Perlasca, An Italian Hero

What makes a man risk his life for people he doesn’t know? Perlasca, an Italian Hero is a taut drama about one man’s remarkable courage in saving 5,200 Hungarian Jews from deportation to Auschwitz. This account of an Italian’s resistance to fascism is based on the true story of Giorgio Perlasca (dynamically played by Luca Zingaretti), a businessman who masqueraded as a Spanish diplomat in Budapest at the end of World War II. Perlasca was consumed by moral outrage after witnessing the persecution of Jews in Budapest. An Italian fascist during the Spanish Civil War, he happened to be in Hungary during the Nazi persecution of Jews in and was able to use his fascist background as an entree to the Spanish Embassy. Perhaps as drawn to outwitting the Nazis as he was to saving the Jews, Perlasca displayed extraordinary courage and cunning in outmaneuvering the Germans, and even thwarting a last-minute plan to burn down the Budapest ghetto along with its inhabitants. Italian scholar Millicent Marcus comments about Perlasca, an Italian Hero, “Not only does Negrin’s film exemplify Italy’s recent willingness to confront Holocaust history, but it adds another element to that difficult confrontation. Giorgio Perlasca was an ardent Fascist. . . . In proposing Perlasca as un eroe Italiano, the film invites viewers to consider this man’s strange yoking of Fascism and heroic humanitarianism, with all of the challenges that such a coupling poses for a study of postwar national identity.” In 1988, Giorgio Perlasca was found living modestly in Padua by some of the Hungarian women he had saved. In 1989, Perlasca was awarded the Grand Golden Star of Hungary and a Medal of Honour from the state of Israel that declared him “Just Among the Just.” He died in Padua in 1992.

From 2008 Festival: Director, Italy Born in Casablanca in 1940 to parents who had fled Fascist Italy. He returned to Italy straight after the war, followed the arts option at school and then studied philosophy at Milan University. Fascinated by photography, he worked in that field for a number of publications. In 1962, after a little theatrical experience, he joined Milan's "Piccolo Teatro" where he worked as an assistant director for Strehler, Costa and Puocher. From 1965 until the present day, he has staged many productions at the "Piccolo," including: 1965 Atomo, storia di una scelta 1966 Il bandito 1967 Sentite, buona gente, Peppino Marotto, poeta orgoles (documentary film) 1969 Colui the dice di si e colui the dice di no Operai (film for the Piccolo) 1972 Interrogatorio alla Avana In 1968, he started directing for television where his works include: 1968 Plateroy yo by Jimenez Inchieste televisive in America Latina 1969 Il gatto con gli stivali Inchiesta televisiva in Spagna; Inchiesta sugli studenti 1970 Kennedy contro Hoffa 1971 La rosa bianca (commendation at the Prague TV Festival) Astronave Terra La risposta di Peppino Manca 1972 Racket Lungo il fiume e sull'acqua 1973 Il Picciotto ("Gran Giallo" Prize from the City of Cattolica) 1974 L'Olandese scomparso, three-part film 1975 L'assassinio di Rafaele Sonzogno, two-part TV serial 1976 Mayakowskji, two-part TV serial La spia del regime, two-part TV serial 1977 Il delitto di Nolarbartolo, three-part film Volontari per destinazione ignota, feature and TV film presented at festivals in Taormina, San Sebastian, Paris, Malaga, Valladolid, Hyeres (commendation) 1978 Enigma rosso, feature film with Fabio Testi Comando ultra curva sud, an hour with the stadium guys following the killing of a supporter at the Roma-Lazio game. 1979 La promessa, based on the tale by Durenmatt: two-hour film (Montreal, Chicago, Singapore, Salsomaggiore and Sorrento Festivals) 1980 Bambole: scene di un delitto perfetto, three-part TV serial Le multinazionali, three-hour investigative documentary around the world 1982 La quinta donna, three-part film, starring Klaus-Maria Brandauer (Best Director Prize 1983) 1985 Mussolini and I, Emmy Nomination for Best World TV Programme, Acc Award for Best Cable TV Programme USA 1988 The Secret of the Sahara, 6 hours (Prizes for Best TV Film and Best Director, Critics' Award, 1988) 1989 Voyage of Terror: the Achille Lauro Affair, 3 hours 1991 A Private Affair, film for RAIUNO (based on the novel by Beppe Fenoglio) 1994 Missus 1999 The Sands of Time 2001 Nana II coraggio di un uomo giusto. Storia di Giorgio Perlasca