On a warm Sunday, The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center was a hub of activity as more than 300 people came out to support a new documentary.
“Beneath the Sole,” a 20-minute film by director Ryan Rust and producer Krystle Grandy, shines a spotlight on Sewickley staple businessman Mario Ulizzi of Sewickley Shoe Repair.
The Lindsay announced that they were hosting the film’s premiere and the 1 p.m. showing on March 22 sold out in about 24 hours, so they chose to add a 2:20 p.m. screening, which also sold out. Both shows were followed by a Q&A with Rust, Grandy and Ulizzi.
Rust’s previous short documentary, “HIVE,” was also shown as a part of The Lindsay’s Emerging Filmmakers Series in 2024. The inspiration for “Beneath the Sole” came when Rust, of Moon, was walking through Sewickley with his wife.
“She and I walk in Sewickley basically every weekend in the summer and in the fall, and we walked by the shop one day and she said, ‘Hey, you should tell his story,’ ” Rust said.
He tracked Ulizzi down on Instagram and sent him a message asking if he would be interested in participating in a documentary.
Ulizzi was floored by the suggestion.
“I was thinking, is this real? A documentary? … He came in the following week and we just hit it off, and we hit the ground running,” he said.
The movie was filmed in the latter half of 2025. Ulizzi and his wife, Carla, both had great experiences with the process.
“Ryan has an amazing sense of detail,” Mario Ulizzi said. “You see all these moving parts. From the outside looking in, it looks like chaos.”
“It’s been so fun. Kind of like, is this all happening? … It’s so crazy,” said Carla Ulizzi, Mario’s wife who also works in the shop.
Ulizzi has owned the shop in Sewickley for 27 years. He and Carla were high school sweethearts, and he worked at her father’s shoe repair shop in Squirrel Hill in high school, where he found a talent and enjoyment for the business.
“So he decided when we got married, he was going to pursue it, open his own place,” Carla Ulizzi said.
“I think what makes it interesting is the community connection,” Rust said. “He’s been a staple in the Sewickley community. There’s such a deeper story than just fixing shoes. It goes beyond that, obviously — the title is ‘Beneath the Sole,’ right?”
Producer Krystle Grandy said that it was that same community aspect that attracted her to the project.
“Our blue collar roots and our backgrounds, I think, made us great people to tell those stories and champion those kind of folks,” she said.
“It’s such a cool collaboration between a local filmmaker, a local business and the Lindsay,” said Josh Axelrod, director of communications and media relations for The Lindsay Theater just before the first screening. “It’s bringing out a different part of the Sewickley community than might usually end up here. Right now, it’s just a lot of joy in the building.”
The film itself is a beautifully shot, quiet meditation on Ulizzi’s life and connection to the community. His personality shines through as he talks about his family, interacts with customers and repairs shoes onscreen. The film is conversational and intimate, and there are definitely moments that will bring tears to your eyes.
While lots of neighbors and locals turned out to see the film, it was also a family affair — relatives of both Rust and Ulizzi showed up in full force to support the filmmaker and his subject.
The director’s mother, Carol Rust, was in attendance with about 20 relatives. “All of his family. They always come out. I’m very proud.”
After its premiere at the Lindsay Theater, the documentary debuted on WQED on March 23 and is available to stream on WQED .