LA Film Festival 2011 at LA LIVE

Details

Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Sunday, 12 June 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The Los Angeles Film Festival unspools June 16 - 26, 2011 at L.A. LIVE, REDCAT, the owntown Independent in Downtown Los Angeles, as well as outdoor screenings at Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, California.

The Opening Night film presents the return of Richard Linklater with his latest work, Bernie, starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey. An East Texas assistant funeral home director, "Bernie Tiede, is beloved for his generosity and sweet spirit. So well liked is Bernie, especially by the town’s elderly ladies, that nobody in Carthage will say a bad thing about him, even when he commits a very nasty crime." Based on a true story.

The Closing Night film is Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, directed by Troy Nixey, starring Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes, Bailee Madison, Jack Thompson, Alan Dale. Sent to live with her dad and his new girlfriend in the creepy old mansion they’re renovating, little Sally makes friends with the only people who seem to understand her -- the mysterious creatures whispering to her from underneath the house. Soon, Sally finds her new friends are not as friendly as they first appeared to be.

Attendees have an excellent choice of unique special events, including:

• Don't You Know Who I Am?! – Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine will (try to) answer questions about their careers and work in a game show format moderated by film historian extraordinaire, Leonard Maltin.
• An Evening with James Franco – Franco produced, directed and stars in this story of poet Hart Crane, The Broken Tower, which he premieres and discusses. Also starring Michael Shannon and Stacey Miller.
• A Conversation with Julie Taymor about the Art of Translation – Being the first woman to win the Tony® Award for Best Direction of a Musical is no mean feat. Taking material from different sources and translating them to stage and screen is an art in itself, as Taymor will share.
• Guest Director Guillermo del Toro – The producer and co-writer of the Closing Night film hosts a special screening and discussion of the 1996 Italian gothic thriller, The Arcane Enchanter (L' Arcane Incantatore), directed by Pupi Avati. 
• Remembering Sidney Lumet – After a 60-year career that produced 40 films, Lumet passed away April 9. Several of his films have made many an all-time-greatest-film list, including Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Network, and his first feature, 12 Angry Men. Panelists Naomi Foner (writer, Running on Empty), Andy Garcia (actor, Night Falls on Manhattan), Quincy Jones (composer, The Pawnbroker, The Anderson Tapes), and Frank Pierson (writer, The Anderson Tapes, Dog Day Afternoon) share their memories in this tribute to a Hollywood icon whose work continues to stand the test of time.
• Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Erykah Badu presents a screening of Ricky Gervais’ and Matthew Robinson’s The Invention of Lying, followed by an intimate discussion.
• Composer Daniele Luppi presents a screening of Italian genre maestro Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 feature Navajo Joe, followed by a conversation about movies and music.

Gala Screenings include:

A Better Life
dir. Chris Weitz
starring Demián Bichir, José Julián, Dolores Heredia, Joaquín Cosío, Carlos Linares
The poignant, suspenseful tale of an illegal immigrant in LA struggling to build a better life for his beloved son.

Drive
dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks
A stunt driver moonlights as a getaway driver in a robbery that goes desperately wrong.

Documentaries include:

Salaam Dunk
dir. David Fine (Iraq/USA)
The story of an Iraqi women’s basketball team at the American University of Iraq -Sulaimani in Kurdistan. "For the young women on the team, most of whom have never touched a basketball or been allowed to play any sport, it is a blissful release from the realities of a war-torn nation."

Somewhere Between
dir. Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Some 80,000 girls have been adopted from China since 1991. This is the poignant story of four typical American teenage girls who meet and bond with other adoptees, journey back to China in search of their birth parents, reach out to the orphaned girls left behind and attempt to make sense of their own complex heritage.

Operation Peter Pan: Flying Back to Cuba
dir. Estela Bravo (Cuba)
"In 1961 and ‘62, at least 14,000 Cuban children were sent by their parents to the U.S. to "save" them from the Revolution. The program was sponsored by the State Department and the Catholic Church -- with an uncredited assist from a CIA disinformation campaign, which led the parents to believe their kids would be taken from them by Castro and sent to the USSR." Several now-grown "Peter Pans" gather to return to their homeland for the fi rst time. Their stories will shock, move and enlighten you about a little-known chapter in Cold War history.

