Pizza, A Love Story

Description

“The film is not entirely about pizza; one can watch it and see director Gorman Bechard laying out the history of his city, a cycle of immigration, assimilation and gentrification that extends well beyond New Haven.� Jay Seaver, EFilmCritic.com


‘Pizza, A Love Story’, filmmaker Gorman Bechard’s 11 years-in-the-making homage to the world famous pizzerias Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana, Sally’s Apizza and Modern Apizza, is set for release on DVD on 19 October, 2020.

Called “An important film of staggering genius that needed to be made�, ‘Pizza, A Love Story’ has been selling out film festival screenings from Washington State to Alabama. Work on the film began in 2008, when Bechard and longtime friend Dean Falcone, both self-acknowledged pizza snobs, decided it was time to turn the camera on the only pizza that matters.

The film sets out to prove its tagline: “Pizza wasn’t invented in New Haven. It was perfected there,� by combining history, comedy and some of the most mouth-watering footage you will ever see into a film that also features cameos from actor Henry Winkler, musicians Lyle Lovett and Michael Bolton, Senator Chris Murphy, legendary concert promoter Jim Koplik and dozens more. The film also includes the last known interview with Flora Consiglio of Sally’s, filmed shortly before her passing in 2012.

“I learned long ago the best films are driven by passion,� Bechard says, “and if there’s one thing I truly believe it’s that New Haven has the best pizza on this planet.� And for the prolific filmmaker, it was nice to know, in interviewing so many food celebrities including Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports, that he was not alone in this belief.

Rounding out the pizza-loving duo is local historian Colin M. Caplan, who came on as a co-producer midway into the project and has since written the acclaimed book ‘Pizza in New Haven’. “Colin was able to find a lot of the historical images that seemed to be out of our reach,� explains Falcone. “He has a great knowledge of the early history of pizza.�

The DVD features numerous extras, including the Q&A from opening night in New Haven with Bechard and his two producers.