▸ Project coordinators
Silvia Dogliani
Italian photojournalist
Passionate about travel, the Middle East, and the Arab world. She now lives between Milan and New York City, tomorrow who knows. In 2011, she conceived the project FocusMéditerranée, for which she writes about migrations and current events. She curates the column “Reflections“, observing the world from a different perspective; from Paris, she wrote Le Bistrot parisien: a meeting place in the City of Light where discussions revolve around what is happening in France. She earned degrees in Photography and in Political Science. Her photojournalism work has taken her all over the world (China, Vietnam, North Korea, Africa, Chile, India, Middle East…) and her pictures have appeared in numerous magazines in several countries, including Switzerland, France, Belgium, and Egypt. She lived in different countries such as the United States, Switzerland, Egypt (where she published the book Egypt Unexpected), Belgium, France, Singapore, and United Arab Emirates. www.silviadogliani.com
Hossam Rezk
Egyptian enterpreneur
Hossam Rezk was a young Egyptian entrepreneur who unexpectedly left us on 2022. In Cairo, where he used to live, he developed and coordinated the project FocusMéditerranée in Egypt and North Africa.He believed in the “keep growing younger” motto. He was born and raised in Alexandria, and since childhood he was a fond of TV and street advertisements, recalling tons of memorable smart adverts. Hossam’s career commenced in the tourism industry and moved then to the advertising sector. His passion for effective advertising made him pursue and attain one of his proudest achievements, the startup of Agenzia Italiana back in 1998, a communication agency. He left his wife and daughter and we will miss him very much.
▸ Web design and Press office
Press office
Write to [email protected] to receive informations or send your proposals. Help us to improve FocusMéditerranée with your suggestions.
▸ Redazione
Aziza al Karima
Pseudonym of a young Sicilian woman transplanted in Milan
She studied music and ancient literature and then converted to journalism. Fascinated by the “Middle” and the “Near” East, she has been searching for the “right man”, without great results. Until she met “him”, a firmed Arab and Muslim. To those who ask her: “Who made you do so?” she replies: “Time will tell!”. For FocusMéditerranée she writes the microblog Aziza’s diary: her personal experience and her daily difficulties of dating an Arab man.
Giulia Aubry
Journalist, expert in communication for social change in the areas of crisis and lecturer in the field of communication for civilian and military missions abroad
Curious, loves to travel and reading, always looking for an explanation, knowing that she will never find it. For FocusMéditerranée she has two colums: Guerre e paci (wars and peaces), an analysis of social change in crisis areas with personal experience in the field and MedMedia, a global Mediterranean sea, where words, images and cultures move on radio, tv waves and, above all, through the web. She has been socio-political advisor in the mission Leonte-Unifil in Lebanon and, as a military sociologist, has done research in the field of international missions NATO-Kfor in Prizren in Kosovo, EU-Althea in Mostar, in Bosnia, Unifil in South Lebanon and Eufor Chad-RCA. She also participated in the training of civilian and military personnel in Iraq and Albania. Her publications include Complex humanitarian emergencies: a new role for the Mass Media; The global instability and European security: new response strategies; Encounter with the other in the Balkan theater, Work and Leisure in the perspective of the Italian military.
Laura Silvia Battaglia
Italian journalist
She never forgets to bring her videocamera, especially when she travels in areas of conflicts (Libya, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Serbia). For FocusMéditerranée she writes in the section Society, covering international news. She works also for the Italian newspaper Avvenire and for the website assaman.info, on Senegalese migrants. She collaborates with the weekly Terre di Mezzo and Left, with the press agency Redattore Sociale, with the radio networks Radio Popolare and In Blue and with the tv channel Rainews24 – https://www.battgirl.info/
Paola De Benedictis
Italian journalist, blogger, performer and poet
While talking about herself, she says she hates the apathetics. For FocusMéditerranée she writes on the sections Society and Silences on subjects that people do not see or prefer to forget. After graduating in communication, with her studies in philosophy and a masters degree in cinema, she started working with the Syndicate of Film Journalists, with the Journal Cinematografo and Filmaker’s magazine. In 2005 she joined the Rai television and works in the programme Report. This is when she got fascinated by the Middle East. She studied Arabic and partecipated to the course on war correspondents journalism organized by Cutuli Foundation. She travelled to Lebanon and Israel. She collaborate with Lietocolle, Perrone, Vitale and Pesa Nervi and currently works at Radio1 information, covering economics and political terrorism.
Paolo Branca
Professor of Arabic language and literature and Islamic studies at the Catholic University of Milan (Italy)
A man of great tolerance and understanding. Always strives for dialogue between Catholic Italy and Islam, against stereotypes and “uninformed” ideological patterns. He is an opinioner of FocusMéditerranée for which he writes The Mediterranean I know: away from stereotypes and clichés, the Mediterranean is rich in elements and nuances that perhaps only a few know. He wrote several books including The Koran (Il Mulino), Introduction to Islam (San Paolo Edizioni), Muslims (Il Mulino), Yalla Italia! The real challenges of integration of Arabs and Muslims in our country (Ed Lavoro), The smile of the crescent. Humor, irony and satire in Arab culture.
Paola Martino
Italian journalist
Passionate about the Arabic language and art. She graduated in Arabic language and culture at the Ismeo of Milan (Italy). For FocusMéditerranée she curates the column People in the section Culture, focusing on artists, exhibitions, events, and global cultural projects, with no borders. To her, in fact, culture is a means to enhance dialogue and mutual understanding, even across the Mediterranean: from Europe to North Africa. She has worked as a radio journalist and now she is the press officer of some foreign artists.
