Queens of the Big Time

Roseto, Pennsylvania, is a small town populated almost entirely by people of Italian stock, whose forefathers recreated their hometown, Roseto Valforte, in Foggia, upon emigrating to America in the 1890s. 'The Big Time' is the annual festival honouring the town's patron saint, Our Lady of Mt Carmel, and begins with a car procession of teenage 'princesses' and the crowning of the new 'queen'. This first film, complete with the home movies of the director's grandfather, covers the centennial celebration, when all the living queens (from the most recent to her 1926 counterpart) gathered together. A warm, amusing, uncritical look at tradition, friendship and community.