Pitt students’ ‘George Romero & Pittsburgh’ doc gets premiere

A documentary created by Pitt students about George Romero’s early years in Pittsburgh will have its premiere on Feb. 4 during an online event.

“George Romero & Pittsburgh: The Early Years,” a product of the Making the Documentary course at Pitt, will have a premiere screening at 7 p.m. Feb. 4. Registration is required. The screening and discussion are presented by the University Library System in partnership with the Film & Media Studies Program and the Horror Studies Working Group.

The event will include the George A. Romero Foundation Pioneer Award, which this year honors Duane Jones, a Pitt alum and “Night of the Living Dead” star who died in 1988. The award will be presented by Romero’s widow, Suz Romero.

The film uses materials from the Romero archives, which Pitt acquired in 2019, and interviews of those who knew Romero best, including his widow and his daughter, Tina Romero; Lori Cardille, who starred in “Day of the Dead”; and Greg Nicotero, a frequent Romero collaborator and executive producer of “The Walking Dead.”

A panel discussion will follow, hosted by Cardille, talking about new revelations uncovered by the student filmmakers including previously unknown connections between Romero and Pitt.

On Feb. 9, Horror Studies Collection coordinator Ben Rubin and ULS visiting researcher Adam Hart will discuss their favorite and most significant discoveries from processing the George A. Romero Archival Collection in “It Came from the Archives! Unearthed treasures from the George A. Romero Archival Collection.

The rare and never-before-seen materials will shed new light onto Romero’s films as well as reveal films that “could have been” through unfinished and lost projects.

The program is from 7 to 8 p.m. Feb. 9. Registration is required.