A New Home, the latest documentary from Director/Producer Joseph Puleo and Executive Producer Rio Vitale, will have an encore screening as part of the 31st St. Louis International Film festival on November 6, 2:15pm at The Galleria. In a follow up to America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill, their new film examines the story of Bosnian War refugees fleeing to St. Louis, Missouri, 30 years ago. As the war in Ukraine continues to rage and thousands of its citizens are displaced and seeking new homes, the plight of the Bosnians remains as relevant as ever.
The film debuted this past summer as part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase where the filmmaking team once again achieved unprecedented success.
“We are pleased that Joseph’s latest documentary, A New Home, was selected to move forward from its debut at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase this past July to SLIFF in November. His films captivate local audiences with topics that inspire and entertain and similar to his debut of America’s Last Little Italy, his latest was our most attended film at the Showcase, drawing members of our Bosnian community and former city leadership. We hope it receives just as warm of a welcome at SLIFF this fall.”
In addition to being chosen for a coveted feature screening slot at the upcoming SLIFF, A New Home took home both Best Documentary & Best Sound (Documentary) at the Showcase.
When Bosnians fled their homes to escape the war in 1992, many ended up in St. Louis, largely because of its affordable housing and available jobs. The new arrivals began assimilating, starting their own businesses and transforming a once dilapidated South City neighborhood in the shadow of the Bevo Mill into a thriving “Little Bosnia.” Over the ensuing three decades, an estimated 70,000 Bosnians have migrated to St. Louis, making it the most inhabited area for Bosnians outside of Bosnia itself. A New Home tells the story of these refugees’ perseverance and determination to not only start life over but prosper.
Pre-production on A New Home began in the spring of 2021 with hours of VHS footage and more than a thousand photographs generously donated to the project to utilize during the editing process. The film also includes interviews with luminaries including Patrick McCarthy, author of After the Fall: Srebrenica Survivors in St. Louis; Ben Moore, Senior Researcher at the Center for Bosnian Studies; Anna Crosslin, past president of the International Institute of St. Louis; Francis Slay, former Mayor of St. Louis; former Missouri congressman Russ Carnahan; and Doug Moore, a former journalist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as well as 5 Bosnian War survivors and refugees.
“This documentary was a complete labor of love,” said Puleo. “To be trusted with telling the harrowing and triumphant story of the Bosnians in St. Louis was not a responsibility that I took lightly and their courageous resolve inspired me to give this film all I could give. The audience response so far has been overwhelmingly positive and we cannot wait for more people to get the opportunity to see A New Home St. Louis International Festival.”
Similar to their last collaboration, America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill, Puleo and Vitale hope to generate buzz for their latest project via word of mouth and self-distribute. “We’d love to emulate that model with A New Home, ultimately, having the film be available to rent/purchase on Amazon Prime,” explains Puleo.
More information on the Official Facebook page of A New Home.
About The Creators:
Joseph Puleo, Director/Producer
Joseph Puleo was born on July 13, 1992, in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Lindenwood University and graduated from their school of film in 2014. His short film, Top Son (2016) was a Top 5 finalist in Kevin Hart’s LOL Network “Eat My Shorts Competition” where it screened at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal. His debut feature-length documentary, America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill (2020) was shown on PBS stations across the country and received multiple awards.
Rio Vitale, Executive Producer
Rio Vitale was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and has 40 years of experience in the financial brokerage industry. In 2014, Vitale published his first book, St. Louis’s The Hill. In 2016, he was knighted by the Italian government for his extensive work in the Italian community. In 2020, Vitale began a new venture into film production, executive producing the award-winning feature-length documentary, America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill.
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