weird", or extraordinary, not only for its enormous scope but also for the way Italians were able to integrate, without too many apparent problems, within all the social realities that they "invaded".
Many things have been said of the Italian migrants, in all latitudes. They are seen as humble and undemanding, tireless workers, thrifty, communicative, flamboyant but also rowdy. Italians have also been called intrusive, turncoats, swindlers and even Mafiosi. One thing is certain, however, from North America to Oceania, from Northern Europe to South America and even through Africa, the Italians have been providing a tangible contribution to the creation and evolution of modern civilizations.

The selection of films being presented in this second edition of The Weird Mob is, in fact, only a selection. We consider The Weird Mob 2 a launching pad, with a view of looking more exhaustively into this phenomenon from the cinematic point of view in the coming years.

The characters portrayed in the films are sometimes amusing, at other times tragic. They are often genuine. Always dramatic. We Italians like drama - if it's not there, we are able create it from even the most banal scenario.
The Italian spirit makes for great filmmaking.

Buona Visione. See you at the movies.