MARCELLA

Marcella Hazan changed how we cook and experience Italian food. MARCELLA is a new documentary that 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 (now 96 years old) and her son, the cooking teacher and cookbook writer Giuliano Hazan, join in recounting Marcella’s story.

Directed by Emmy and Peabody Award-winner Peter Miller (SACCO AND VANZETTI, AKA DOC POMUS, BEDLAM), MARCELLA brings Marcella’s story to old fans and new admirers.

MARCELLA will be released in cinemas and streaming by Greenwich Entertainment and will air on PBS American Experience in July 2025.

Tax-deductible donations will help cover the cost of preparing the film for release and broadcast, and the important work of getting the word out about the film and Marcella’s amazing story. Thank you!