A new documentary about New Haven’s Little Italy is part fond recollections, part Ken Burns, and fully committed to the stories of everyday neighborhood residents. That’s the pitch that local filmmaker and reporter Steve Hamm made on a recent episode of WNHH’s “Deep Focus” for his new movie, The Village: Life in New Haven’s Little Italy. The movie made its world premiere at the New Haven Documentary Film Festival on Thursday night, and has a handful of other upcoming screening dates in downtown New Haven.

A native of Western Pennsylvania, Hamm has worked as the business editor for the New Haven Register and chief storyteller for IBM. He has written a number of books about globalization and technology. He readily admits that he is not Italian-American; his ancestors hail from Germany, Scotland, Ireland, and England.