Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival held its closing night screening and gala at the Wadsworth Theatre in West LA on Sunday, July 1st. 
The night included the North American premiere of Trainspotting director Danny Boyle’s new sci-fi film Sunshine, a de-glamorized, yet fantastical depiction of a space mission to the sun in the year 2057. The premiere was preceded by red carpet interviews and the Festival’s 2007 awards ceremony. The closing night gala immediately followed the screening of Sunshine and was held outside the Wadsworth Theatre on the bucolic Veterans Administration grounds. Attendees of the Festival’s closing night included the stars and director of Sunshine, and many of the filmmakers and casts of films featured in this year’s Festival. The rest of the night’s estimated 1,100 attendees consisted primarily of people in the industry, Festival employees and volunteers, and people from outside the industry who love to watch and support independent film.
Highlights of the evening began with the dapper charm of Honorary Festival Chair Kerry Washington, Sunshine director Danny Boyle, and actor Chris Evans on the red carpet outside the Wadsworth Theatre. Kerry beamed above a turquoise and charcoal Missoni mini-dress as she graciously fielded questions from the press. When asked by one reporter what she feels when she sees herself in a bathing suit, she keenly and modestly observed that, “What I see in the mirror is part physical and part psychological,” and that it varies day-to-day. Kerry also shared that she is happily busy with work and enjoying dating and the space for self-reflection that being single allows. But she also let us know that she is in no way alone. She lives with a shorky named Josephine Baker who unlike her is a, 
“total diva dog.”
Meanwhile, Chris Evans shared stories that lightly beguiled his accompanying publicist, including a childhood account of when he convinced his fellow first graders that his Dad was an astronaut and that they needed to each pay Chris $5 dollars in order to meet him.
The scheme was discovered, a parent-teacher conference was called, and the money subsequently had to be returned. Danny Boyle followed Chris on the carpet and remarked that it was great to be back on the film festival circuit, an industry phenomenon and showcase that he believes shines an important light on movies beyond the big blockbusters. 
When asked if he would like to go to space, he replied in his sharply melodic Scottish accent, “Like a shot,” and recommended, if we happen to have an extra $3,000, that we take a ride on the “vomit rocket” (he included a zero-gravity flight experience as part of the space travel research he did for Sunshine).
Many other stars, filmmakers, and producers also shined bright on the event’s red carpet, including Troy Garity, Minka Kelly, Sharon Lawrence, Scott Prendergast, Dawn Hudson, Peter Rice, Cassandra Hepburn, Indigo, Pavel Ruminov, Ekaterina Shcheglova, Raffi Pitts, and Mitra Hajjar.
Films featured in this year’s Festival that the crowd was buzzing about included a film about jump roping called Jump, which according to a Festival employee, “made you look at something seem
ingly normal with newfound respect.” During the Festival, cast members from the film held popular jump roping demonstrations and workshops on the Clear Channel Festival Promenade in Westwood.
Other festival favorites included the films Charlie Bartlett, Chasing Ghosts, How to Rob a Bank, Prison Town, Razzle Dazzle, and Young @ Heart. August Evening, a graceful and meditative film about family, won the festival’s $50,000 Target Filmmaker Award. Veronica Loren, the lead actress from the film, described it as, “Real. Bittersweet, but the truth.”
On this warm Los Angeles summer evening, closing night gala attendees spread out across the colorfully lit and playfully decorated Veteran Administration grounds. They dined on a meal of steak, chicken, pasta, salad, and apple crisp provided by Patina Catering, sipped cocktails of Sauza Tequila and Vox Vodka courtesy of Jim Beam Brands, danced to genre-melding DJ rhythms in the club lit dance area, and contently settled in cozy mini-dome tents and atop florescent seat squares arranged around trees.
One gala attendee from Pasadena commented that the people at the party, “were friendly and entertaining and director Danny Boyle was very approachable.” Her aspiring actress friend Kaila Yu ducked into one of the dome tents and concluded that it, “Smells like cinnamon, but not”, which she also eventually laughingly conceded described the color scheme of her outfit and make-up. A group of filmmakers sat around a central glass table and decreed that, “Filmmakers like vodka!” and jokingly griped about its omission from this year’s Target Red Room Filmmaker Lounge in Westwood.
They also missed the endless 
supply of popcorn that was available there during last year’s Festival but made it clear that the 2007 Festival was a great success and gratefully acknowledged the varied and valuable opportunities it provides to the independent film community.
It was a night of red carpet charisma, Festival awards, the North American premiere of Sunshine, and a playful Festival closing night gala. Congratulations were bestowed, business cards were exchanged, the Festival was reflected upon, and the independent film business rolled on. There was a sense that tonight was some networking icing on the cake, the ending of an ambitious and well-run industry showcase, and that tomorrow they would get back on set, call some of the connections they made, and go to work with a reassured sense of support and renewed cinematic belief.
2007 Los Angeles Film Festival Award Winners:
August Evening– Target Filmmaker Award
Billy the Kid– Target Documentary Award
Jury Awards:
August Evening– Outstanding Performance in the Narrative Competition
The Tube with a Hat– Best Narrative Short Film
Wood– Best Documentary Short Film
Love and War– Best Animated/Experimental Short Film
Audience Awards:
Owl and Sparrow– Best Narrative Feature
Resolved– Best Documentary Feature
Young @ Heart– Best International Feature
Pariah– Best Short Film
Knights of Cydonia– Best Music Video
Spirit of Independence Award:
Clint Eastwood
This year’s Festival received over 4,500 submissions. More than 260 films and music videos were screened.
For more info on Sunshine go to: www.sunshinedna.com
For more info on the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival go to: lafilmfest.com
For more info on Film Independent go to: www.filmindependent.org
The 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival was presented by the Los Angeles Times.
Premier and Principal Sponsors included: Target, Pop Secret, Axium, Kodak, IFC, and American Express. WireImage is the official photography agency of Film Independent.
