The Piccirilli Factor | Eduardo Montes-Bradley

The Piccirilli Factor presents the lives and contributions of the Piccirilli family, Italian sculptors who, after settling in New York City in 1888, founded the largest and most prolific marble carving studio in America. For nearly half a century, the Piccirilli contributed to the City Beautiful Movement, shaping the architectural landscapes of Washington and New York in collaboration with leading architects and sculptors. Their body of work, encompassing both collaborative and individual pieces, includes nearly nine hundred monuments, memorials, and fine artworks, many of which are preserved in museums and private collections. Unfortunately, all records related to their practice were lost following World War II, after the studio closed due to the deaths of Attilio and Getulio Piccirilli.

The Piccirilli Factor, traces the journey of these Italian artisans drawing on client records, newspaper articles, and the support of distinguished art critics and curators from The Metropolitan Museum of Art and other prestigious institutions to reconstruct their path. Montes-Bradley meticulously documents the Piccirilli family's contributions to public art, focusing on the individual achievements of two of the six brothers: Furio and Attilio. The film spans key historical moments, from the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 to the Spanish-American War, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and the challenging years for the Italian-American community during World War II.

DOCUMENTARY FILM FUND PRESENTS THE PICCIRILLI FACTOR A FILM BY EDUARDO MONTES-BRADLEY

MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE COLUMBUS CITIZENS FOUNDATION

TIRO A SEGNO AND THE THE MORRIS AND ALMA SCHAPIRO FUND

EXCECUTIVE PRODUCERS LISA ACKERMAN + EDUARDO MONTES-BRADLEY

PRODUCED BY HERITAGE FILM PROJECT MADE IN COLLABORATION WITH JOHN BELARDO

MICHELE H. BOGART MICHELE COHEN JOEL ROSENKRANZ JOSEPH SCIORRA

WILLIAM SHERMAN SILVANO SOLDANO THAYER TOLLES DANIEL PRESTON RICHARD GUY WILSON

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY EDUARDO MONTES-BRADLEY

60 minutes | 2025

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Eduardo Montes-Bradley's documentary The Piccirilli Factor: Italian Sculptors and the City Beautiful Movement will have its European premiere on August 4, 2026, in the gardens of Villa Rinchiostra in Massa, Italy — birthplace of the Piccirilli brothers, the carvers behind the Lincoln Memorial and America's most iconic monuments. Organized by the Comune di Massa and the Biblioteca Civica Stefano Giampaoli.

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