This course provides an overview of contemporary Italian cinema from 2001 to the present day.  A range of films and film clips will guide us through an examination of the impact and importance that contemporary Italian cinema has on the history of world cinema and culture. Together, we will discover whether the Italian Cinema of the Third Millennium still has the same impact on world cinema and culture as it had during the age of silent cinema golden age and subsequent eras.  Students will study directors such as Francesca Archibugi, Paolo Sorrentino, Matteo Garrone, Cristina Comencini, Roberta Torre, Andrea Molaioli, Roberto Guadagnino, Giorgio Diritti, Emanuele Crialese, Franco Maresco, Andrea Segre, Giuseppe Piccioni, Maria Sole Tognazzi, and Alice Rohrwacher.