Award-winning Italian film has local tie
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STEUBENVILLE -- When Carmine Pate talks about his father, he proudly points to the numerous movie roles he has had during a career in the film industry that has spanned more than 50 years.
"He got his first break in films when he was cast in the early 1970s in a film called 'The Godfather,'" Carmine said while discussing his dad, Salvatore Pate.
Since that first appearance, the elder Pate was a part of hundreds of films and television shows before making the move to the production side of the industry. Tri-State Area residents will have the opportunity to see an example of his work this week when the film "The Value of Life" is screened at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Main Branch of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County.
Carmine Pate will offer a short presentation about his father's career and the history of the film's production prior to the showing. It will mark the U.S. premiere screening of the film.
Written and produced by Salvatore Pate and directed by Carlo Fusco, the film tells the story of a man whose life is transformed by events that challenge his faith and values. The film, which will be shown with subtitles, has received numerous awards, including the Award of Merit for feature film and direction at the Accolade Competition; the best actor award for Sergio Roveto at the Terra di Siena Film Festival; the best drama (Fusco), best poster (Rusty Apper), best production (Pate) and best original score (Maria Sicari) at the Five Continents International Film Festival; and honorable mention for narrative feature (Fusco) at the Hollywood Independent Filmmaker Awards and Festival.
The idea for the film, explained Carmine, a Steubenville resident, came to his father more than seven years ago, shortly after he had produced his first feature film, "The Cross and the Star (La Croce e la Stella)." Written and directed by Salvatore Lo Piano, the film offers a look at a Catholic priest and his search for answers after discovering he is a forgotten child of the Holocaust. It's based on the untold story of the Italian concentration camp in Ferramonti that saved thousands of Jews during World War II.
"That was in 2019, and that was a proud moment for him," Pate said of his father. "He received an endorsement from the Vatican for that one, and he got the red-carpet treatment at the Italian Parliament to show the film.
"Not bad for a farmer," Pate continued. "James Cameron, who directed, wrote and co-produced 'Titanic,' was a truck driver -- my dad's a farmer. I'm seeing a pattern here, from nothing to something. It was about at this time that my dad revealed to me a script that he had written years ago, probably based on his life, called 'Il Valore Della Vita,' or 'The Value of Life.'"
Pate explained that at that time, his father, who lives in Italy, was trying to work his way through the politics of the film business and asked Carmine to look at the script. After he read it, he told his father that the concept and title were good, but the ending would require special effects, which would come at a financial cost and add production time that was not needed for the first film.
"Without spoiling it too much, the ending is a battle between good and evil," said Pate, who grew up in Brooklyn and studied film at the University of Central Florida. "I told him, 'Pop, listen up: Let's see if we can sell the first movie first. Then, if we have the millions to make this one, count me in. I'll quit my job and I will help you. We can work on the script, because I wrote a couple of scripts in college.'"
COVID-19 put the project on hold -- until 2024, when Carmine received a call from his father saying he was ready to make the film.
"I said he probably didn't have the money for this, and he said, 'Well, I waited too long and I am not getting any younger,'" Carmine Pate remembered. "That's true, but we didn't have the budget, at least not in the way I read the script. Now, maybe he had a different version, but I didn't ask. And I was worried because he needed heart surgery again for a pacemaker.
"Making movies, even when you have all of the money, is stressful, but if you don't have all of the money, it's very stressful," he added.
The younger Pate needed surgery, too, for a hernia, at the same time, which limited his ability to travel.
"He said something like, 'I have to do this -- have faith in God.' I said, 'You're going to need it.' So, I thought that the best thing for me to do was just to stay out of his way and say a little prayer to the boss."
Carmine said when he saw the trailer for the film in May 2025 and heard his father's voice as the voice of God, his thoughts about the ending changed.
"I'm like, you know, this might actually work," he said. "When I saw the whole film, I almost cried. I was wrong -- he was right. I don't think my version of the film with special effects, the Hollywood spectacle, the violence in the good vs. evil battle, was needed. There's enough violence in the world. I think it's quite sufficient -- we don't need to add to it. I think we can imagine a battle visually in our mind between good and evil."
Technology, in fact, was kept to a minimum, Pate said, adding that the only really high-tech thing used was the drone that was able to capture the beauty of the hills in the area surrounding Belmonte Calabro in Southern Italy, where the entire production was filmed.
Pate thanked Jennifer Cesta, the public relations coordinator for the library system, for helping to arrange the screening. Seating will be limited to 50 people, and reservations can be made in person at the library, located at 407 S. Fourth St., or by calling (740) 282-9782.
"I think it will make people think, what does it mean to be human? How do you define the value of life and how, exactly, would you define pro-life? What exactly does that mean? It's basically a movie about a series of events that aren't good and that make a man question his faith in humans and in God. It leads up to the climax, without the special effects, where it's a traumatic event that's horrifying, but there's no physical violence," Pate explained.