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Documentary by William Paterson University Professor Vince Parrillo Selected for Golden Door International Film Festival, Jersey City to be Shown on September 25

--Documentary chosen from more than 500 entries in highly competitive film festival

Paterson, NJ circa 1870, three-way intersection of Main Street, Broadway, and West Broadway looking north up West Broadway (then known as West Street)

Paterson and Its People, a documentary by William Paterson University sociology professor Vince Parrillo, has been selected for the Golden Door International Film Festival in Jersey City, which runs from September 22 to 25, 2016. The film will be shown on Sunday, September 25, as the third of four films in Block 57 starting at 1:30 p.m. at Saint Peter's University, Pope Lecture Hall, 115 Glenwood Avenue, Jersey City.

Parrillo’s documentary was chosen from more than 500 entries in this highly competitive film festival that typically attracts more than 12,000 people in attendance.

Paterson and Its People explores the changing demographics of Paterson, New Jersey, from its pre-European history as the home of the Lenape tribe to its present-day diversity. The city has evolved from a population of native Lenape Indians to a settlement for English and French immigrants and has continued with recent influxes of Hispanic and Middle Eastern populations. The film debuted in 2015 and also won a PBS television documentary award.

Parrillo served as author, narrator and co-producer on the film with Jaroslaw Ziaja as co-producer and editor. Rhoderick Holliday, video production coordinator, Instruction and Research Technology at William Paterson University, served as the associate producer and production manager on the project. Passaic County Historian Edward A. Smyk also served as consultant. The documentary was produced with support from the William Paterson University Alumni Association.

Parrillo has written and produced three additional award-winning PBS television documentaries: Gaetano Federici: The Sculptor Laureate of Paterson (2013), Smokestacks and Steeples: A Portrait of Paterson (1992) and Ellis Island: Gateway to America (1991). He has authored two historical novels, Guardians of the Gate and Defenders of Freedom, and many journal articles.

The Golden Door International Film Festival was founded and is run by the prestigious Sorvino acting family – with both Mira Sorvino and Paul Sorvino on the board – and with acclaimed actor Bill Sorvino, the festival’s founder, and wife Michele Sorvino, the executive director.