GLADBROOK — In celebration of Great American Pie Month, The Pie Lady’s Laura Bru is sharing a “piece” of herself this coming weekend at the Gladbrook Theater by hosting a public screening of “PIEOWA” — an award-winning documentary by fellow “pie lady” Beth M. Howard in which Bru makes an appearance and that’s quickly become the darling of the film festival circuit since its premiere last summer.

“It’s just a little blip,” Bru said somewhat bashfully of her appearance in the film while sitting down with the newspaper last week for a slice of (scrumptious!) peach pie at her rural Gladbrook kitchen workshop. “And I have not yet seen it myself.”

So how did Gladbrook’s “pie lady” connect with author-blogger-radio commentator-filmmaker Beth Howard, who is also known as “pie lady” from the years she spent operating the popular (and very Iowa) Pitchfork Pie Stand while living inside the American Gothic House in Eldon? Of course, the answer is pie. (Because, really, shouldn’t the answer to everything be pie?)

“I had met her the winter before at a book signing in Ames,” Bru explained. “[My husband] Ryan’s great uncle told me, ‘You have to meet her, she’s another pie lady.'”

And so when Howard began production on “PIEOWA” — a documentary that “celebrates the myriad ways pie is woven into Iowa’s (and America’s) culture, the lengths people will go to for a slice, and how this humble pastry can bake the world a better place,” per the film’s website – she remembered Bru and reached out.

“She looked me up when she started this. She said, ‘This is what I’m doing. Can I interview you?'”

That interview took place in July 2024 inside Bru’s pie food truck during a sweltering stretch of Iowa heat at the National Balloon Classic in Indianola. To capture clean audio, the air conditioning had to be shut off.

“It was the hottest day of the year,” Bru recalled. “We had to turn off the A/C. But we thought, ‘We can get this done.'”

In addition to the interview, Bru’s pie also makes an appearance in “PIEOWA” – and it’s a lofty one.

“[Beth] asked, ‘Did you think there’s a way we could get a pie in a balloon?'” Bru said with a laugh. “My husband’s cousin has a balloon. He [found someone] to take it up and fly it around.”

As silly as that might sound, the memory of her pie high in the sky brought a radiant smile to Bru’s face. Pie has been her — and her family’s — world for years now, starting when her now-adult children were wee ones, helping their then stay-at-mom sell pies at RAGBRAI, farmer’s markets, and local festivals.

For Bru, baking pie is not just her job — it’s her craft, rooted in tradition.

“I enjoy the heritage and history of pie,” she said. “When a pie goes to a 90-year-old, I am super nervous. I want to remind them of what it was like when they made pie.”

That sentiment seems to crimp well with “PIEOWA” which, according to the film’s website, seeks to answer the questions: How did Iowa become synonymous with pie? Why are Iowans and outsiders alike so obsessed with it? What lengths will people go to for a slice? How can pie unite us? Howard visits with a sundry group of pie-loving Iowans in her quest to answer such questions, including church ladies, farm wives, pie shop owners (Bru!), State Fair competitors, chefs, food historians, RAGBRAI riders, and more.

“She worked on this thing for a year and a half,” Bru said of Howard. “She went on the RAGBRAI route. She went all over Iowa visiting different pie people.”

When asked why she thinks pie occupies such an important place in many an Iowan’s heart (and diet) and why it was important to bring “PIEOWA” to small town Gladbrook, Bru pondered a bit before replying.

“I think pie just brings people together. I’ve never seen a sad person with a piece of pie. It brings conversation and memories. … I’m pretty partial to my community. I enjoy sharing things with [them].”

A special screening of “PIEOWA: A PIECE OF AMERICA” will take place this Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Gladbrook Theater located downtown at 319 Second Street. Doors open at 10 a.m. with showtime set for 10:30 a.m. Following the screening, attendees will have the opportunity to do what comes so very naturally in Iowa — share a slice of pie (made from scratch by The Pie Lady) and a chat (with the piemaker herself).

Because, in the words of Bru, “Life deserves a good slice of pie once in a while.”

For more information on “PIEOWA,” including future showings, visit https://theworldneedsmorepie.com/pieowa/