Mockumentary 'Joe Baccala Story' Makes Indy Circuit

Michael Kakely is the star of "The Joe Baccala Story." 
A lecturer on Italian Culture at Western New England University has written and directed a "mockumentary"  titled “The Joe Baccala Story,” which focuses on the doings of a 40-something "self-proclaimed wiseguy" who is unmarried and lives at home with his mother, according to a story on masslive.com.

The film is the creation of Rocco A. Mesiti, who holds "a passion for Italian cinema" and is a "fan of directors Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini and Martin Scorsese."

Joey B is no "Marty" (the 1950s film that made a star out of Ernest Borgnine), though, as he has a nice Italian girl he's been dating forever and who very much wants the ring on her finger.

The thrust of the movie is that everyone, including Baccala himself, thinks he is a made member of the Mafia, but he is not.



“He has internalized that idea so much, he believes it, and that’s what makes (the film) funny,” Mesiti said. "But the mockumentary uses humor to call attention to the bigger issues: 40 years of Hollywood and the mass media’s stereotypical portrayal of Italian Americans, pop culture and society’s acceptance of the Mafioso image and those – like Joe Baccala – who take on that identity."

Mesiti of East Longmeadow added: “It’s really a spoof that poses as a documentary, chronicling the life of supposed Connecticut mobster Giuseppe ‘Joe’ Baccala.”

The film’s cast includes about two dozen actors from Connecticut and Massachusetts. The title role is played by Michael Kakely of Springfield.


The 70-minute film premiered at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) in June and was screened as the feature presentation this past Saturday at the New York New Filmmakers Festival.

Mesiti has already made four short films for school projects and also took film courses at New York University. At the same time, he is a pragmatic man, having earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Italian culture from the University of Massachusetts, according to the article. He also holds a doctorate from the University of Connecticut.

“The Joe Baccala Story” has been entered into numerous film festivals and all Mesiti can do is sit back and wait -- or get started on his next project, which is what most writing books advise.

“The Joe Baccala Story” will be shown on Saturday night at STCC.

Mesiti, who began working on the film more than 10 years ago, is the son of Italian immigrants and grew up in Springfield. He learned to speak the Italian Calabrian dialect before English.

For more information in Mesiti and the film, check out www.joebaccala.com.

I, for one, would love to see this film. However, I wish that Mesiti had chosen a different name for his intriguing character, as "Baccala" has already been taken in the world of American Mafia filmdom, as legions of Sopranos fans are well aware.

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