New narrative features include:

The Future
dir. Miranda July (USA/Germany)
starring Miranda July, Hamish Linklater, David Warshofsky, Isabella Acres, Joe Putterlik
A couple gives themselves the opportunity to explore a "what if" situation. What if Sophie and Jason could quit their jobs for 30 days and do the things that might actually be fulfilling to them? Fantasy blends with reality as their endeavors turn out to be less than fulfilling and each enters a realm of personal failure that inevitably leads to a crisis in their relationship.

Leave It On The Floor
dir. Sheldon Larry
songs by Kim Burse
choreography by Frank Gatson Jr.
starring Miss Barbie-Q, Ephraim Sykes, Andre Myers, Phillip Evelyn
This musical takes us into the world of voguing in contemporary Downtown L.A. "Hunky, homeless hero Brad , discarded by his homophobic mom, falls in with the members of the House of Eminence, ruled by the stern aging diva Queef Latina, who keeps a careful, loving watch over her makeshift family of runaways and throwaways. When two of her crew fall for Brad, the Queef is royally unamused. This film is a one of a kind celebration: a gay African- American musical about finding your true family."

Come Rain, Come Shine / Saranghanda, saranghaji anneunda
dir. Lee Yoon-ki (South Korea)
starring Lim Soo-jung, Hyun Bin
As a rainstorm gathers strength outside, a young woman brings her five-year marriage to a close. On their last afternoon together, the couple quietly goes about dismantling their marriage in a "peaceful breakup," as they approach their last goodbye.

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within / Tropa de Elite 2
dir. José Padilha (Brazil)
starring Wagner Moura, André Ramiro, André Mattos, Sandro Rochca, Maria Ribeiro, Milhem Cortaz
"Nascimento is the head of Rio de Janiero’s special police unit attempting to clean up the crime and drug infested favelas. Kicked upstairs after a prison riot scandal, he begins to uncover a far-ranging web of corruption that’s penetrated his unit." This potent, powerful mix of political exposé and adrenelin-fueled thriller became the most successful movie in Brazilian history.

Money Talks & Art Matters: Conversations on the Convergence of Film, Art and Commerce
Panels include:

On the Tightrope: Filmmakers’ Balancing Acts – Rebels with a film or studio darlings? Whether inside the studio or outside the system, these filmmakers have been able to navigate the independent market with smart and artful films and at the same time find work within the Hollywood system.

Reel of Fortune: Playing the Distribution Game – What variables come in to play when releasing a film? How do you design the right strategy that best leverages the elements of a film? Sales agents, distribution and marketing experts explain how they would sell, market and/or release their particular choice and why. The specific and practical advice for each film will provide useful marketing and distribution tips for all.

Re-inventing the Theatrical Experience – As the studios prepare to change exhibition by going with early VOD releases, a group of filmmakers, exhibitors, distributors and technology experts explore the different models and technologies that can keep theatrical as the ultimate viewing experience in the digital age.

The Money Puzzle: Financing Case Studies – From complex international strategies to inventive crowd-funding initiatives,  seasoned filmmakers share three variations on how they pieced together the money for their most recent films.

Movies for Change – Making movies that matter and that can effect change is a tricky proposition. From their experiences financing and making films that can generate change (both social and financial), funders, producers, financiers and filmmakers explore how to negotiate the dual (and sometimes dueling) goals of making money while telling meaningful stories.

For more information, go to www.lafilmfest.com.

Los Angeles Film Festival
June 16 - 26, 2011

L.A. LIVE
So. Figueroa Street at W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
includes:

Regal Cinemas L.A LIVE Stadium 14
1000 W. Olympic Blvd.

Grammy Museum
800 W. Olympic Blvd. (@ L.A. LIVE)

JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE
ION Rooftop Pool Bar
900 W. Olympic Blvd. (@ L.A. LIVE)

Nokia Plaza
777Chick Hearn Court

Other venues:

Downtown Independent
251 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

REDCAT
631 W. 2nd Street @ Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Outdoor screening venues:

FIGat7TH (formerly 7+FIG)
735 S. Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Ford Amphitheatre
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East
Hollywood, CA 90068

• < Prev
• Next >