The First Dollar (Il Primo Dollaro), the project for Oscar winner Giuseppe Tornatore‘s new film, was unveiled on April 23, by Rai Cinema CEO Paolo Del Brocco in New York at the prestigious annual NIAF (National Italian American Foundation) Gala.
The event was held in the presence of about 700 guests from the United States and Italy, comprising prominent figures from the Italian-American political, financial and cultural arena.
During the Gala evening, Paolo De Brocco illustrated the project dedicated to the figure of Amadeo Peter Giannini, founder of Bank of Italy – later to become Bank of America – and protagonist of one of the most extraordinary stories of the 20th century. An iconic figure for NIAF: to him we owe the modern banking system and a far-sighted vision of banking at the service of the economy. Born in California in 1870, the son of Ligurian emigrants, Amadeo Peter Giannini demonstrated how it was possible to build an enterprise destined to change history while remaining true to a profoundly human idea of progress. He knew how to revolutionize the banking system by putting credit at the service of ordinary people: immigrants, workers, women, families, who had been excluded until then. He loved to repeat that one can never become so great as to forget about ordinary people, a principle that guided his every choice. His life spanned several symbolic moments in American and world history. From the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, when he reopened the bank in the rubble to restore confidence to a wounded city, to decisive support for the birth of the great film industry, financing works by Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney and Frank Capra, to the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. It also financed both the New Deal and the Marshall Plan and contributed to the reconstruction of Europe and Italy after World War II.
“I thank NIAF President Robert Allegrini for inviting us to present this great project.The story of Amadeo Giannini is so extraordinary that entrusted to the hands of a master like Giuseppe Tornatore can only generate great cinema,” said Paolo Del Brocco. An Italian son of immigrants who succeeded in revolutionizing the American banking system, always maintaining a moral consistency that allowed him to keep economic success, social responsibility and attention to the weakest united. I want to thank Simone Gattoni and Marco Bellocchio because this project also stems from the collaboration with a production partner such as Kavac Film, a company that stands out in the Italian industrial system for its quality and its activity in international markets.”
In a video message sent by Giuseppe Tornatore to the Gala audience, the director illustrated the project by focusing on the main points on which he would like to focus in the story of this extraordinary figure. The enthusiasm shown in describing the beginning of this new adventure raised much applause and acclaim and a high degree of interest from the entire audience.
“In such a symbolic year as the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, in which the National Italian American Foundation celebrates the decisive contribution of Italian Americans to the country’s growth, the New York Gala is an ideal opportunity to present The First Dollar, the film dedicated to Amadeo Peter Giannini, one of the most important financiers and philanthropists in American history”-said Robert Allegrini, NIAF president and CEO.
The First Dollar is produced by Simone Gattoni and Marco Bellocchio’s Kavac Film with Rai Cinema.
