The Los Angeles Festival of Movies Is Here To Treat Your Inner Cinephile

There’s a new film fest in town.

The Los Angeles Festival of Movies opens Thursday night, bringing favorites from festivals like Sundance and Rotterdam to L.A. for the first time. The 12-film lineup includes everything from experimental documentaries to supernatural coming of age stories.

And while many films are highlights from other fests, there are a few world premieres in the mix, like a brand new restoration of the '90s film, Naked Acts, and comedian Conner O’Malley’s directorial debut.

Listen • 18:43

Listen • 18:43

The Los Angeles Festival Of Movies Is Here To Treat Your Inner Cinephile

#261: Los Angeles doesn't have what could be described as a major film festival. But starting April 4, the brand new Los Angeles Festival of Movies is bringing festival highlights and world premieres to three independent venues around the city. Guests: LA Festival of Movies founders Sarah Winshall and Micah Gottlieb

The founders of LAFM, Sarah Winshall and Micah Gottlieb, have never run a festival before, but they know a lot about independent film and programming in L.A. Winshall is an independent film producer, part of the team behind film fest favorites like Strawberry Mansion and We’re All Going To The World’s Fair. Gottlieb is the artistic director of Mezzanine, an L.A. film screening nonprofit.

Now you might be asking yourself, don’t we have an event like this in L.A.? Not quite.

An industry town, not a festival center

Los Angeles does have an abundant film festival scene, but it’s more geared toward filmmakers than film lovers. As Winshall put it, fests in L.A. are more focused on “giving filmmakers an opportunity to learn more about how to get things made.” And those big international film festivals you’ve heard of like Sundance, Telluride, or TIFF aren’t necessarily inviting or accessible to folks outside the industry.

Without cash for a plane ticket, a hotel room, and access to a pass, film lovers based in L.A. likely have to wait until festival highlights get picked up for distribution and hopefully get a release. And that’s all a big “if,” or a long wait, to catch a great independent film.

Add the fact that the L.A. Film Festival shut down and Outfest’s future is uncertain, there really is a void to fill.

Winshall said, “we're really trying to shift our focus to more of a film series that is hoping to pull in more people who are interested in watching films with a critical or cinephilic eye."

An opening for indie film and indie venues

Screenings for LAFM will be taking place in three recently opened, independent venues across the city: Vidiots in Eagle Rock, 2220 Arts + Archive in Historic Filipinotown, and Now Instant Image Hall in Chinatown. These are spaces Gottlieb and Winshall attend as regular audience members, and they realized the three venues form a sort of moviegoing triangle.

The lobby of 2220 Arts + Archives

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Courtesy or Los Angeles Festival of Movies

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“I think that some of our favorite film festivals that we've been to have a kind of regional or village feel where you feel like you can easily hop from one venue to the next. You can go get a cup of coffee, maybe run into somebody who you just met,” said Gottlieb.

That’s the feeling LAFM is hoping to achieve by screening out of spaces that are “no more than kind of a 15 minute drive away” from each other.

Tickets for films and talks range from $20 to $30, and there will be spaces to gather after, to grab a drink and talk.

When asked about their participation in Los Angeles Festival of Movies, directors, and brothers, Bill Ross and Turner Ross sent this comment via email: "We lived in Los Angeles for a handful of years and always longed for something like this festival. We're hopeful LAFM is creating a space for those who don't necessarily strive to make run of the mill stuff but are pushing the medium further."

They'll attend the festival in person when their film Gasoline Rainbow plays at 2220 Arts + Archive on Friday at 5pm.

Co-founder Gottlieb said the festival is a chance to platform films, and to also “take advantage of this burgeoning audience for independent and repertory cinema that's been happening in L.A.”

The Vidiots theatre on Feb. 27, 2024.

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Julie Leopo

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LAist

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In the last year, iconic spaces for film have been revamped and reopened, showing repertory films and new releases, and audiences are filling seats. There’s Vidiots, The Egyptian, The Vista and, just a few years back, the theaters at The Academy Museum opened. Not to mention the renewed love that’s been found for older venues like Gardena Cinema.

“There’s a great film playing in L.A. every night of the week, and it really was not that way as far back as I can remember growing up here,” said Gottlieb.

“People like movies and it's fun to see them in a theater with other people,” added Winshall. “It's good to see a movie that’s good no matter what year it's from, and it feels good to talk to your friends about it afterwards.”

A hunger for movies

“There's a lot of conversation happening in the independent film industry about waning appetites for indie movies, or something like that,” Winshall said. “My experience is that that's not the case.”

And given that nearly all screenings at LAFM are sold out…it sounds like she’s right. But fear not, there are still passes and individual tickets available for some films and talks with folks like Rachel Kushner and Kim Gordon.

You can learn more about the festival here.

Find more independent film coverage on LAist in our Revival House series:

LA’s New Beverly Cinema And The Magic Of Being 'Always On Film'

Amazing Acoustics, $10 Tickets, And A New View On 'Classics': Your Guide To The Academy Museum's Movie Theaters

With 60,000 DVDs In Its Collection, Vidiots Has Made Renting Cool Again