The Downtown Film Festival - Los Angeles
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The Downtown Film Festival - Los Angeles (DFFLA) is a planned international film festival in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, which will debut Wednesday, August 13th through Sunday, August 17th, 2008. The festival is being organized by Greg Ptacek and Kate Marciniak, the festival directors of Los Angeles' Silver Lake Film Festival, and their new co-director Henry K. Priest, founder of the Nosotros Latino Film Festival.
Paying homage to the recent resurgence of Los Angeles' Downtown and its historic origins in the film industry, the Downtown Film Festival - Los Angeles will be held in various theatrical venues throughout Downtown's neighborhoods -- Bunker Hill, the Historic Core, Little Tokyo, the Arts District and Chinatown -- and including one or more of its historic movie palaces on Broadway. Additional venues may include outdoor parks such as California Plaza for night-time screenings, and such landmark theaters as The ImaginAsian Center and Japanese American National Museum, with panel discussions, video & art installations, and receptions among the ancillary events. The intention is to “tour and showcase” the diversity of Los Angeles' Downtown neighborhoods through a rotating circuit of screenings and celebrations.
[edit] Festival Programming
Programming for the festival will be a combination of Hollywood studio premieres, independent films (features and short films) and international cinema, which will reflect Downtown’s diverse cultural and ethnic demographics. Among the planned presentations will be screenings at one of the movie palaces on Broadway, which will pay tribute to Downtown's filmic heritage through the presentation of new films and classic features that have used Downtown as a shooting location. Films in Chinatown and Little Tokyo would include new works by internationally acclaimed Asian filmmakers. Downtown's business community will also enjoy a sample of the festival during a 30-minute program of short films screening during the weekday lunch hour or a feature screening at 6:00 pm, to coincide with the end of the business day. Screenings held later in the evening on weekdays, and in the afternoon and evening on weekends, will attract not only Downtown workers and residents but will also draw visitors from other parts of the city and beyond.
Also offered will be more specialized presentations, such as environmental documentaries, panel discussions and an eco-expo during the Sustainable L.A. program, and a tribute to the art of stunt performance in film, featuring a live demonstration at a Downtown plaza. Local galleries in the Arts District will offer multimedia events, coinciding with Downtown's August Art Walk. Screenings will be followed by parties, receptions and musical performances in restaurants, lounges and clubs located in each Downtown neighborhood. In this way, the festival will become a way for Los Angeles' residents and visitors to explore the many facets of Downtown while enjoying the latest and best in films and related entertainment.
