LA Indie Film Festival

 SATELLITE BEACH written, directed and starring LUKE WILSON

The LA INDIE Film Festival will take place March 13 to 23, 2014 at the LET LIVE THEATRE (916 N. Formosa Ave.). 84 films from 16 countries make up the Features and Shorts lineup!  There are nine Feature Films in competition. Among them is THE FRONTIER with a stellar turn by MAX GAIL as a retired professor who tries to reconnect after years of estrangement with his ranch hand son. From France is the stunning love story, YOU CANT WRITE A LETTER, from India, the terrifying, THE BLACK TAPE, from Brazil, with a stellar performance from one of its finest actresses, REGINA DUARTE is NEVER TOO OLD TO MEOW. Closing out the festival is the thought provoking documentary from Israel, CROSSROADS: LABOR PAINS OF A NEW WORLDVIEW explores the depths of the current human condition and the emergence of an integrated worldview.

There are also eleven short program blocks featuring 75 films representing a wide range of genres and styles of filmmaking. In the mix are many premiering and multi-award winning narrative and animated films. SATELLITE BEACH is written, directed and stars LUKE WILSON. Satellite Beach follows the unique journey of the Endeavour space shuttle as it travels through the streets of Los Angeles to the California Science Center. ZACH BRAFF contributes the mayhem of EFFED! This truly international festival has films featured from Romania, Italy, Singapore, India, Brazil, Denmark, Spain, Ireland, France, Germany, Mexico, Australia, Israel, Canada, UK, and all over the USA.

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[caption id="attachment_3280" align="alignnone" width="550"]My Name Is Faith[/caption]

Over 70 films from 13 countries will screen at the LA INDIE Film Festival taking place March 14-24, 2013 at the Let Live Theatre (916 N. Formosa Ave.). in LA, California.

The LA INDIE Film Festival is the partner festival of the LA Comedy Festival. 

The documentaries cover a wide range of subjects. World Premiere of Dead Man Rockin’ covers the life and music of John Harrelson. It offers a portrait of a unique and uncompromising artist, a true American Bluesman, a ‘you can never forget him’ type of character, a man who lives (and dies) for his craft and art every day of his life.

The LA Premiere of My Name Is Faith chronicles the story of a 13-year old girl working hard to overcome a troubling past, embrace vulnerability and accept the love and possibility that now surround her. “Just because a child has a past doesn’t mean they’re broken forever.” From foster homes to believing she is finally safe.

The West Coast Premiere of the award winning, Beauty and the Beast, where a first-time documentary filmmaker offers a compelling insight into the devastating reality of breast cancer, seen through the eyes of female patients helping demystify the disease while painting poignant and often humorous portraits of survival.

Rounding out the documentaries, The Glamorous Life focuses on the life of Yavaughnie Wilkins, including her early life and eight and a half year relationship with high profile executive Charles E. Phillips, Jr.  The documentary explores the couple’s love story from bliss to bitter end.

Among the features is the thriller, The Employer starring Malcolm McDowell. Five candidates for a high-ranking position at a powerful and mysterious corporation are given a final interview unlike any they could have imagined. Presiding over this life-or-death contest is the CEO of the corporation, known only as The Employer.

From Australia, comes the world premiere of Ad Nauseam which tells the comedic story of Derek and Clive, two young viral ad producers from Sydney, who have 12 hours to get a million YouTube views or they’re out of a job. Lucky they don’t have any morals! Matt’s Chance is a darkly comedic tale of love, revenge, and the fickle nature of human morality starring Edward Furlong  Lee Majors, Margot Kidder and Gary Busey. World premiere of The Jogger, where a man goes on an evening jog only to have it turn into a race for his life when he is stalked by a psychotic killer.

There are also nine short program blocks featuring a wide range of genres and styles of filmmaking. In the mix are many premiering and multi-award winning narrative and animated films. Some featured performances are by Michael Richards (walk The Light), Sharon Lawrence (The Visit), Jorge Garcia  (Shredded), Bill Nighy (Placebo), Janina Gavankar  (Waiting For Godot) and the music video for Arrested Development’s latest single, Living. Short Films are featured from Iran, Israel, Hungary, Italy, France, Morocco, South Africa, Canada, UK, Switzerland, France, Columbia and all over the USA.

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[caption id="attachment_2847" align="alignnone" width="642"]Face 2 Face[/caption]

The LA INDIE FILM FESTIVAL kicks off on Friday September 7 and runs through September 13, 2012, at the LOS FELIZ 3 CINEMA (1822 N.Vermont Ave.) in Los Angeles, California. The LA INDIE Film Festival is the partner festival of the well-established LA Comedy Festival.

