LA Film Fest 2008 Final Thoughts

So the LA Film Fest is over, and it’s time to say a few words. The consensus seems to be that this year’s festival definitely had a smaller crowd than before, maybe due to some economic woes that keep people from spending 12 dollars a ticket every day for two weeks, not to mention paying for some of those ungodly 100 dollar ticket opening and closing night galas. The concept of only being able to see Wanted or Hellboy 2 by paying a huge amount of money so you can get into what is the equivalent of a cocktail party is absurd, and the LA Film Fest’s general lack of organization didn’t help much either. Between its multiple color level clearance passes and its volunteers and theater managers constantly giving people the wrong information, it was pretty chaotic at times. I saw a man removed from the line I was in at one point for wearing a green clearance pass when apparently he needed a “lime” pass, I shit you not. I myself waited in line for a half an hour once for the X-Files Panel only to be told that this “special event” required both a press pass and a physical ticket, meaning it was already too late to obtain my needed ticket to enter. That particular bump allowed me to see Prince of Broadway, my favorite of the festival, but its still pretty ridiculous. Either you allow press access to your fest or you don’t, why hamper everyone’s time and energy with ridiculous levels of access and specifications. Frankly, putting up with some of these lines would’ve been hell for any non-prepaid pass regular festival goer who just wanted to show up and pay to see a movie.

The setup for people paying for full access was kind of underwhelming too. The Target Red Room, the officially sponsored lounge for people to catch up on their writing, or enjoy a little refreshment from the insidious heat outside was pretty so-so, with people around me complaining that it was a lot better last year. I didn’t really care until at one point it was closed for a private party for three hours when I just wanted to update a post on here. Again, if you’re not going to have stuff like this, then that’s fine, but if you are, then don’t half-ass it and confuse everyone further by just dumping everything into one venue. The LA Film Fest is supposedly trying to establish itself as being able to compete with the big gun festivals, but I’m not sure it impressed anyone this year with either its organizational skills or its wannabe sexy festival perks.

However, the films are always what’s important here, and at the very least the festival had a pretty good line up. Despite the kind of bizarre choices for opening and closing films, sandwiched between the two blockbuster bookends were many powerful little independent gems. I really only saw one film I really didn’t like, most were impressive for any number of reasons. Prince of Broadway went on to win Best Narrative Feature at the festival, which is well deserved for such a unique take on a familiar cinematic setup. Here again are my top five from the fest:

1. Prince of Broadway
2. Encounters At The End Of The World
3. Ballast
4. Baghead
5. Choke

…although Man on Wire and American Son both deserve nods as well. There were a lot of similar trends in the film-making this year, with stripped down aesthetics, attention to characters, documentary-style camera shooting, and so on. Anyone following all the reviews may have noticed a some similar descriptions in the details, and this is very much the case. Boy A and American Son are pretty much shot in identical styles at times, so by the end of the festival I was beginning to wonder if I would be running out of things to say. As much as I enjoyed seeing it this year, I hope we get a little more diversity in the future. Hopefully next year at the fest will find much better organization with the same excellent decisions for what will be shown.

P.S. The promo for the LA Film Fest that played before every show slowly grew into the most grating single minute of personal endurance of the festival. With films that screened short films before the features, we got to watch it twice. LAFF, trust me, once per screening is PLENTY.