'il Messarggero' tells the story of how a local Italian immigrant connected others to their homeland
A Sharpsburg native is paying tribute to his hometown with a documentary highlighting an Italian American immigrant who brought over more than just luggage with him from Italy.
Pete Ferraro, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker, producer and writer, will premiere his documentary, “il Messarggero” — “The Messenger” — Oct. 1 on WQED.
Ferraro spoke Italian before learning English and grew up surrounded by Italian Americans, many of them first generation Americans.
About a decade ago, Ferraro, 55, discovered more than 100 taped recordings made by his beloved late father Pietro Ferraro and was inspired to produce a documentary about the Italian American community in Sharpsburg.
Pietro Ferraro immigrated in 1966 to Sharpsburg from San Pietro in Guarano, a small village in the Calabria region of Southern Italy.
He brought his recordings with him to share with newly immigrated Italian Americans living in Sharpsburg.
“A simple and selfless act, to help bridge a divide,” Ferraro narrates in his documentary.
More than 50 years later, the gift of Pietro’s recordings continue to touch the lives of Italian Americans, Ferraro said.
“People mostly wrote letters (back then), so this was a unique form of communication,” Ferraro said. “My father recorded all of these people when phones calls were expensive and still rare for many people.”
Ferraro had the tapes professionally digitalized in Baltimore, where he now resides.
“I thought it was an amazing story, and others, especially in the Italian-American community, might find it interesting,” Ferraro said. “I counted 106 voices. He recorded some family, but a lot of friends and average villagers that had relatives in Sharpsburg.”
One of those voices is Sal Pattituci of Aspinwall.
Pattituci appears in a touching scene in the film as he listens to a recording of his late mother-in-law, hearing her voice for the first time in decades.
She had recorded messages for relatives residing in Pittsburgh.
Louis Costanzo, 67, immigrated from San Pietro to Sharpsburg in the early 1960s when he was 8.
He still resides in his childhood home on Spring Way near 10th Street.
Costanzo’s grandparents were the late Louis and Ermina Costanzo of Sharpsburg.
“I just couldn’t believe it. It made me feel good, like a big awwwww. Their voices were exactly how I remembered. I’ll be watching on Oct. 1,” he said. “Everybody is excited to watch the film because of his son bringing it out, and I didn’t know the recordings existed.”
Aspinwall resident Sal Patitucci, 87, immigrated to America when he was 24.
Patitucci grew up with Pietro Ferraro in Italy, and the two continued their lifelong friendship in Pittsburgh, remaining friends until Pietro’s death in 2014.
“It was a nice thing that he did, ” Patitucci said of the recordings.
Ferraro has won 10 Emmys and received more than 20 nominations from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
“It’s such an honor to tell this story in my hometown of Pittsburgh on a station I watched growing up and respect immensely. Pittsburgh is a product of a beautiful and diverse cultural conglomeration from decades of immigrants choosing to make their home here,” Ferraro said.
The airing is at 10 p.m. and is Ferraro’s first feature-length documentary.
Watch a teaser trailer here.
Ferraro recalled fond childhood memories of speaking Italian at home and enjoying large family dinners on Sundays.
The family parish was Madonna of Jerusalem, located at 220 9th St. in Sharpsburg.
Ferraro was baptized there and later baptized his daughter at Madonna of Jerusalem, named after a Catholic church in Guarano.
“There was something special about our parent’s generation — how they took a chance so we kids could have a better life,” Ferraro said.
The documentary was funded by a grant provided by the National Italian American Foundation, The Italian Sons and Daughters of America and Hollywood directing team Anthony and Joseph Russo.
The 63-minute film was screened at numerous film festivals in the U.S. and Italy and won the People’s Choice Award at the Ocean City Film Festival in Maryland.
The broadcast version for WQED has been edited down to 54 minutes.
The documentary touches on a variety of topics and iconic Pittsburgh businesses, such as the H.J. Heinz company, which got its start in Sharpsburg; the Madonna of Jerusalem church and the migration of Italians to Sharpsburg.
Ferraro has more than 30 years in the television and marketing industry.
In elementary school, Ferraro discovered a love of writing and won “Most Creative Award” in the sixth-grade — a proud accomplishment for a young boy who was held back in kindergarten until he mastered more proficient English.
“I had a very encouraging teacher who made me realize I could do something with my creativity,” Ferraro said.
Ferraro graduated from Fox Chapel Area High School in 1986 and earned a degree in communications from Clarion University in 1990.
He has worked in marketing, promotion and branding, and his client list includes celebrities such as Arsenio Hall, Paris Hilton, Jerry Springer and the late Alex Trebek.
“I was charged by our company attorneys to make sure she didn’t do anything on live TV that would get us fined by the FCC. That was a stressful but fun day,” Ferraro said about Hilton.
Working with Alex Trebek was a career highlight.
“He was one of my favorites, just a nice, cool guy,” Ferraro said.
Ferraro still visits Sharpsburg and hopes his film is a testament to the strong friendships among Italian immigrants there that allowed them to survive and thrive in a new land.
“Some of my family, including my mother and older brother, still make their home in Sharpsburg. That was part of my inspiration for the film and a theme that runs through the documentary — the ties that bind us together.”
For more information, visit ilmessaggerodocumentary.com.
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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