The Italian-American Political & Moral Bocce Club of Paradise Funds the Documentary Film Baci Bocce!!!

Joseph Sciorra (February 12, 2011)

A frame from Guido Anselmi’s film "BACI BOCCE!!!"

While other organizations complain incessantly about negative media images of Italian Americans, the Italian-American Political & Moral Bocce Club of Paradise is taking the lead in cultural philanthropy.

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The Italian-American Political & Moral

Bocce Club of Paradise*

is proud to announce Guido Anselmi’s new documentary film

BACI BOCCE!!!: How a Humble Game from Italian Mountain Villages, Coastal Towns, and Urban Borghi Traveled the Globe to Capture the Hearts and Minds of Just about Everybody

The Italian-American Political & Moral Bocce Club of Paradise believes that it is not enough to simply be outraged about negative images you also have to dish out the scarole. That’s why the IAP&MBCofP established the Gerardo L. Colonna and Catherine C. Balotta Grant to fund films celebrating the positive political and moral attributes of bocce. The first recipient of this prestigious grant, Guido Anselmi, has completed a fantastic film Baci Bocce!!!.

IAP&MBCofP President Enrico Conti said, “Baci Bocce!!! will finally show that not all bocce players are criminals but that doctors, lawyers, and judges also play bocce and enjoy it.”

The film is narrated by none other than His Most Reverend Eminence Father Guido Sarducci, world-renowned bocce master and creator of the now classic “Calabrian Grip” technique. Professor Vanessa Longo-Murphy of Montclair State University, who served as the film’s academic consultant, explains why bocce is morally a better game than pétanque.

"An Italian Summer Resort" on Staten Island, N.Y., Harper's Weekly, August 6, 1892.

BACI BOCCE!!! depicts how our poor ancestors came to this country thinking the bocce courts were paved with gold, only to realize that there were no bocce courts and they had to build them. The political history of bocce is also revealed, with a look at the great anarcho-syndicalist bocce leagues, the FBI’s secret war against bocce as un-American, and those courageous bocce players who joined the OSS to help Italian partisans combat the Nazis.

Director Guido Anselmi has included a delightful segment of Great Moments of Bocce in Film, with scenes from The Black Orchid (1955) and The Brotherhood (1968).

The IAP&MBCofP hopes this important new film will help achieve everyone’s dream of seeing bocce made an officially recognized Olympic sport. VIVA BACI BOCCE!!!

Remember the Italian-American Political & Moral Bocce Club of Paradise’s motto:

Se ‘ng n’amma sci, sciam’nninn, se non ‘ng n’amma sci, non ‘ng’n sciam scenn.

Organizing Committee:

President: Cav. Rust. Enrico Conti, J.C.D., Mech.E.

Vice-President: Veronica M. Sciuè, D.S.S.c., D.M.V.

Secretary: KaNèesha Leilani al-Jamil-O’Neil née Yamaguchi, Esq.

Treasurer: Chickie Santo Janni di Gianola

President, Men’s Auxiliary: Filomena Dobbins

Mondo Bambini Bocce League: Dr. Mary Plaza, D.M.V.

Honorary Academic Consultant: Professor Vanessa Longo-Murphy (Montclair State University)

*Not affiliated with the Italian-American Political & Moral Bocce Club of Paradise of Philadelphia.

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