September 5, 2019
Fans of Moffatdale Ridge’s popular Italian Festival will have something extra to look forward to on Friday night (September 6).
The winery will be running a free outdoor screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s classic movie The Godfather at 6:00pm.
The film, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of a New York crime family, was the highest-grossing film released in 1972.
For a time, it was also the highest-grossing movie ever made, receiving universal acclaim from critics and audiences and taking the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando) and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 45th Academy Awards, along with seven other nominations.
It follows a period from 1945 to 1955, chronicling the family under patriarch Vito Corleone (Brando) and focusing on the transformation of Michael Corleone (Pacino) from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss.
The movie is now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, especially in the gangster genre, and is ranked as the second-greatest film in American cinema (behind Citizen Kane) by the American Film Institute.
Moffatdale Ridge owner Jason Kinsella said he wanted to do something special to mark this year’s fifth outing for the annual Italian Festival, which will be held on Saturday.
“The Italian Festival has grown from about 300 people in 2015 to about 1500 people last year, and that’s all due to guests having a great time and telling their friends about it,” Jason said.
“We’re really humbled by that, so we thought screening a world-class movie the night before would be a nice way to thank everyone for their support.”
Guests at the movie night should BYO chairs or blankets, but not food.
“We’ll have food and refreshments from local producers available on the night, because with the drought hitting everyone things are a bit tough on the land at the moment,” Jason said.
“We’d like to help support them as well, so we’re asking everyone who comes along to help us with that.”
Gates at this year’s Italian Festival will open at 9:30am on Saturday (September 7) and the fun will run until sundown.
This year’s Festival will feature all-day entertainment from a wide range of performers – everything from opera to jazz, and blues to soft rock – along with dancing, Italian foods, a hilarious spaghetti-eating competition, a salami wheel, Italian cooking demonstrations, bocce, and Italian car displays.
Admission is $10 per head. Moffatdale Ridge wines, Italian beers and soft drinks will be available all day as well.
Moffatdale Ridge is located on Barambah Road near Moffatdale and the Yallakool Tourist Park turn-off.
