Rudy’s Pizzeria Documentary Making Film Festival Debut Next Month

“Pizza Shop: An Italian-American Dream,” Antony Osso’s documentary film chronicling his family’s immigrant experience and their 40-year run owning one of Bergen’s County’s most beloved restaurants, makes its world premiere at the Golden Door International Film Festival on October 6.

The documentary was completed this spring, after shooting for ten days between July 2015 and May 2016 in New Jersey and Calabria, Italy. It explores brothers Charlie and Fred Osso’s emigration from poverty-stricken southern Italy in the early 1960s, the journey from odd jobs to owning a successful restaurant, and the inner workings that lead to the delicious pizza and Italian food for which they’re known.

“When I first started making the film, my intention was to celebrate a community institution: my father and uncle’s pizzeria, which has been feeding families for decades,” Osso explained. “But when I looked at the footage more closely, I found a more vital story: I saw the trail of an immigrant experience marked by isolation, sacrifice, doubt and courage, and a success borne of hard work, tireless self-discipline, and optimism. I saw the American Dream realized.

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“This discovery could not have been more timely; now that immigrants are eyed with renewed suspicion by our government, I’m honored to share a detailed story celebrating the immigrants who are the backbone of America.”

Along with its premiere at Golden Door, “Pizza Shop” is an official selection of the Ojai Film Festival and the St. Louis International Film Festival, where it will screen in November. More festival screenings are forthcoming.

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