2011 LA Film Festival - Introduction

For the second time, the LA film festival is being held at the Nokia mall, downtown LA. While I'm really not a fan of that cold mall, which should be better suited for Irvine or any other aseptic OC city, this is at least a central location, which allows to bring a more contrasted crowd, rather than just a bunch of UCLA students, as it used to be the case in Westwood village.

What makes the festival particularly interesting this year is that it offers the chance to discover a wider selection of films, as there is less festival circuit favorites than usual. What also makes me happy is that we won't have to endure another premiere of a Transformers movie, even though the screening of that Green Lantern should have been a better match for the Newport Beach film festival.

The only thing I am somewhat disappointed with is the fact that the screenings at the Ford are scarce and not that exciting this year - I miss the good old times when former radio glory Indie103 was partnering with the festival for some punk screenings there ...

But what infuriates me the most - and this happens at every festival every year - is some of those ignorant film students who, because they took a film 101 class, have to ask every filmmaker during the Q&A if they got inspired by some film they just discovered ... to all of the wannabe filmmakers starting school or growing up on Michael Bay cinema, please respect the filmmakers during the Q&As and just shut up ... Here is a hint: No, Peruvian entry Bad Intentions doesn't look like it's been inspired by Pan's Labyrinth, even though these are two movies with kids in Spanish.

Now, it's time to get with business ... Find out about the films in our next posts ...

Los Angeles Film Festival 2010 Awards

The jury and audience awards for the 2010 LA film festival have been announced. Here are the Los Angeles Film Festival 2010 Awards ...

The Los Angeles Film Festival Moves Downtown

As you might by now have read it, the Los Angeles Film Festival now takes place downtown LA. Having outgrown Westwood - do you guys also remember the good old days at Sunset Plaza? - the festival is now one block away from the infamous LA Live, that cheesy fake-looking entertainment center for scenester-wannabees. The good news is that the festival not only found a great home at this Regal cinemas, with a setting familiar to what AFI Fest was at Arclight(including a rooftop village) but they also took over several venues downtown, from Red Cat to Grand Plaza, preserving the village feel they had in Westwood - plus they kept the Henri Ford theatre in Hollywood :)

Beside the change of venues, the other big difference is the crowd. Gone are the UCLA students, having been replaced by an older and more industry-centric crowd. The only drawback might be having the opening gala on Laker final week, the premiere party having taken place during the final at the nearby Staples center - in case you are wondering, it meant partying while watching cops chasing unruly supporters downstairs.

Los Angeles Film Festival 2010

Here is the lineup of the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, which Plume Noire will cover:

Opening-night film:

• "The Kids Are All Right" -- Lisa Cholodenko (Focus Features)

Closing-night film:

• "Despicable Me" -- Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Sergio Pablos (Universal Pictures) WORLD PREMIERE

Bonus by Invitation Screening:

• "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" -- David Slade (Summit Entertainment) WORLD PREMIERE

Gala Screenings (5):

• "Animal Kingdom" -- David Michod [Australia] (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "Cyrus" -- Jay and Mark Duplass (Fox Searchlight)
• "Mahler on the Couch" -- Percy and Felix Adlon -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Revolucion" -- Mariana Chenillo, Fernando Eimbcke, Amat Escalante, Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo Garcia, Diego Luna, Gerardo Naranjo, Rodrigo Pia, Carlos Reygadas and Patricia Riggen [Mexico] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Waiting for Superman" -- Davis Guggenheim (Paramount Vantage)

Narrative Competition (9):

• "Dog Sweat" -- Hossein Keshavarz [Iran] -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "A Family" -- Pernille Fischer Christensen [Denmark] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Hello Lonesome" -- Adam Reid -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "The New Year" -- Brett Haley
• "Of Love and Other Demons" -- Hilda Hidalgo [Costa Rica/Colombia] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE • "Orly" -- Angela Schanelec -- [Germany/France] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Parade" -- Isao Yukisada -- [Japan] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Upstate" -- Katherine Nolfi and Andrew Luis -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "The Wolf Knife" -- Laurel Nakadate -- WORLD PREMIERE

