Nov. 1, 2022 2:30 (virtual event) – to receive the Zoom link please write to Dr. Teresa Fiore at fiorete@montclair.edu
Conversation with Zach Baliva, Director of the Documentary Potentially Dangerous: When It Was a Crime To Be Italian
Potentially Dangerous: When It Was a Crime To Be Italian is a documentary about the little-known experience of discrimination of Italians in the U.S. during WWII: declared “Enemy Aliens” in 1942 due to the lack of U.S. citizenship, they were subject to curfews, banned from their workplaces, evacuated from their homes and communities, and even placed in internment camps.
Produced by John Turturro, the documentary won the won the 2021 Russo Brothers Italian American Film Forum Prize and the 2022 Best Documentary Award at the Ferrara Film Festival.
Zach Baliva started his career working for the writers and producers of the hit TV show ER. He left to produce My Name is Jerry, the feature film that gave Steven Yeun (Minari) his first on-screen role. Baliva traces his roots to Italy’s Abruzzo region and has lived and worked in Rome and Venice.
After an in-class screening in ITAL 262 Italian Americans in Film taught by Dr. Teresa Fiore (the screening is not open to the public), director Zach Baliva will have a virtual conversation with the class over Zoom based on pre-prepared questions and comments developed by the students (the Zoom conversation will be accessible to the larger public: to receive the Zoom link please write to Dr. Teresa Fiore at fiorete@montclair.edu).
- Organized and sponsored by the Inserra Endowed Chair In collaboration with the Italian Program (Dept. of World Languages and Cultures) at Montclair State University.