Award-Winning Filmmakers Bringing Newville Documentary Home

Photo submitted – Tony Oswald and Pisie Hochheim in front of the 1779 Colonial farmhouse outside of Little Falls.

Little Falls, NY — A family’s 1779 colonial farmhouse outside of Little Falls is at the center of a documentary that has already turned heads on the international film festival circuit, and this spring the filmmakers are bringing their story — and themselves — directly to the community.

Pisie Hochheim and Tony Oswald, the husband-and-wife filmmaking team behind Same Person Films, will host a public meet-and-greet and film preview on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at Rock City Centre, 690 E. Main St., Little Falls at 6 pm.

The event is open to anyone curious about the film, filmmaking, or simply looking to connect with a creative project with deep roots in the Mohawk Valley.

Their documentary, Newville, tells the story of Hochheim’s mother and her nine siblings — all raised under a single roof in the hamlet of Newville, just outside of Little Falls.

The house, a center hall colonial built in 1779, sheltered all twelve family members, two parents and ten children, through shared childhoods and formative years before the siblings scattered to homes in different states across the country.

Now, with the family matriarch’s generation in their 60s to 80s, the filmmakers are bringing them home for a pivotal reunion.

“They’re hilarious, warm and unique, and have completely different worldviews,” Hochheim said. “We’re very interested in how these worldviews shape their approach to the house, and why some have stayed involved while others think it’s time to let it go.”

The June shoot will be the backbone of the film. The siblings are gathering to tackle a siding repair project on the aging home — a preservation effort that has exposed a deeper philosophical divide within the family itself.

“We’re getting at the center of this philosophical question of what it means to let something go, or what it means to hold on,” said Oswald during a recent interview.

“It’s something that echoes throughout many families here in Little Falls — the question of what’s important to hang on to in our past and what’s important to accept about our futures.”

Only one sibling, Ellen von Wellsheim, has remained closely tied to the region. She lives about an hour and a half away and regularly makes the drive to Little Falls — the closest town to Newville — to care for the house and handle everyday errands. Most of the siblings, however, haven’t been together in over a decade.

Photo submitted – the family at the center of the film.

“What we look for, and what I’m really impressed by in Little Falls, is the variety,” said one location professional in a previous assessment of the city’s filming suitability — a sentiment shared by many productions drawn here in recent years.

That track record is substantial. Little Falls has become a genuine filmmaking destination in the Mohawk Valley, from feature narratives like Cherry Baby and the action-comedy Wallace Peebles Paranormal Inspectre, to dance films by Hannah Straney shot on family farmland just north of the city, to short documentaries and music videos.

Of course, one can’t forget A Quiet Place and the excitement that the film built in the community. Things like the city’s 19th-century canopy-covered Main Street, period architecture, Erie Canal, and Mohawk River waterfront, warehouse district, and surrounding farmland are key assets for productions of all kinds.

Newville adds to that tradition with serious credentials. The film won the Ji.hlava New Visions Award for the most promising U.S. project, in partnership with AmDocs and the Jacob Burns Film Center, at the prestigious Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic.

It earned the filmmaking duo a Jacob Burns Film Center Artist Residency, where they have been developing the project ahead of the summer shoot.

The project carries significant professional firepower behind the lens as well. Hochheim’s credits include editing the Peabody and Independent Spirit Award-nominated HBO series Nuclear Family, with work spanning Hulu, Netflix, and HBO.

Oswald brings 18 years of experience in television and feature film editing. Their executive producer is Lana Wilson, best known for directing the widely seen Taylor Swift documentary, and their producing team includes Sundance Award-winning producers.

Despite those credentials, the filmmakers are frank about the financial realities of independent documentary work. They note that government-backed funding for U.S. filmmakers has been cut and existing grants have been slashed, making community support all the more meaningful.

The production is fiscally sponsored, meaning donations from individuals are fully tax-deductible. Contributions can be made in cash, in-kind services, or even stock.

Those interested in supporting the film can visit samepersonfilms.com or reach the team directly at production@samepersonfilms.com.

The filmmakers are also hoping to connect with local crew members for catering and production support during their planned seven-day shoot this June, and have expressed enthusiasm about engaging with the community’s creative community — including young people interested in film.

“We’re happy, as filmmakers who are very scrappy and have been making films for a number of years, to talk to those groups,” Oswald said, referencing the possibility of outreach with organizations like The Creative Outpost that work with younger creatives.

A release date of 2028 is the current projection, with post-production work expected to take roughly a year following the summer shoot.

In the meantime, the May 20th event at Rock City Centre offers a rare chance to meet the people behind the project, learn about the film’s origins, and hear firsthand what it’s like to spend years making a deeply personal documentary about family, memory, and what we choose to keep.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information on the film, visit samepersonfilms.com.