On June 27, the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival came to a close after a packed 10-day series of events from conversations to concerts to lounge parties and of course, movies. Film Independent—the non-profit organization and producer of the Fest—announced the winners of the coveted Audience Awards on the last day of the Festival, led by Christopher Morris’ “Four Lions” for Best Narrative Feature and Mark Landsman’s “Thunder Soul” for Best Documentary Feature, each receiving a $50,000 cash prizes.
The Audience Awards
The Audience Award for Best International Feature went to “Presumed Guilty,” directed by Roberto Hernandez and Geoffrey Smith; Best Short Film was awarded to James Blagden’s “Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No”; and Best Music Video went to “This Too Shall Pass,” directed by band OK Go, James Frost and Syyn Labs.
Other honorees include “A Family” (Jury Narrative), “Make Believe” (Jury Documentary) “Hello Lonesome” (Ensemble), “My Invisible Friend” (Narrative Short), “The Lucky Ones” (Documentary Short) and “The Wonder Hospital” (Animated Short).
“In a year that celebrated an exhilarating spectrum of American and international cinema, it’s so fitting that these jury awards reflect the incredible diversity of the Festival,” said Festival Director Rebecca Yeldham.
Fest Films Explore Serious Themes
With 10 days of movies , there were other notable premiers to remember and acknowledge as well as the winners, like the opening film, “The Kids Are All Right,” starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko, “Kids” revolves around how a family changes when two children born from artificial insemination invite the man into their lives.
“Dog Sweat,” the Iranian film directed by Hossein Keshavarz, tells several interwoven stories of living and growing up in Iran, including the coming-of-age period. Forced to shoot underground, Keshavarz obtained several short film permits to make the film possible. “I tried to give a voice to a new generation of people,” Keshavarz said during a Q&A session.
Writer Maryam Azadi, filmmaker Hossein Keshavarz and Los Angeles Film Festival Artistic Director David Ansen attend "Dog Sweat" screening.
The documentary “Ain’t in it for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm” dives deep into the current life of rock star Levon Helm of The Band. Jacob Hatley directs and told the audience at one screening that he basically moved in with the legend and shot more than 500 hours of footage to create the intriguing documentary. Billy Bob Thornton makes a small appearance in the tale of an American rocker.
In the Australian “Animal Kingdom,” newcomer to the screen James Frecheville stars as a young teen caught in the dangerous world his family has created, including drugs, murder and deceit. On the red carpet, LA’s The Place caught up with the actor, and he told us, “My favorite part (of working on “Animal Kingdom”) would easily be the range of actors on the film, working with them and learning from each of them.”
One of those actors was Jacki Weaver, who has starred in many films in her native Australia.
“David [Michod, writer/director] sent me the script about six years ago and said he had written the part for me, and I was very flattered, and when I read the script, I thought this is brilliant,” Weaver told LA’s The Place.
Guy Pearce also stars in the tense drama.
Producer Liz Watts, actor James Frecheville, director David Michod, actress Jacki Weaver, actor Sullivan Stapleton and Sony Pictures Classics Co-President Tom Bernard attend the "Animal Kingdom" premiere.
After premiering at the close of the Tribeca Film Festival this year, documentary “Freakonomics” gained more momentum at the Southern California-based film event, showing to several packed houses. Based on economist Stephen D. Levitt and author Stephen J. Dubner’s best-selling book of the same name, “Freakonomics” explores several humanistic phenomena including the importance of a name, your realtor’s honest intentions and if bribery makes a difference in the long run. Segments were written and directed by several major documentary filmmakers.
Co-wrote and directed by the father/son team of Percy and Felix Adlon, “Mahler on the Couch” entertained audiences with a fast-moving look at composer Gustav Mahler’s (Johannes Silberschneider) therapy session with Sigmund Freud (Karl Markovics) after discovering his younger wife Alma (Barbara Romaner) has had an affair. The film is highlighted by its musical score conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Johannes Silberschneider plays Gustav Mahler and Barbara Romaner plays Alma Mahler in the "Mahler on the Couch" film.
Though the third film in the “Twlight” saga, “Eclipse” received much of the attention, star Kristen Stewart was also at the Los Angeles Film Festival to promote her smaller budgeted “Welcome to the Rileys.” Directed by Jake Scott, “Rileys” examines how a business trip to New Orleans for Doug Riley (James Gandolfini) and a random meeting with the young, damaged runaway Mallory (Stewart) wakes him and his wife, Lois (Melissa Leo), up from a depressed stupor.
On getting prepared for her role as a young stripper in the film, Stewart said during a Q&A session: “I was really terrified because it was written really well…I talked to the girls that worked at Dixie Divas, where we shot, and so many of the girls were obviously where Mallory was before she meets Doug, which was good for me to see…”