Documentary Competition (9):

• "Camera, Camera" -- Malcolm Murray -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Circo" -- Aaron Schock [USA/Mexico] -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "One Lucky Elephant" -- Lisa Leeman -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone" -- Lev Anderson, Chris Metzler -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Farewell" -- Ditteke Mensink [Netherlands] -- U.S. PREMIERE
• "Life with Murder" -- John Kastner [Canada] -- U.S. PREMIERE
• "Make Believe" -- J. Clay Tweel -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Vlast" -- Cathryn Collins
• "Where Are You Taking Me?" -- Kimi Takesue -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE

International Showcase (20):

• "1428" -- Du Hai-bin (China)
• "Army of Crime" -- Robert Guediguian [France] (Kino)
• "Bibliotheque Pascal" -- Szabolcs Hajdu -- [Germany/Hungary/England] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Café Noir" -- Jung Sung-il [South Korea] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Disco & Atomic War" --- Jaak Kilmi and Kiur Aarma [Estonia/Finland]
• "Down Terrace" -- Ben Wheatley [England] (Magnolia Pictures)
• "Eastern Plays" -- Kamen Kalev [Bulgaria]
• "Eyes Wide Open" -- Haim Tabakman [Israel/Germany/France] (New American Vision)
• "Family Tree" -- Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau [France]
• "Golden Slumber" -- Yoshihiro Nakamura [Japan] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Judge" -- Liu Jie [China]
• "La Pivellina" -- Rainer Frimmel and Tizza Covi [Austria/Italy]
• "Lebanon, Samuel Maoz" [Israel] (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "The Peddler" -- Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano and Adriana Yurcovich [Argentina]
• "R" -- Tobias Lindholm and Michael Noer [Denmark]
• "The Red Chapel" -- Mads Brugger [Denmark]
• "Secrets of the Tribe" -- José Padilha [England/Brazil]
• "Space Tourists' -- Christian Frei [Switzerland]
• "Street Days" -- Levan Koguashvili [Georgia]
• "Woman on Fire Looks For Water" -- Woo Ming Jin [Malaysia/South Korea]

Summer Screenings (12):

• "Ain’t In It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm" -- Jacob Hatley
• "Cane Toads: The Conquest" -- Mark Lewis [Australia/U.S.]
• "Cold Weather" -- Aaron Katz
• "Four Lions" -- Christopher Morris [England]
• "Kings of Pastry" -- D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus (First Run Features)
• "Marwencol" -- Jeff Malmberg
• "Monsters" -- Gareth Edwards (Magnolia Pictures)
• "Night Catches Us" -- Tanya Hamilton (Magnolia Pictures)
• "The Tillman Story" -- Amir Bar-Lev (Weinstein Co.)
• "Tiny Furniture" -- Lena Dunham (IFC Films)
• "Welcome to the Rileys" -- Jake Scott (Apparition, Destination Films)
• "White Material" -- Claire Denis [France] (IFC Films)

Outdoor Screenings at the Ford Amphitheatre (4):

• "Centurion" -- Neil Marshall [England] (Magnolia Pictures)
• "The Last Exorcism" -- Daniel Stamm (Lionsgate) – WORLD PREMIERE
• "The People vs. George Lucas" -- Alexandre O. Philippe
• "Thunder Soul" -- Mark Landsman

International Spotlight (4):

• "The Fall" (1959)
• "The Hand in the Trap" (1961)
• "The House of the Angel" (1957)
• "The Seven Madmen" (1973)

Selections from the Ambulante Film Festival (3):

• "One Day Less" -- Dariela Ludlow [Mexico] U.S. PREMIERE
• "Presumed Guilty" -- Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith [Mexico]
• "The Toledo Report" -- Albino Álvarez Gomez [Mexico]

Community Screenings (4):

