2010
Sixteenth Los Angeles Film Festival
(click here to see festival film guide)
Dates: June 17 – 27
Festival Director: Rebecca Yeldham
Venues: Festival Village at L.A. LIVE, Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14, Nokia Plaza and Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, Downtown Independent, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, GRAMMY Museum, California Plaza, The Orpheum Theatre, REDCAT, 7+Fig at Ernst & Young Plaza
Opening Night: The Kids Are All Right, directed by Lisa Cholodenko
Closing Night: Despicable Me, directed by Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud
World Premiere: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, directed by David Slade
Galas: Animal Kingdom, directed by David Michod; Cyrus, directed by Jay & Mark Duplass; Mahler on the Couch; directed by Percy & Felix O. Adlon; Revolución, directed by Mariana Chenillo, Fernando Eimbcke, Amat Escalante, Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo García, Diego Luna, Gerardo Naranjo, Rodrigo Piá, Carlos Reygadas, Patricia Riggen; Waiting for “Superman,” directed by Davis Guggenheim.
Guest Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Artists in Residence: Jonathan Gold, Quincy Jones, Paul Reubens
Films: over 200 feature films, shorts and music videos
Sponsors: Presenting Sponsor: Los Angeles Times; Host/Partner: L.A. LIVE, Premiere Sponsor: ZonePerfect® Nutrition Bars; Principal Sponsors: Kodak, Subaru
Filmmaker Retreat: at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in Marin County
Festival Jury: Charles Burnett, Larry Karaszewski, Ella Taylor, Karen Moncrief, Arthur Dong, Robert Abele, Sandra Tsing Loh, Andrew Garfield, Tommy O’Haver.
Award Winners by Category:
Jury Narrative Award – A Family, Pernille Fischer Christensen; Jury Documentary Award – Make Believe, J. Clay Tweel; Best Ensemble Performance – Sabrina Lloyd, James Urbaniak, Lynn Cohen, Harry Chase, Nate Smith, Kamel Boutros in Hello Lonesome; Jury Narrative Short Film – My Invisible Friend, Pablo Larcuen; Jury Documentary Short Film – The Lucky Ones, Tomasz Wolski; Jury Animated Short Film – The Wonder Hospital, Beomsik Shimbe Shim; Audience Awards – Best Narrative Feature – Four Lions, Christopher Morris; Best Documentary Feature – Thunder Soul, Mark Landsman; Best International Feature – Presumed Guilty, Roberto Hernández, Geoffrey Smith; Best Short Film – Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No, James Blagden; Best Music Video – OK Go’s This Too Shall Pass, James Frost, OK Go, Synn Labs
Of Note: 2010 marked the Festival’s first year in downtown Los Angeles and drew over 92,000 attendees – a record high. This year, the Festival received more than 4,700 submissions from filmmakers around the world. The final selections represented 28 World, North American, and U.S. premieres, which more than doubled from 2009. The number of films competing in the narrative and documentary competition categories also increased this year form 13 to 18, of which half were World premieres.
Gala events, conversations and screenings drew celebrities Beck, Ben Affleck, Brett Ratner, Catherine Keener, Christopher Nolan, Dakota Fanning, Edgar Wright, Eli Roth, Ewan McGregor, Helen Mirren, Jaden Smith, James Cromwell, James Gandolfini, Jane Lynch, Jeremy Renner, JJ Abrams, John C. Reilly, John Legend, John Lithgow, Jonah Hill, Josh Brolin, Julianne Moore, Kate Beckinsale, Kathryn Bigelow, Kevin Smith, Kim & Kourtney Kardashian, Kristen Stewart, Kristen Wiig, Lance Bass, Marisa Tomei, Mark Ruffalo, Melissa Leo, Moby, Paul Reubens, Peter Fonda, Pharrell Williams, Quincy Jones, Rainn Wilson, Robert Pattinson, Roger Corman, Ron Artest, Rosario Dawson, Steve Carell, Sylvester Stallone, Taylor Lautner. The Filmmaker Reception was held on the rooftop of The Standard Hotel W Hotel and was hosted by Scott Cooper. The Awards Brunch at CHAYA Downtown was hosted by Melissa Leo and Gena Rowlands.
Attendance: 92,000
2011
Seventeenth Los Angeles Film Festival
(click here to see festival film guide)
Dates: June 16 – 26, 2011
Festival Director: Rebecca Yeldham
Venues: Festival Village at L.A. LIVE, Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14, Nokia Plaza, L.A. LIVE, Downtown Independent, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, GRAMMY Museum, California Plaza, REDCAT, Figat7th.
Opening Night: Bernie, directed by Richard Linklater
Closing Night: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, directed by Troy Nixey
Galas: Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish; A Better Life directed by Chris Weitz; The Devil’s Double, directed by Lee Tamahori; Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Special Screening: Green Lantern, directed by Martin Campbell
Guest Director: Guillermo del Toro
Artists in Residence: Erykah Badu, Daniele Luppi
Films: more than 200 feature films, shorts and music videos
Sponsors: Presenting Sponsor: Los Angeles Times; Host/Partner: L.A. LIVE, Premier Sponsor: Pechanga Resort & Casino; Principal Sponsor: Virgin America
Filmmaker Retreat: at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in Marin County
Festival Jury: Alfonso Duralde, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Michael Lumpkin, Jeff Malmberg, Eric Nakamura, Laurie Ochoa, Lynn Shelton, Margery Simkin, Daniel Waters
Award Winners by Category:
Jury Narrative Award – Familiar Ground, directed by Stephane Lafleur; Jury Documentary Award –Wish Me Away, directed by Beverly Kopf and Bobbie Birleffl Best Ensemble Performance – Amber Sealey, Kent Osborne, Amanda Street, and Gabriel Diamond in How to Cheat; Jury Narrative Short Film – The Wind is Blowing on My Street, Saba Riazi; Jury Documentary Short Film – I Am a Girl!, Susan Koenen; Jury Animated Short Film –The Eagleman Stag, Mikey Please;
Audience Awards – Best Narrative Feature – Attack the Block, Joe Cornish; Best Documentary Feature – Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, Michael Rapaport; Best International Feature –Senna, Asif Kapadla, ; Best Short Film – Blind Date, Joe Rosen; Best Music Video – Grum’s Can’t Shake This Feeling: Adam Littke, Ryan McNeill, Adam Willis.
