The 11th annual DTLA Film Festival, which is set to run from October 23rd -27th at Regal L.A. LIVE, announced today its full feature film lineup and select award recipients. A total of 38 feature-length movies - evenly divided between narrative and documentary - are slated to screen, with the majority making their World Premiere, West Coast Premiere, US Premiere, Los Angeles Premieres, and all eligible for awards.
Opening the festival is "QT8: Quentin Tarantino The First Eight," a documentary that focuses on the first 21 years of Quentin Tarantino's career and includes interviews with frequent collaborators: including Zoë Bell, Bruce Dern, Robert Forster, Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Diane Kruger, Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Eli Roth, Tim Roth, Kurt Russell, Christoph Waltz, amongst others.
In a special presentation on October 26th the festival will present the documentary "Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story." Griffin will be honored with the festival's Independent Film Pioneer Award for her body of work in independent cinema and television. Past recipients include Laura Dern, John Hawkes, William H. Macy, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Julie Delpy and Mark Ruffalo.
Two-time Emmy and Grammy award-winning comedian Griffin is a towering figure on television, on tour, in publishing and now on film, recognized universally for her brand of pull-no-punches comedy. In 2013, Kathy was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for writing and starring in an unprecedented 23 televised stand-up specials - more than any comedian in history. From penning New York Times best-selling books to filling the biggest concert halls around the world on her comedy tours, she has cemented herself as one of the most original figures in comedy with her unfiltered, unafraid take on Hollywood and its foibles.
DTLA Film Festival is currently the largest film and television event in burgeoning downtown Los Angeles, the historic core and new creative nexus of the city. Tickets for all of the festival's programs are now on sale through the festival website: www.dtlaff.com. Several feature films in the fest lineup include recent debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival and
Sundance Film Festival.
"In the rapidly evolving landscape of film distribution, we know there always will be a place for film festivals where people can gather for a communal, cinematic experience. For over a decade, we've provided a platform to watch some of the best in independent films - with a focus on diversity - in the historic center of the Film Capital of the World," said Greg Ptacek, festival director and co-founder.
More highlights from the festival include this year's Closing Night Film - a special 25th anniversary screening of Lesli Linka Glatter's "Now and Then" starring Christina Ricci, Thora Birch, Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Melanie Griffith, Demi Moore, Rosie O'Donnell and Rita Wilson, with special appearances from the cast and crew. This follows the festival's tradition of presenting an archival movie to conclude the festival. Attending the screening will be the director, who also will be honored with the festival's Independent Film Pioneer Award. When the film was first released in 1995, critics (almost entirely men) did not know what to make of its coming-of-age storyline revolving around girls and women - unusual for an era when "Stand By Me" was the benchmark for this film genre. Nevertheless, audiences embraced "Now and Then" and the film has garnered a large cult following since its release.
Additional programs in the festival include sidebars with TV pilots, Web series and Dome films, which use 360-degree cinematography like Virtual Reality but screen the films in specially built theaters. The "Dome Film Series" will take place at the Vortex Theater at L.A. Center Studio and the new Wisdome in the heart of DTLA's Arts District.
In the wake of #metoo and #timesup, discrimination in the entertainment and other industries is explored with three feature documentaries, "Bias," "Pioneers In Skirts" and "Seeing Is Believing: Women Direct." The films will be screened in conjunction with a panel discussion about workplace gender bias.
In this year's festival's lineup of 38 feature films, 74% were directed by women.
"For the third consecutive year, the majority of our films in all categories were by women directors. While our festival is content driven, the fact that we 'over-represent' female filmmakers in our lineup is gratifying on many levels," said Karolyne Sosa, director of programming.
The continuing homeless crisis in Los Angeles is addressed in two feature-length movies, "The Advocates," a documentary about homeless activists, and "Lost Transmissions," a narrative film starring Simon Pegg ("Shaun of the Dead," "Star Trek") as an L.A. music producer who loses everything, including his home, as he succumbs to mental illness. A second, special screening of both films is planned for Skid Row during the festival.
The African
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is explored in four features: "Devil's Pie: D'Angelo," a biopic about the seminal neo-soul singer-songwriter; "Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools," which documents the shocking discrimination of young black women in our nation's public schools; "Willie," an inspiring nonfiction biopic about the first black hockey player to play in the NHL, and "Cory In Brick City," a documentary about the U.S. Senator Cory Booker, the former mayor of Newark and current candidate for U.S. President.
This year's festival's foreign lineup includes films from around the globe, all making their Los Angeles premieres, including the narrative features "Yeva" by Armenian woman director Anahid Abad, "The Golden Age" by French woman director Jenna Suru, and "You Will Never Walk Alone" by Chinese director Geng Xu"; the music biopic documentary," Eliades Ochoa: From Cuba to the World" by Cynthia Biestek and Ruben Gomez about the guitarist and founding member of the famed Buena Vista Social Club, and a showcase of new short films from notable Mexican directors.
Of the 55 shorts films in this year's lineup, selected by senior curator Carolyn Schroeder, 55% were directed by women, and comprise seven programs on a wide range of current topics and traditional film genres: LGBQT Spotlight, Social Injustice, Race and Immigration, #metoo, Horror, Experimental and Student Shorts.
The 11th annual DTLA Film Festival, Oct 23-27, 2019 at Regal L.A. LIVE, is sponsored by Pixelogic, Zeiss, 101 Keys, Google Ad Grants, Automated Client System, Champion Site + Sound, Spaces, Capital One, First Entertainment Credit Union and Regal L.A. LIVE. Community and industry partners include Alliance for Women Film Composers, Alliance of Women Directors, Array, California Film Commission, Film Powered, Ghetto Film School, International Collective of Women Cinematographers, Like Hand, Nosotros, Mayor's Fund Los Angeles, She Sees and Women In Entertainment.
For more information regarding passes/tickets, press accreditation, industry passes, or sponsorship opportunities, please visit https://www.dtlaff.com.
More additions will be added to the program and announced soon.
