Monday, February 3, 2014

Case Study No. 1214: Camilla Delibris

Prelude to a Film - Part 3
2:41
Shot entirely in Poughkeepsie, New York, this documentary introduces the novel "The Lively Life of Camilla Delibris, the Librarian" by local writer Nives Cappelli, writing under her pen name Nivessa Rovedo Hatsley. It's a unique novel in that the central character, romantic Camilla, asks the readers to help her choose the right man from among the three now in her life: one from Brooklyn, one from Rome, Italy, or for her just to stay put in the New Pastures Public Library with a soldier in a painting. The story captures the city's past and present in a realistic and entertaining way. Subjects and topics as different as the French and Indian War, the successive waves of immigrants who came here, its fancy Victorian architecture, fine dining venues, and the crisis facing the modern public library that appear in the book are vividly projected in this documentary. This "Prelude" will delight our diverse residents and visitors alike with sights to be seen and issues to be pondered, and will be of great benefit to the community towards the ultimate goal of making a film of the novel that will inspire cultural tourism.
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Added: 4 months ago
From: Nives Cappelli
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[scene opens with various shots of Poughkeepsie taken with a handheld camera, then ends on a closeup of the book "The Lively Life of Camilla Delibris" sitting on the sidewalk]
NIVES: [from off camera] Day One Hundred, D-Day! Decision Day ... Camilla puts her lively life in the New Pastures Public Library on her website, and asks the readers' help to choose from the three choices she has. The novel ends with Camilla's words, at the end.
[the camera pans up to show the outside of the Adriance Memorial Library]
NIVES: [from off camera] "Please vote. It is for the remainder of my life, but in some ways it is for yours too, now that you've read me. Remember on the internet, no one is an island entire of itself. We are all part of this great global communication vehicle. So, do not ask for whom this website is designed, for it is designed for thee."
[she pauses]
NIVES: [from off camera] Dear viewers, this is Nivessa Rovedo Hatsley, saying thank you for watching this labor of mine. And it's, uh, August the Fourth, Twenty-Twelve, and help Camilla choose.

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From amazon.com:

The Lively Life of Camilla Delibris, the Librarian
Paperback: 90 pages
Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (December 18, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0595420036
ISBN-13: 978-0595420032

Funny and poignant this story about a historic public library as told by the newly-hired librarian, Camilla Delibris. Built to look like a Roman temple in the early 20th Century in a city of Victorian mansions on the Hudson River, the library is struggling to remain open as a place of silence for the borrowing and reading of books. Or, change to meet the needs of the 21st Century. The retiring, controlling director, Katherine Van Velt, whose wealthy ancestors built the library, wants no change. The new director does. A feeling of insecurity is everywhere. Mary, the older and bitter librarian keeps telling Camilla that the library is doomed to close, made obsolete by high technology. What is Camilla to do, stay at a profession she loves even though the patrons come in less for books and more for video cassettes and to get on the computer. Even to sleep. The teen-agers keep playing video games while talking loudly on cell phones. And ask her for dates. A passing patron, sexy-looking Massimo, invites her to fly with him to Rome. Camilla does have a choice. She can marry Chris, of the famous Italian restaurant in Brooklyn and hopefully live happily forever, among Italian songs and great Italian food. But she does so love the historic public library! She cannot make up her mind. Therefore, Camilla puts her story on a website and asks the readers for help in choosing the rest of her life.

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