Los Angeles Adds Movies to the Annual Summer Feast of San Gennaro

For most of the 20th century, the Little Italy district of New York City developed a reputation for knowing how to throw a party by celebrating the San Gennaro Festival each year in September with food, music, dance and carnival. Los Angeles is quickly catching up with the Big Apple by throwing its own Feast of San Gennaro west coast style.

The fifth annual Feast of San Gennaro Los Angeles will span most of the summer with entertainment, games, performances and, of course, luscious food. Being the home of the movie industry, Los Angeles has added an outdoor film festival called "Cinema Al Fresco" to the growing list of festival events. The Los Angeles bash is sponsored by The San Gennaro Foundation which is comprised of the city's Italian-American movers and shakers as well as broadcast personality Jimmy Kimmel. The non-profit Foundation organizes benefits such as the San Gennaro Celebrity Golf Classic and cultural programs to fund charitable projects for the children and the homeless of Los Angeles. Co-founder Doug DeLuca says the mission is to promote culture, art and philanthropy.

Four Italian themed movies will be shown throughout August at the La Brea Tar Pits Park which is immediately adjacent to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art located in the district known as "Museum Row" on Wilshire Boulevard. Everyone is invited to spread a blanket, enjoy a picnic and listen to live entertainment before each sundown screening. The evenings start at 6:00 p.m. every Friday and admission is free with donations appreciated.

"Cinema Paradiso" will be screened on August 4. This charming movie directed by Giuseppe Tornatore won the 1990 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It is appropriate to open the cinema festival, as it is about a filmmaker remembering his childhood and his unique friendship with the projectionist of his small town movie theater who taught him to appreciate the art of movies.

"Il Postino" is being shown on August 11. This lyrical 1994 film is about Massimo the postman who is inspired by exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda to romance his beautiful Beatrice.

"Pinocchio" is set for August 18. This was director Roberto Benigni's first film after winning the 1999 Best Actor Oscar for "Life Is Beautiful." "Pinocchio" is a rambunctious version of the classic tale in which Benigni cast himself, a middle aged man, as the boy who wants to grow up. One of the funniest self-referencing scenes in the movie has Benigni as Pinocchio running across the backs of theater seats to get to the stage to be in a puppet show. Most people remember Benigni from his exuberant run across the backs of the seats at the Academy Award show to collect his statue with all due haste.

"The Italian Job" is featured on August 25. This 1969 heist caper is Italian in name only, as it was a British production with a key role written specifically for Sir Noel Coward as the suave kingpin who masterminds the "job" from his jail cell. The stars of the movie are the quintessentially British Mini Cooper vehicles that perform unbelievable stunts in famous Italian city traffic while making fools of the Alfa Romeos. The leading man is Michael Caine, who ironically didn't know how to drive at the time. The rousing music theme is by Quincy Jones. This is the original "Italian Job," not the remake.

The partying doesn't stop at the conclusion of the "Cinema Al Fresco" series. The Feast of San Gennaro kicks off September 21 with the "Prima Notte" charity fund raiser and continues with a street fair through September 24 featuring a San Gennaro procession, live entertainment, carnival games, bocce ball, dances, vendors, cooking demonstrations and Italian foods and wines. This fifth annual event is hosted by comedy personalities Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla. The party venue is in Hollywood, next door to the studio where the talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is broadcast.

All this celebration is in honor of San Gennaro, an historic figure in Naples who survived Christian persecution. He was martyred in 305 A.D. on the 19th day of September, which has become this saint's Annual Feast Day. Food is an essential element of the celebration and the 2006 event is sponsored by the makers of the Italian brand Precious Cheese and Ralphs grocery stores.

For additional information on "Cinema Al Fresco," go to www.sangennarofoundation.org/cinema and for more information on the Fifth Annual Precious Cheese Feast of San Gennaro LA, go to www.sangennarofoundation.org, or call (818) 508-0082.