Of Note: 2011 marked the Festival’s return to downtown Los Angeles at its L.A. LIVE hub and attracted 75,000 attendees. This year, the Festival received more than 5,200 submissions from filmmakers around the world. The final selections represented 31 World, North American or U.S. premieres.
Gala events, conversations and screenings drew celebrities Allison Anders, Sean Astin, Jack Black, Dustin Lance black, Don Cheadle, Diablo Cody, Jon Cryer, Chris Douridas, Vera Farmiga, Naomi Foner, James Franco, Andy Garcia, Brendan Gleeson, Cuba Gooding, Jr. Quincy Jones, Miranda July, Shirley MacLaine, Guy Maddin, Leonard Maltin, Thomas Newman, Phillip Noyce, Wolfgang Peterson, Frank Pierson, John Singleton, Sparks, Harry Stanton, Jr., Julie Taymor, Garth Trinidad, members of A Tribe Called Quest, Eric Wareheim. The Filmmaker Reception was held at the stunning WP24 by Wolfgang Puck and was hosted by Shohreh Aghdashloo and Garrett Hedlund. The Awards Brunch at CHAYA Downtown was hosted by Allison Janney and John C. Reilly.
The Festival hosted a 20th anniversary screening with cast and crew reunion of Boyz n the Hood and a 30th anniversary screening of Das Boot with director Wolfgang Peterson in attendance.
Attendance: 75,000
2012
Eighteenth Los Angeles Film Festival
(click here to see festival film guide)
Dates: June 14-24, 2012
Festival Director: Stephanie Allain
Venues: Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14, GRAMMY Museum, Grand Performances at California Plaza, REDCAT, Figat7th and LA County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Opening Night: To Rome With Love, directed by Woody Allen
Closing Night: Magic Mike, directed by Steven Soderbergh
Galas: Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin; Brave, directed by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman; Middle of Nowhere, directed by Ava DuVernay; Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, directed by Lorene Scafaria
Guest Director: William Friedkin
Artists in Residence: Danny Elfman, Michael Voltaggio, Raphael Saadiq
Films: nearly 200 feature films, shorts and music videos
Sponsors: Presenting Media Sponsor: Los Angeles Times; Host Venue: Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14; Premier Sponsor: Virgin America; Platinum Sponsors: Kodak, Stella Artois, Melrose Mac, Jameson, HBO, Canon, Deluxe/EFilm, Volkswagen of America, Nokia and Dolby.
Filmmaker Retreat: at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in Marin County
Festival Jury: Karin Chien (producer), Ernest Hardy (film critic/author), Rachael Harris (actor), Mark Landsman (director), Javier Fuentes Leon (writer/director), Sheri Linden (film critic), Heather Rae (producer), Nancy Schreiber (cinematographer), Robert Townsend (actor/filmmaker)
Award Winners by Category:
Jury Narrative Award – All is Well, directed by Pocas Pascoal; Special Honorable Mention in the Narrative Competition – Thursday Till Sunday, directed by Dominga Sotomayor; Jury Documentary Award – Drought, directed by Everardo González; Best Ensemble Performance – Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King in Four, directed by Joshua Sanchez; Jury Narrative Short Film – The Chair, directed by Grainger David; Jury Documentary Short Film – Kudzu Vine, directed by Josh Gibson; Jury Animated Short Film – The Pub directed by Joseph Pierce
Audience Awards – Best Narrative Feature – Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin; Best Documentary Feature – Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives, directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore; Best International Feature – Searching for Sugar Man, directed by Malik Bendjelloul; Best Short Film – Asad, directed by Bryan Buckley; Best Music Video – Man Man’s Piranhas Club, directed by Lex Halaby.
Of Note: This year, the Festival received more than 5,200 submissions from filmmakers around the world. The final selections represented 31 World, North American or U.S. premieres.
The Festival hosted a lively conversation, “Cooking a Contemporary Classic: A Conversation with Breaking Bad” with series creator Vince Gillian and cast members Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Bob Odenkirk, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt and RJ Mitte.
“The Developing Story: Inside HBO’s The Newsroom with Aaron Sorkin” was moderated by Madeleine Brand and included Sorkin, executive producer Alan Poul and director Greg Mottola.
The Festival’s outdoor screenings were wildly successful with 2,000+ participating in the Dirty Dancing Dance-a-long at Grand Performances (co-presented with Dance Camera West), a 30th anniversary screening of ET: The Extra-Terrestrial with 100+ bicyclists and scores of red sweatshirts at FIGat7th. Also at FIGat7th was the 30th anniversary screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan with the legendary Leonard Nimoy in a pre-screening conversation.
The Festival joined forces with Disney-Pixar and Dolby for the world premiere of Brave at the new Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The Festival also hosted a second gala screening of Brave at the Regal Premiere Theatre at L.A. LIVE.
An impressive number of filmmakers and celebrities attended the Festival, including:
