The Global Film Village

LA Shorts Fest 2010

// July 7th, 2010 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

by Marla Lewin

We will be attending another Shorts Film Fest this time here in Los Angeles. They proclaim themselves to be the largest short film festival in the world with 285 film screenings and 9 days of educational panels, interactive and entertaining events. Their host venue is the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theaters located at 8000 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood CA 90046.

They tell me that the festival has quickly become the industry standard for showcasing and awarding undiscovered talent. It is officially recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and some of these films may go on to receive Oscar nominations. In the past, 33 films that have played at the festival have received Oscar nominations with 11 winning the coveted Oscar statue. (more…)

Fantastic Fest September 23-30, 2010 Geek Heaven

// July 3rd, 2010 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

by Marc Halperin

What can you say about a festival that advertises it self as having:

70 Features • 50 Shorts • Eight nights of parties * Guns • Barbecue • Swimmin’ Holes • Karaoke, and …an unholy amount of movies, booze and fun await you in Austin, Texas.

The last two words say it all, only in Austin, a city whose motto is “Help Keep Austin Weird.”

This annual event is put together with the prodigious help of Harry Knowles of Aint it Cool News. Harry has made a living for himself and a lot of other people by making the Internet into a refuge and business for many in fandom. Next to Comic-Con in San Diego this is probably the most important film festival in the United States for all things related to science fiction, horror, fantasy and the supernatural. (more…)

Twilight and Mahler on the Couch Attract Crowds Downtown

// July 2nd, 2010 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

by Marla Lewin

There was a tent city of Twilight fans waiting for the  stars to walk the red carpet for the last three days and nights in downtown LA. The security guards have had quite the experience this week with the Laker’s victory celebration on Monday and then these well behaved kids camping out and watching the earlier Twilight movies on a big screen in the courtyard opposite the Nokia theatre.

The film festival was also full to capacity.  Every film we went to was packed with hungry audiences, even in Hollywood, audiences can not get enough of movies and stars.

We had thought about going to the retro classic films last night at the Redcat theatre.  One The House of the Angel, won the Cannes Film Festival and was considered the masterpiece of Leopoldo Torre Nilsson, was sponsored by the Consulate of Argentina. We would follow that up immediately with a Walter Hill classic  The Driver, starring Ryan O’Neal and Bruce Dern filmed in downtown. Our friend from the French Consulate said he spent all of Saturday at the Disney Redcat Theatre watching Retro classic films from Argentina, Germany and USA.  Sort of surreal as all the nations of the world are playing in the soccer World Cup competition while we watch their culture and history in our very new and modern city.

Instead we decided to go to the Gala premiere, Mahler On The Couch, at the Regal Premiere Screen, (more…)

2010 Palm Springs International ShortFest award winners

// July 2nd, 2010 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

James Franco comes out to support Palm Springs Shortfest - photo(c) Lani Garfield

by Marla Lewin

The largest short film festival in North America announced its Winners Sunday at an Award Ceremony at the Camelot Theatre.  Some of the finest award winning shorts were shown in-between announcing the winners.  Darryl Macdonald said,  “The sheer quality and diversity of the work on view provided testament to extraordinary new talents emerging worldwide.”  Darryl also said that next year he would move the dates to avoid conflict with the LA Film Fesival, which friend and  artistic director David Ansen now curates. So many creative, artistic works, from international talent of all ages was thrilling to experience. We agreed that the shorts we saw were exceptional especially the animated ones.

JURY AWARDS:

BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARD – $2,000 cash, Software Package courtesy of The Showbiz Software Store. The winner of this award becomes eligible for Academy Awards consideration. (more…)

2010 LA Film Festival Award Winners

// June 30th, 2010 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

by Marla Lewin

UPDATED: The LA film festival had a free outdoor screening at a new mixed use residential complex named The Los Angeles Center it is a short walk from the Disney Concert Hall and the MOCA, The Museum of Contemporary Art. It was a film named Climate Refugees based on the effects of climate change. Marc talked with Ed Begley, Jr, who remembered him from working with The Grifters, at that time Ed was dating Annette Benning.  Ed had driven to the Academy Awards in 1991 in an electric car. Francis Fisher, brought popcorn and they discussed and observed what could be the future post Global Warming.

Down the street at the Grammy Museum, Roger Corman spoke about his career, joined by Peter Fonda, who had made early experimental films, discussing how the history they made, relates to the times today.  How it is even easier now to make creative, low budget movies, with new technology. (more…)

John Lithgow Wows at LAFF Conversation

// June 25th, 2010 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

by Marla Lewin

There is no doubt that John Lithgow is an accomplished serious actor who can never be too over the top for his own liking. Tuesday night was a rare opportunity to see him in a conversation with David Ansen, the new Artistic Director of LAFF. What was so special about this was that they were college roommates at Harvard and are still best friends. That gave David a unique insight and made it a more personal conversation than one usually hears at a film festival.

John Lithgow wowed the audience last night with his theatrical approach to working in film.  Most of us were about to watch The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai for the first time on a big screen along with the actor. This cult film from 1984 also starred Peter Weller, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, and Christopher Lloyd.  John  said the experience was the one of the most fun he had working in the industry, right along with 3^rd Rock, the cast was laughing hysterically all the time on set.  He even pointed out a scene at the end of the film where you can see him roaring, as he plays a mix of an insane scientist with very black teeth, and a take off on a dictator like Mussolini.  Who knew you could get paid to have this much fun he gushed. (more…)

Wading Through the Results of Climate Change

// June 25th, 2010 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

by Marc Halperin

We had lunch last Saturday with Michael Nash the director of Climate Refugees which has a free screening today at the LA film festival. The film focuses on Bangladesh, Chad, China, Kenya, Tuvalu, and the USA and promises to be a riveting 89 minutes.

“Climate Refugees” is a term few people outside the U.S. military and U.N. circles are familiar with until now. This illuminating documentary takes the next step after An Inconvenient Truth and examines the facts behind the phrase and exposes what is being called the biggest challenge facing mankind. (more…)

Davis Guggenheim’s WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”

// June 24th, 2010 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

by Marla Lewin

The LAFF Premiere of Davis Guggenheim’s WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” was on Monday, June 21st, Celebrities attending include: Jerry O’Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Pamela Reed (Jericho), Jay Roach (Producer), Elisabeth Rohm (Law & Order), Lesley Ann Warren (In Plain Sight), Cheryl Hines, Brett Ratner, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood). There was another Gala screening and Conversation with John Legend, director Davis Guggenheim, and school expert Gregory Canada, who is featured in the film the following night.  WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN is a documentary account of the historic and present state of our school system in America.  Public education was a ground breaking effort that had never been done before. It declared that it was a national priority to educate our children and prepare them for the world they would inherit. It helped foster the growth of the middle class and fueled our economic prosperity. Now we are finding that other nations are doing a far better job of educating their children than we are and this threatens our economy and democracy. Only through a well educated citizenry can we protect our way of life and the form of government that it is based upon. (more…)

Toying with Transmedia at the LA Film Festival

// June 22nd, 2010 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

(c) 2010 Marvel Comics All Rights Reserved.

by Marc Halperin

Toying with Transmedia was a lecture by MIT professor Henry Jenkins, this trend has been around for more than a decade but has gained traction lately. I first heard about Transmedia at the San Diego Comic-Con years ago. Robert Gould an old friend created Imaginosis in 1999 to focus on visual artists who create “World Properties.” At the center of that company is the World of Brian Froud who designed the Dark Crystal and the world of Faeries including the best selling book Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book.

Professor Jenkins described his work as “Where old and new media collide.” He looked at it from the viewpoint of comic books with cross-overs to movies, toys, television and other mass consumable media.

Professor Jenkins presented us wih a new lexicon of terms to describe this world.
(more…)

ONE LUCKY ELEPHANT SCREENS with small red carpet, BIG STARS

// June 22nd, 2010 // Comments Off // Film Festivals

by Marla Lewin

The World Premiere of “One Lucky Elephant” at the L.A. Film Festival attracted  Lily Tomlin, Academy Award-director, Kathryn Bigelow and actress Persia White (“Girlfriends”), who saw the film and stayed for a special panel discussion hosted by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) that focused on the plight of elephants and other wild animals in captivity.  Moderated by NY Times journalist and author Charles Siebert, the panel featured the film’s director Lisa Leeman and writer / producer Cristina Colissimo, Laura Balding (wife of Flora’s ‘father’, David Balding, featured in the film). Also their were scientist Dr. Toni Frohoff (behavioral and wildlife biologist and author of Dolphin Mysteries: Unlocking the Secrets of Communication), Dr. Lorin Lindner (clinical psychologist and author of Post-Traumatic Stress and Elephants in Captivity, and Ron Kagan (director, Detroit Zoo, one of the first zoos to close their elephant exhibit, relocating their elephants to sanctuaries).

The panel proved  as thought-provoking as the film.   Lisa Leeman stated “The film is about people as much as it is about animals” referring to the plight of David Balding finding the right place for Flora upon her retirement.  David’s wife, Laura eloquently explained, “while our love for these animals is genuine, we must really take responsibility when caring for them.”  Moved by Laura’s statement, Dr. Toni Frohoff turned to Laura Balding and said “Accountability is a testament to human ability” which resulted in  applause.

Perry Chen, a 10-year-old film critic who gave the film 4 out of 5 Starfish asked- “why are people so ignorant about animals feelings?

“One Lucky Elephant” screens again at the L.A. film Festival on Friday, June 25, at 5pm and Saturday, June 26, at 1:45 p.m, both at the Regal Cinemas.  Log onto www.oneluckyelephant.com for more information.