Synopsis

Marcella Hazan changed how we cook and experience Italian food. MARCELLA tells her dramatic, delicious story.

Marcella lived an improbably eventful life. An immigrant woman trained as a scientist, she never set foot in a kitchen until she married and moved to America in the 1950s. A childhood injury had left her with an injured right arm, a challenge for the physical work of food preparation. But before long she was not only preparing the Italian dishes she remembered from home, but writing the definitive cookbooks that introduced millions of Americans to the glories of authentic Italian cuisine.

The New York Times wrote that “the impact Mrs. Hazan had on the way America cooks Italian food is impossible to overstate.” Julia Child called her “my mentor in all things Italian.” As uncompromising as she was beloved, her influence went beyond cooking: “These were elemental truths that was telling us,” one former student notes, “it wasn't just how to make dinner.”

Marcella’s life story is interwoven with visits to chefs preparing her most iconic recipes, and commentary by food stars Jacques Pépin, Danny Meyer, April Bloomfield, Shola Ulunloyo, Lidia Bastianich, Rancho Gordo's Steve Sando, and a passionate chorus of friends and admirers. Her widower and writing partner, Victor Hazan, and her son, the cooking teacher and cookbook writer Giuliano Hazan, join in recounting Marcella’s story.

Theatrical Trailer

“Prepare to be amazed by Marcella!”Coronado Times

A film by Peter Miller

Narrated by John Lithgow

Based on an idea by Antje Boehmert & Christian Popp Written by Peter Miller Director of Photography Antonio Rossi Editor Amy Linton Sound Recordists Rodolphe Begard, Dan Mazur, Andreas Schlueter, Andy Turret Sound Designer Brit Warner Sound Mixer Christian Riegel Color Grader Knut Schmitz Online Editor Reinaldo Almeida Original Music by Eike Hosenfeld, Moritz Denis, Tim Stanzel Archival Research Elisabeth M. Hartjens, Michelle Gordon, David Stumpp Senior Adviser and Story Consultant Ian Scott Historical Adviser Marja Roholl Associate Producers Jonas Schilling, Amy Linton Commissioning Editors ZDF/ARTE Martin Pieper, Türkân Schirmer Producers Antje Boehmert, Peter Miller, Christian Popp

Special Thanks:

Spencer Alcorn, Thierry Barreau, Alessandro Carroli, Carmen Cobos, Ned Comstock, Thomas Doherty, EDN, Uta Eberhardt, Andrea Ernst, Sandra Garcia-Myers, Kay Hoffmann, Katja Jaeckel & Giorgos Christonakis, Martine Labonde, Madeleine Le Borgne, Valerie Marcus, Frank Mehring, Ouest France, Miranda Parry, Stephanie Pasternak, Wolfgang Pinkl, Judy Preminger, Victoria Riskin, Kim Rojas, Marja Roholl, Heiner Ross, Christian Schwalbe, Ian Scott, Steven Wapen

Archives:

Victoria Riskin; National Archives, USA; Allison Collection, MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History; BFI National Archive; Bundesarchiv; Conseil Général de la Manche arch. Dép.; Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie; The Cummington Historical Commission; Deutsche Kinemathek; Philip and Amanda Dunne Photographs Collection of the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Getty Images; The Huntington Library; Oren Jacoby; Library of Congress; Heinz Meder; MoMA Film Study Center; New York City Municipal Archives; Michel Ollivier; Miranda Parry; Photofest; Klaus Riemer, Margaret Siebner; SPPN Images; Stadtarchiv Erlangen; Cecile Starr and Aram Boyajian; Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz; UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library, Dept. of Special Collections; L.A. Times Photographic Archives; USC Cinematic Arts Library, Fay Wray Collection ; UN Photo Library; United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Willard van Dyke Papers, University of Arizona; Yad Vashem Photo Archive

A co-production of DOCDAYS Productions, Willow Pond Films, ZDF in collaboration with ARTE

Distributed by PBS International – Developed with the support of MEDIA