Angelo Redaelli
Photographer of theatrical events
Anyone who try to take away from him the theatre and the photography gets in trouble. He has worked with FocusMéditerranée, together with Valentina Pensato, on the column In scena e fuori scena (in and out of the scene) inside the section Culture. Many famous and contemporary artists have posed in front of his camera. In his pictures, professional dancers and actors bring out new identities, while the body in performance becomes the real player. Currently, he collaborates with many theatres around Milan: Carcano, Ciak, Libero, Tieffe Menotti, Manzoni, Olmetto, Smeraldo. He is also the official photographer of the musical festival at Villa Arconati. – www.angeloredaelli.com https://www.angeloreadaelli.com
Ornella Rota
Giornalista
Currently living in Rome, for ages, she contributed to support the settings of ethical and cultural melting-pot in societies. For FocusMéditerranée she writes the column #WhereAreWeGoing in the section Society. She wrote several books (“L’incantesimo dei tanti mondi”, “Olio, acqua e cotone”, “Mithos. Zorba il Greco”). She translated from French “Letter to an Hebrew friend” by Ibrahim Soussi, the first essay for peace written by a member of Plo.
Norbert Schiller,
American reporter (of Austrian descent)
His motto is: “In every poet there is a warrior and in every warrior a poet”. For FocusMéditerranée, he oversees the column Egypt and the Middle East Past and Present in English: reflections on the Middle East and Egypt, a comparison between past and present. Before returning to the United States, where he currently resides with his family, he lived in North Africa and the Middle East for nearly thirty years (17 in Egypt, five in the United Arab Emirates, three in Lebanon, and two in Tunisia), covering news for AP, AFP, EPA, UPI, Getty Images, Der Spiegel, and the New York Times. Among his published works are A Million Steps: Discovering the Lebanon Mountain Trail, Arak and Mezze: The Taste of Lebanon, Wines of Lebanon – which won the Gourmand Award for Best New World Wine Book 2005 – Spectacular Egypt, and Be Thou There, The Holy Family’s Journey in Egypt.
Valentina Stella
Italian journalist and press officer
Positive by nature: she never loses her smile even in the most difficult challenges. For FocusMéditerranée she writes in the section Migration, comparing data and Italian and European migration laws, and Society, selecting the most interesting stories on the Mediterranean from the foreign press. With a degree in Bioethics at the faculty of philosophy of the University La Sapienza of Rome, she has worked for La Stampa, il Tempo, Radio Radicale, Left, Altri, Agenda Coscioni, Il Settimanale del Molise e La Gazzetta del Molise as well as New Media Manager for NATO. She has joined media tours in Lebanon, Kosovo, Israel, and Palestine and she is now head of the press office of Luca Coscioni Association for freedom of scientific research at the Radical Party. Currently, she is the editorial secretary of Agenda Coscioni and is part of the staff that is in charge of posting on LaStampa.it social networks.
▸ Web design
AndreaiBenedetta
Web designer
No one can ‘fiddle with’ the computer like he does. FocusMéditerranée is his creature: built, dismantled, and then renewed. He deals with both the creative and technical part, always finding solutions that escape the understanding of common people. For over twenty years, he moves with the grace and agility of a feline in the universe of advertising, publishing, and web design.
▸ Collaborators
MICHELA D’AGOSTINI
Italian journalist and writer. Since ever has a passion for writing: when she was 8 years old she made her first self-produced limited edition magazine. She graduated in modern and contemporary Italian literature at La Sapienza University of Rome and specialized in cinema. For FocusMéditerranée she writes in the section Culture, mainly on films of the Mediterranean countries. She has worked for the television and the publishing houses, as a collaborator and then as an author of texts. Currently, she is editor in a publishing house for children.
AMANDA DUNN EUBANKS
American photojournalist. She graduated in journalism from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and works as a photographer in Birmingham, Alabama. For FocusMéditerranée she writes inside the section Society.
INVIATOINTERNAZIONALE
Pseudonym of an Italian commentator, who deals with international relations and institutions. For he writes in the section Society, covering social and global issues. After graduating from the University of law, he has lived and worked in Europe, Middle East and Latin America.
MOHAMED BEN ABDELMALEK
Professor of Arabic. Originally from Tunisia, he has been living and working in Italy for over twenty years and knows the problems of migrants integration. He is “a voice” of FocusMéditerranée for which he wrote the series Tunisia-Italia, andata e ritorno (Tunisia-Italy, round trip): hopes and dreams of a life project, that of Tunisian migrants, who leave their land to reach the “other side”, looking for a future.
PIETRO PIETROMARCHI
Venetian architect, photographer and world traveler. He graduated from the Polytechnic of Milan, a town where he lived and worked for over ten years. He then moved to Ahmedabad, India, where his passion for steam locomotives has started. For FocusMéditerranée he realizes photo reportage from different areas and Countries. He now lives between Brussels and London and, as soon as he can, he runs away, looking for new railways and horizons. – www.pietromarchi.com
Cristiano Bartelloni
Web designer
His computer is his closest friend, accompanying him wherever he goes. He is the original web master of FocusMéditerranée, serving as the creative and technical backbone of our team. Beyond his professional duties, he’s an avid cyclist, frequently seen riding his bike during his free time.”
ALESSANDRA BIN, with Donne verso l’integrazione (women looking for integration);
BEATRICE DINA, with Lettere da Tel Aviv (Letters from Tel Aviv);
ILARIA MAZZACANE, as press officer;
SILVIA ORIGONI, on new trends and lifestyle;
FRANCESCA PACE, on FocusMéditerranée project – lasvoltabuona.wordpress.com;
VALENTINA PENSATO, with In scena e fuori scena (in and out of the scene);
CLAUDIA SPITI, on Culture;
RUTH ROMA, on Society;
GIORDANA MISUL, as press officer.
