Los Angeles Film Festival 2008 – June 19-29

From June 19 to June 29, Film Independent, the group behind the Independent Spirit Awards, will play host to the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival. The festival will open and close with two big summer blockbusters from Universal. The opener is Timur Bekmambetov’s intense actioner Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy opening the festival and closer, Guillermo Del Toro’s highly anticipated Hellboy II: The Golden Army playing on the final night. ”The competition lineup is heavy on preems. Narrative features include Sean Baker’s New York immigrant story “Prince of Broadway” and “The Poker House,” directed by Lori Petty from a script by comedian David Alan Grier. Docu premieres include Darius Marder’s “Loot,” following a modern-day treasure hunter and his son. Pics in the doc and narrative sections will each compete for unrestricted $50,000 grants. In the fest’s Summer Preview section, dedicated to upcoming indie releases, are Sundance winners “Ballast,” “Frozen River” and “Man on Wire.” The Dark Wave section of edgier fare includes Alexie Balabanov’s thriller “Cargo 200” and Tomas Alfredson’s vampire love story “Let the Right One In,” which recently grabbed the top prize at Tribeca.”  – Variety Narrative Competition “Big Heart City,” Ben Rodkin “HottieBoombaLottie,” Seth Packard (world premiere) “I’ll Come Running,” Spencer Parsons (world premiere) “Medicine for Melancholy,” Barry Jenkins “The Pleasure of Being Robbed,” Josh Safdie “The Poker House,” Lori Petty (world premiere) “Prince of Broadway,” Sean Baker (world premiere) Documentary Competition “Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story,” Stefan Forbes “Dirty Hands: The Art & Crimes of David Choe,” Harry Kim (world premiere) “Finishing Heaven,” Mark Mann (world premiere) “Largo,” Andrew van Baal,” Mark Flanagan (world premiere) “Loot,” Darius Marder (world premiere) “Must Read After My Death,” Morgan Dews (US premiere) “Paper or Plastic?,” Justine Jacob,” Alex D. Da Silva (world premiere) “Pressure Cooker,” Jennifer Grausman,” Mark Becker (world premiere) “Thing With No Name,” Sarah Friedland “Trinidad,” PJ Raval,” Jay Hodges (world premiere) International Showcase “The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela,” Olaf De Fleur Johannesson – Iceland/Philippines/USA “Captain Ahab,” Philippe Ramos – France “The Choir,” Michael Davie – South Africa (North American premiere) “Exodus,” Pang Ho-Cheung – Hong Kong “Fear(s) of the Dark,” Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McGuire – France (IFC Films) “Four Wives – One Man,” Nahid Persson – Sweden/Iran “Hafner’s Paradise,” Günter Schwaiger – Austria/Spain (US premiere) “Heartbeat Detector,” Nicolas Klotz – France (New Yorker Films) “Hello,” Stranger,” Kim Dong-hyun – South Korea (North American premiere) “Hold Me Tight,” Let Me Go,” Kim Longinotto – England (Women Make Movies) “Hotel Very Welcome,” Sonja Heiss – Germany “Infinite Border,” Juan Manuel Sepúlveda – Mexico (US premiere) “La France,” Serge Bozon – France “Mechanical Love,” Phie Ambo – Denmark “Sonetàula,” Salvatore Mereu – Italy/France/Belgium “Tricks,” Andrzej Jakimowski – Poland “Useless,” Jia Zhang-ke – China “When Clouds Clear,” Anne Slick,” Danielle Bernstein – Ecuador/USA “Where Are Their Stories?,” Nicolás Pereda – Mexico/Canada “Wonderful Town,” Aditya Assarat – Thailand (Kino International) “You,” the Living,” Roy Andersson – Sweden (Tartan Films) Summer Previews “The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not For Sale,” Jeff Stimmel (HBO) (world premiere) “Baghead,” Mark Duplass,” Jay Duplass (Sony Pictures Classics) “Ballast,” Lance Hammer (IFC Films) “Boy A,” John Crowley – England (The Weinstein Company) “Choke,” Clark Gregg (Fox Searchlight) “Elite Squad,” José Padilha – Brazil (The Weinstein Company) “Encounters at the End of the World,” Werner Herzog (THINKFilm) “Frozen River,” Courtney Hunt (Sony Pictures Classics) “A Girl Cut in Two,” Claude Chabrol – France (IFC Films) “Man on Wire,” James Marsh – England (Magnolia Pictures) “Momma’s Man,” Azazel Jacobs (THINKFilm) “The Order of Myths,” Margaret Brown “The Wackness,” Jonathan Levine (Sony Pictures Classics) Dark Wave “Cargo 200,” Alexei Balabanov – Russia “Let the Right One In,” Tomas Alfredson – Sweden (Magnolia Pictures) “X-Cross,” Kenta Fukasaku – Japan Guilty Pleasures “Coyote,” Brian Petersen – USA/Mexico “Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal,” Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato (HBO) “Mirage Man,” Ernesto Díaz Espinoza – Chile (Magnolia Pictures) Tribute Screenings “Derek,” Isaac Julien (Derek Jarman, 1942 – 1994), England “The Makioka Sisters (1983),” Kon Ichikawa (Kon Ichikawa, 1915 – 2008) – Japan “Nothing But A Man (1964),” Michael Roemer (Ivan Dixon, 1931 – 2008) “Peter Pan (1953),” Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske (Ollie Johnston, 1912 – 2008) “Planet of the Apes (1968),” Franklin J. Schaffner (Charlton Heston, 1923 – 2008) For more information L.A. Film Festival’s official site