Movie Night | The Swing Girls (Italy, 2010)

Swing Girls (Le ragazze dello swing)
Dir. Maurizio Zaccaro | Italy, 2010 | 210 min.

During the Fascist Regime in Italy, three Dutch sisters, Alexandra, Judith and Kitty Leschan, try to make a career as popular singers. After various attempts, thanks to their foreign accent, Cetra, the record company, takes them on. The EIAR (the broadcasting authority of the Fascist regime), which had turned them down at first, reconsiders and takes them on with much higher fees than those offered by its rival company. The girls are obliged to choose the more Italian surname of LESCANO and begin to cut their first records. They become the most popular trio in Italy.

Memorable successes are broadcast far and wide: “C’è un’orchestra sincopata,” “Tulipan,” ” Maramao perché sei morto ” and many others. Because of the Jewish origin of their mother and despite their successes and fame, the Trio is cancelled from all radio programmes and dismissed by the EIAR.

The movie is based on original research by Gabriele Eschenazi, author of Le regine dello swing. Il Trio Lescano: una storia fra cronaca e costume (2010).

The screening will be introduced by dr. Francesco Spagnolo, Curator of The Magnes Collection and Lecturer in the Department of Music at UC Berkeley, an authority in the study of Jewish music in Italy, and a host for Italian National Radio (RAI) in Rome.