OPENING RECEPTION & ARTIST'S TALK Friday, April 20, 2018 | 6:30pm. ON VIEW Tuesday, April 17 - Tuesday, May 15, 2018 - 9:30am-5:00pm - Italian Cultural Institute, 601 Van Ness Ave, Suite F (Opera Plaza), San Francisco. Free Admission | RSVP Required

San Francisco based photographer and filmmaker Lou Dematteis covers issues of social, political and environmental importance around the world. During the '70s he lived and traveled in Italy documenting Italian daily and political life. As one of five brothers and sisters in an Italian American family very proud of its heritage, he grew up listening to the stories told by and about the immigrants.

"I used to love to listen to the stories about Italy and about what it was like for my grandparents and great aunts and uncles when they came to this country," he says. "I really wanted to go to Italy and as soon as I could, I did. When I got there, I felt completely at home." What he saw and experienced led him to begin his career as a professional photographer. With this exhibit, Dematteis presents a series of heartfelt images he took during the period of 1972-1980, during his journey back.

Join Lou for the Opening Reception & Artist's Talk with Italian journalist and author Enrico Deaglio.

San Francisco based photographer and filmmaker Lou Dematteis covers issues of social, political and environmental importance around the world. A former staff photographer for Reuters News Pictures, he began his photo work with his journeys to Italy in the 1970s. His award winning documentary film,Crimebuster: A Son's Search for His Father, a portrait of his his late father, the influential Italian American crime fighter and jurist Louis B. Dematteis, moves from the mountains of Italy and halls of Ellis Island to San Francisco and northern California with its story of immigrants, family, justice and healing.

Enrico Deaglio is an Italian journalist and author. He has been the editor of the daily Lotta Continua and the weekly Diario, and is the author of 18 books dealing with Italian current affairs. His last book, Patria 1967-1977, is a history of that decade. Since 2012, Deaglio has been a San Francisco resident.