Film Independent’s 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival presented by The Los Angeles Times is fast approaching with a cavalcade of intriguing independent films that are bringing some of the most promising new filmmakers in the industry to Los Angeles June 17th through the 27th in downtown LA. Be sure to head over to the festival website and Film Independent for more information on the exciting events and film schedule. Here are four more films, with trailers for those which were available, that will provide an entertaining and moving experience for audiences this year.
The New Year: Directed by Brett Haley
The New Year shows the world through the eyes of Sunny, a young woman who has returned from her college education to be with her ill father in suburban Florida where she grew up. Her life has come to a screeching halt, working in a local bowling center, while harboring aspirations to be a writer. She comes upon a guy from high school that she had a complex friendship with and she begins to look for a way to create and sustain her own personal happiness. Brett Haley directs in his first feature effort and carries an emotional balance through the film that works well, exploring material that most viewers should be able to relate to. Also of note here is the exceptional performance by Trieste Kelly Dunn as Sunny, carryng the audience on an emotional journey through finding oneself and happiness.
The New Year Trailer from The New Year on Vimeo.
Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone: Directed by Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson
A feature documentary delving into the harmony and chaos of California based performance legends Fishbone, Everyday Sunshine explores the entertaining and touching history of well, it is tough to classify their music, let’s just say it defies genre, mixing rock, punk, calypso, big band, jazz, and any other style they see fit for their artistic endeavors. These guys put on energetic shows around California that many have called the greatest live performing band they have ever seen while influencing many bands coming up in the 90s including The Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt, Jane’s Addiction, and more. Featuring interviews with all the key members of the band, caught in all their eccentricity, while maintaining a humanity that is easily identifiable, this is one of the most entertaining music documentaries you will be able to see this year. Not having seen Fishbone live in my life, I feel as if I have missed out, but this film will definitely give you a taste of the greatness they possessed.
Hello Lonesome: Directed by Adam Reid
Three seemingly disparate stories come together on emotional levels in this new feature from Adam Reid revolving around the insatiable human need for connection to others. Searching for connection following the departure of his wife, an aging voice-over professional tries to reconnect with his daughter and develops a back and forth, ball-busting friendship with his delivery man. An elderly woman loses her license to drive and turns to her much younger neighbor for comfort in an odd, but poignant relationship. Lastly, a young man explores gambling on sports while finding love out of chance, but only to realize that love is a fickle thing that provide both pleasure and pain. The characters deftly explore the emotional trials they face in their search for some comfort in an increasingly impersonal world and Reid shows a keen sense of how different generations experience similar issues.
Dog Sweat: Directed by Hossein Keshavarz
The story of this film getting made at all makes for a compelling view, but couple that with a polished eye for human interaction and the desires that drive us and you have Dog Sweat, the miraculous new film from Hossein Keshavarz. A poignant story is weaved about the social situation in Iran through the six young members we follow from this protected and rarely seen culture. Keshavarz and his team shot this film under extreme secrecy as the content that flows from Iran is controlled by its current totalitarian regime. It is unacceptable currently in Iran to be female and sing, to be a gay man, who for his own safety, goes along with an arranged marriage, to be intimate at all before marriage, and on and on. Keshavarz shows the human underbelly of this cultural control in a cinéma vérité style that takes the viewer to a place few ever could venture. This looks to be one of the real standouts that will come from the LAFF this year.
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For more info:
2010 Los Angeles Film Festival
Film Independent
Los Angeles Times
The New Year website
Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone website
Hello Lonesome website
Coverage of The LAFF
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