Italian culture is often related to pizza, mandolino and La dolce vita. The Commedia all’Italiana has often been chosen as the most representative of the Italian life-style, thanks to the realism and subjectivism that characterizes the Commedia. Nowadays, Italian culture and language is changing and we, as Italian teachers, must be aware of its changes in order to show to our learners a significant picture.

Although the 5 Cs of the ACTFL Standards underline the importance of gaining “knowledge and understanding of other cultures” and the MLA report advocates for transcultural and translingual competence, in lower division language classes, culture is often limited to blurbs in the textbook and it is likely to be the first element omitted due to time constraints.This paper presents an effective way of integrating the use of authentic materials, specifically the 2010 film Benvenuti al sud, in the curriculum of a second semester Italian class.