Filmmaker Michael Cavalieri doesn’t want to make just another movie.  The passionate and proud Italian American, whose career as an actor spans three decades, decided he had had enough of the stereotypical “Italian tough guy” roles that his sharp looks and New York City upbringing seemed to encourage Hollywood producers to type cast him for. 

With a grant from the Russo Brothers Italian American Film Forum, he decided to make his own film… one that might honor his Sicilian ancestors. On this week’s episode of the Italian American Podcast, we’ll sit down with Michael to discuss that labor of love, his new short film “Ritornato,” which is based on a true story and shot entirely on location in Limina, Sicily, the town where Cavalieri’s grandfather, Agatino, was born.