• "Climate Refugees" -- Michael P. Nash -- Grand Performances Screening
• "Gasland" -- Josh Fox
• "Lost Angels" -- Thomas Napper -- WORLD PREMEIRE
• "A Small Act" -- Jennifer Arnold -- Project:Involve Screening

The Beyond (4):

• "All About Evil" -- Joshua Grannell
• "Bitter Feast" -- Joe Maggio -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Mandrill" -- Ernesto Diaz Espinoza [Chile]
• "Separado!" -- Gruff Rhys and Dylan Goch [Wales] -- U.S. PREMIERE

Special Screenings (3):

• "The Life of Richard Wagner" (1913) -- Carl Froelich
• "The Wheeler Boys, Philip G. Flores" -- WORLD PREMIERE -- Netflix FIND Your Voice Winner
• "Utopia in Four Movements" -- David Cerf and Sam Green

UCLA Film & T.V. Archive Collaborations, L.A. Film Critics: The Films That Got Away (2):

• "The Happiest Girl in the World" (2009) -- Radu Jude [Romania]
• "Katalin Varga" (2009) -- Peter Strickland [Romania/England]

Downtown Confidential (2):

• "Hickey and Boggs" (1972) -- Robert Culp
• "The Driver" (1978) -- Walter Hill

The Film Foundation Screening Program (2):

• "The Leopard" (1963) -- Luchino Visconti -- Presented by the Film Foundation and Gucci as part of “Cinema Visionaries.”
• "The Music Room" (1958) -- Satyajit Ray -- Presented by the Film Foundation and American Express as part of "20 Years/20 Films."

Music Videos (60):

• Eclectic Mix 1-2"
• Big in Japan: A Survey of Japanese Music Videos

LA Film Festival 2008

I must admit, though it was crowded and rather uncomfortable at times, I still pine for the punkish LA Film Festival days at the Sunset 5 Plaza. Westwood Village is great and all, but we Eastsiders aren't all that fond of the 10 & the 405. Oh well…..

What are our picks this summer at the Los Angeles Film Festival?

The festival certainly has its eye on sure hits in the action genre for opening and closing nights, though they're from directors far removed from the Michael Bay school of Kaplowie! high jinks. Opening night features Wanted (Wanted review), directed by Timur Bekmambetov (director of the hyperkinetic Night Watch - Nightwatch review) and starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie, while the festival closes with writer/director Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Del Toro will also be on hand for a conversation at the Hammer.

Must sees include Elite Squad, which looks like Brazil's answer to Training Day, Nordic music videos in Declare Independence: Spotlight on Scandinavia, HottirBoombaLottie, The Wackness, Momma's Man, South Africa's The Choir and Infinite Border.

Outdoor screenings at the Ford Amphitheatre remind us its summertime in the city. Swear-a-Long Scarface, surf movie Highwater (Highwater review) and high school documentary American Teen (American Teen review) will screen at twilight.

Poolside chats at the W Los Angeles in Westwood tackle topics like pot "The New Stoner Age", funny women "Funny Girls", and "Hollywood, D.C.".

Documentary topics include art:Dirty Hands: The Art & Crimes of David Choe, family strife Must Read After My Death, transsexuals Trinidad chef school Pressure Cooker, and the yucky Fleiss Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal.

To its credit, the LA Film Festival has always screened a few films that deal with the complexities of angeleno life. This year two films explore South Central. The ever important free screenings include The Garden (The Garden review), which examines the dirty underbelly of LA politics that allowed the destruction of a 14 acre farm in the middle of South Central and Made in America, which takes a look at root causes of gang warfare. Quintessential LA architecture is explored in Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman.

Is it too early too visit the 80's? LAFF doesn't think so. From The Lost Boys to Night Flight: Born Again, campy fun abounds.

The LA edginess has been watered down, but that means events like Antonio Banderas being saluted. And who doesn't mind saluting Antonio?

LA Film Festival 2008

The Cannes Film Festival might be just over but we're already preparing for the LA Film Festival. Get ready for our coverage of the LA Film Festival 2008, which will take place from June 19th to June 28th.