The Documentaries screening at the festival include the West Coast Premiere of BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL, an intimate look at the rise, fall, and rise again of one of the world’s most recognized and controversial sex symbols. With her razor sharp wit and Tennessee twang Page emerges from decades of seclusion to reveal her secret past.

The LA premiere of THE DEVIL AND THE DEATH PENALTY chronicles the current dysfunction within the California death penalty process by examining the case of Lawrence Bittaker, a convicted serial rapist and murderer who has been on San Quentin’s Death Row since 1981.

How can you have 5,000 friends on Facebook, and still feel alone? is the provocative question posed by FACE 2 FACE, a feature-length documentary that follows the 11,000-mile cross-country adventure of award-winning filmmaker, Katherine Brooks, as she travels the country journeying into the homes and lives of 50 strangers that are her facebook friends.

Rounding out the documentaries are MY WAY following the antics of the all girl band, The Rebekah Starr Band, as they travel cross country on their way to seeking fame in Hollywood. FREE CHINA: THE COURAGE TO BELIEVE examines human rights in China through the eyes of a Communist Party member and a Chinese American businessman who are persecuted for their spiritual beliefs. And WHO BOMBED JUDY BARI? focuses on the car bombing in May 1990 and its aftermath of Earth First Activists, Judy Bari and Darryl Cheney. The FBI arrested them for bombing themselves. Seven years later, dying of cancer after having survived the bombing, Bari gives her deathbed deposition in a lawsuit against the authorities and as she testifies, the movie flashes back to the colorful actions and antics of Earth First! she depicts. “…The kind of plot worthy of a Hollywood headliner… distinctly American, and distinctly compelling.”–Washington Life Magazine

Among the features is a stellar production of THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH making its US premiere. Amazon UK declares it “a fantastic version.” JUAN IN A MILLION, from Chile, follows a young man when he wakes up on December 17th, 2012 to find the entire city of Santiago empty, why was he left behind? BOOSTER makes its LA premiere after successful screenings and winning the Jury prize for performance at SXSW. It is a crime story focused on the loyalty between brothers featuring a terrific cast headed by Seymour Cassell.

Ireland brings us, COME ON EILEEN, in its West Coast Premiere, follows one summer, mother and ex dancer, Eileen, relapses into alcoholism as she starts a new relationship. We watch as she and her family combust. From the UK, based on the true British rock and roll hoax of 2004, the comedy VINYL tells how washed-up rocker Johnny Jones hoodwinks top record labels, radio DJs and the entire rock music world by releasing his new punk rock single under a fictitious teenage band’s name…now he just needs to recruit a rowdy group of kids and teach them true punk rock spirit!

There are also eleven short program blocks featuring a wide range of genres and styles of filmmaking. In the mix are many premiering and multi-award winning films. Fresh from Comic Con is the multi-racial Western 6GUN and by way of Cannes comes the Russian short, FOREVER AFTER, about a mysterious alien phenomenon.

There are such incredible gems in this lineup, like THE PARACHUTE BALL set during World War II on a secluded farm in Kent, two elderly ladies are unexpectedly called to duty one night when they discover an unconscious German pilot hanging from his parachute in their tree. CROQUEMBOUCHE focuses on a couple hosting a private dinner for four in the early 50’s. One of the guests turns out to be a woman the hostess had an affair with during the Second World War. LIFE ACCORDING TO PENNY, follows a teenage girl that has less than twenty-four hours to free herself and a mentally challenged friend from the Girls’ Home where they are held captive by a sadistic psychiatrist. Penny must draw on all her faith, wits, and courage to bring down a giant and risk everything for one last chance at freedom. THE DARKNESS IS CLOSE BEHIND continues the theme of the teenager in peril, where a teenage boy anxiously watches over his meth cook father and his little brother – but his vigilance is wearing thin.

Not to be missed is the comedy thriller WE THINK NATE TORRENCE IS DEAD. By using only video footage retrieved from an abandoned cell phone, this 23 minute short film chronicles the last 24 hours of actor Nate Torrence before his disappearance in rural Colorado. It leaves the audience assuming only one possible outcome… we think Nate Torrence is dead. And delight in the Australian Production Designers Award winning animated short film, THE CARTOGRAPHER which will suck you into a beautiful world of mystery and intrigue. There are over 70 other dramatic, scary, thrilling short films. Each block is programmed carefully to offer a wide span of storytelling styles. And of course comedies are screened throughout!

LA INDIE FILM FESTIVAL runs every night from September 7-13.

via LA Indie Film Festival

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