The documentary “Slice of Life” premieres at SXSW in Sydney and Chicago

Renowned Australian documentary filmmakers Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker of Urtext Films are preparing to present their film ‘Slice of Life: The American Dream’. In Former Pizza Huts” at the upcoming SXSW festival in Sydney.

Structured like a road movie, the image offers a fascinating insight into how former Pizza Hut buildings across the United States have been transformed and who the people inside them are.

It will hit the table for the first time on October 19 in Sydney. And warm up a few days later before its North American premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival. The film is scheduled to hit theaters in November and is still waiting for distribution.

The pair, who previously made “Barbecue” and “We Don’t Deserve Dogs,” dove into a dish of nostalgia by looking at the history of the iconic American pizza chain and interviewing 93-year-old Dan Carney, one of the two brothers who founded Pizza Hut .

They found six businesses, ranging from an LGBTQ+ church in Florida to a karaoke bar in Texas to a seafood restaurant in South Carolina to a cannabis dispensary in Colorado. There’s also a barbecue joint in Illinois and a Mexican restaurant in Virginia that has become a hub for immigrant communities.

“They all exemplify community heart and unity, welcoming inclusion and renewed purpose, living stories and inspiring people behind independent businesses,” the filmmakers said. This is not unlike the pioneering spirit of the Carney brothers, who opened the first Pizza Hut in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas.

The film also includes a visit to the Pizza Hut Museum in Wichita, where a selection of extras includes observations about the intersection of history, architecture and interviews with former Pizza Hut executives, historians and self-confessed Pizza Hut geeks.

The film will also be screened at the Wichita Film Event, the esteemed Tallgrass Film Festival.
After shooting his two previous films in multiple international locations, Salleh found the American travel film “Slice of Life” to be a different challenge. “How do we transfer this epic scale to the parking lots and outdated facades of old Pizza Hut buildings? I was thrilled to have the opportunity to shoot something great in a setting so familiar to so many people,” said Salleh.

“We love the intimacy we can create when it’s just the two of us. We understand the challenges of running a small business and like to think we’re quite entrepreneurial as well. I think we have a lot in common with the people we shot,” Tucker said. “We found such diversity, such different people, different opinions, different lives, different stories.”

At SXSW, Sydney Salleh and Tucker will be panelists for a Screen Industry Session titled Beyond Australia: Screening at SXSW, focused on navigating international festivals, sales and more. They will also take part in on-screen mentoring sessions during the festival.

Watch the trailer here.