The San Diego Italian Film Festival Celebrates Italian Food and Cinema May 20 and 22

The San Diego Italian Film Festival presents CineCucina, a celebration of film (Cine-) and food (Cucina) beginning the evening of May 20 at MoPA and continuing on May 22 at Birch North Park Theatre. For Italians nothing inspires love, stories or passions like their food culture.

The Saturday event begins with Piazza CineCucina, an outdoor fair featuring local farm fresh produce, artisanal foods and Italian specialties from 11 am to 6 pm, then moves at 6:30 pm to the theater’s stage for stories and pictures by Douglas Gayeton brought to San Diego by Slow Food Urban San Diego followed by the San Diego premiere of the Nico Cirasola film Focaccia Blues.

The whole event is wrapped up in a large restaurant program providing delicious flavors for those who purchase tickets to the theater. Aperitivo To whet the appetite for the main event, the celebration begins at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park on Thursday, May 20, at 7 pm, when the SDIFF will show shorts and documentaries about food from an Italian perspective: where it comes from, what one does with it, and even some Italian food myths.

The show at MoPA is open to all, with a suggested donation of $5. Primi (first courses) On Saturday, May 22, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the lot at the corner of 29th St. and North Park Way transforms into an Italian-style market in the piazza with vendors offering certified produce from San Diego farms, demonstrations, cook-offs and other events with local producers and attendees.

Vendors and sponsors interested in participating in Piazza CineCucina can visit www.piazzacinecucina.com for more information, or call 619.233.3901. Open to all, free entry. Secondi (main courses) At 6 p.m. the party table moves into Birch North Park Theatre for the main courses, prepared by the San Diego Italian Film Festival and Slow Food Urban San Diego.

SFUSD presents Douglas Gayeton and his narratives about life in his Italian town of Pistoia. DOUGLAS GAYETON is a filmmaker, photographer, and writer. His images are held in a number of influential museums and private collections around the world, and have been featured in numerous print and online media, such as Time Magazine.

Since the early 90s he has created award-winning work at the boundaries of traditional and converging media for MTV, Sony, National Geographic, and PBS. Gayeton lectures frequently on art, tech- nology, and sustainability. He is also co-owner, with his wife, Laura Howard, of Laloos Goat Milk Ice Cream in Petaluma, CA.

SDIFF presents the San Diego premiere of Focaccia Blues, a rousing story about a local breadmaker in a small city in southern Italy who challenges an international food corporation. In Italy, where the David stands as a monument to Italian passion and courage, this mythic story of a local hero standing up to an out of town giant affirms the importance of community and local enterprise.

The San Diego Italian Film Festival has invited Slow Food Urban San Diego to join in and to be its Community Partner. The Slow Food movement, which began in Rome 24 years ago, celebrates the core values of Italian cuisine: local, seasonal, healthy, sustainable and flavorful. Their website is www.slowfoodurbansandiego.org.

Advance tickets for the theater entertainment can be purchased beginning in May at discounts online at www.sandiegoitalianfilmfestival.com. Tickets at the door are $18. Online purchase for $15, or for two $25. Theater ticket also includes a special Restaurant promotion program designed especially for this celebration.

Participating restaurants are Caffe’ Calabria, Heaven Sent Desserts, The Linkery, Mosaic Wine Bar, Ritual Tavern, Sea Rocket Bistro, Sicilian Thing Pizza, Splash Wine Lounge,Toronado, Urban Solace, and West Coast Tavern. More information is on the SDIFF website. Each restaurant wants to share its own brand of joy in the spirit of an Italian party. Some programs have limited space on a first come first serve basis.

The San Diego Italian Film Festival is a non-profit 501c(3) organization dedicated to sharing Italian culture through film with San Diego Audiences. Italian films with English subtitles are screened throughout the year in a variety of venues. All films are open to the public. Please visit the website for full details, including addresses, start times, complete movie schedule and movie reviews.