[Documentary] Italian Pizza Masters

In 2018 James Suckling and Hollywood filmmaker James Orr teamed up to produce a short documentary about one of their shared loves: pizza. Orr ventured to the home and birthplace of the best pizza on the planet, Naples in Italy, and discovered how a new generation of pizzaiolos are redefining how pizza is made.

Orr is better known for Hollywood blockbusters such as Three Men and a Baby, Father of the Bride and Mr Destiny. The cumulative box office for movies he has either written or directed runs to half a billion US dollars. In 2011 he wrote the James Suckling documentary Cigars: The Heart and Soul of Cuba, that explored why Cuban cigars are so revered, and so good. In 2013 they teamed up again to create Cannubi: A Vineyard Kissed by God, that examined what makes the Cannubi vineyard in northern Italy produce such fantastic wines. Italian Pizza Masters is their latest collaboration. 

We spoke to director James Orr about the film, below, and the film is presented here for online viewing, above. 

James Orr and pizza master Salvatore Santucci share a pizza made with black dough.

How did this come about? Why did you want to make a film about pizza?

James Orr: I'm an amateur pizzaiolo and I'm naturally drawn to the finer points of pizza mastery, so when James Suckling suggested I follow my passion and make a documentary about pizza, I jumped at the opportunity.

I watched about 35 other documentaries on pizza and most of them were either pizza competition videos, or straight-ahead ‘history of pizza’ videos. Neither approach was interesting to me. I was less intrigued by pizza past than I was about pizza future, so my premise for the documentary was that as important as tradition is, it can be a prison of repetition and a hindrance to innovation. I searched out some of the Italian Pizza Masters who were doing things differently and going beyond tradition. They were inventing new ideas, while at the same time maintaining an enduring respect for the tradition.

Pizza as art - all the pizza makers likened their creations to artworks. Surely pizza is just pizza! What did they mean?

Orr: Pizza is art. It's more than food. It's both a constant reality and an ever-evolving mystery.  As Salvatore Santucci said: “Before you eat the pizza, you see the pizza. What you see should be a wonderful as what you taste.” And as Franco Pepe, the legendary Italian pizzaiolo says in the documentary: “Pizza is like the universe. There are no limitations, only possibilities.”

Did you get any sense of how locals took to these new interpretations of the traditional pizza - something many of them no doubt hold quite dear?

Orr: The Pizza Masters in the documentary are all very famous, both locally and internationally. People come from all over, including locals, to eat their pizzas. If that's any indication, then local Neapolitans are as fascinated by great quality and startling innovation as everyone else.

Did you try all the pizzas in the film? Favorite?

Orr: Of course I tried all the pizzas in the documentary. I was eating some of the best pizza in the world every day for lunch and dinner and for most of the hours in between. It was merely research of course.....haha, just kidding....it was heavenly bliss for me.

What was the biggest challenge of making the film?

Orr: Each documentary has its own set of unique challenges, and Italian Pizza Masters is no different. Some are mundane challenges of time and circumstance, and some are sublime challenges of concept and essence.
I believe that the personality of any creative person gets infused somehow in the product they create, so the sublime challenge for me was to capture those qualities in each of the Pizza Masters I pointed my camera at.

What was the best bit of making the film?

Orr: The best part of making Italian Pizza Masters was being in the presence of these great innovators whose passion and attention to detail is very clear in the documentary. When you see their commitment, it’s clear why they are as accomplished and admired as they are.
And oh, eating the best pizza on the planet earth every day that I was in Naples was pretty good too.

What's your go-to wine to pair with pizza?

Orr: One of the revelations for me while making this documentary was how amazingly well the wines of the region, of Campania, go with pizza. Most substantial red wines go nicely with pizza, but the aglianico-based wines of Campania are truly an outstanding complement to the rich and variable flavors of pizza.