JESSICA ONI
Staff Writer
Although the idea came somewhat on a whim, the response has come as a whirlwind.
From the combined creative minds of filmmakers Jon Schroder and Randall K. Rubin comes “Jimmy and Judy,” a film that seeks to expose the not-so-hidden hypocrisy of present day suburbia.
The film, which recently won the award for Best Feature at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival, is one of several that will be featured this weekend at the 7th Annual Malibu International Film Festival.
“It’s about rebelliousness of youth,” Schroder said about the movie.
“It’s about being in love for the first time. It’s about exposing what ‘Middle America’ doesn’t want you to see and the hypocrisy of the adult world … It came from a very dark, twisted place within both of us,” he said.
The film tells the story of Jimmy (Edward Furlong) and Judy (Rachel Bella), a youthful pair who are fed up with the falsity of the world that surrounds them. Videotaping their antagonists as they go, the couple sets out to usurp the lying, cheating citizens in town.
“Jimmy is obsessed with his camera,” Schroder said. “He documents what he deems important in life.”
Schroder said the film’s success has astounded its creators.
“It (is) an honor. Probably one of the coolest things that’s happened to me in my life,” he said. “Being from Kentucky and saying I want to be a writer is like saying I want to be an astronaut.”
According to Schroder, the filmmakers had their hands in nearly every aspect of the filmmaking process.
“We wanted to do a film that we could make ourselves,” he said. “This is a film that I would want to see in college.”
Schroder said that events such as the one being held this weekend are of high importance to him as an independent filmmaker.
“Film festivals,” he said, “that’s your life. I’m really interested to see how it’s going to play out with the sophisticated … audience Malibu has.”
The film, which Schroder described as “a point-of-view movie … the ultimate sort of edgy, college student sort of movie,” will be shown at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Jaguar Theater in Malibu on Cross Creek Road.
The festival aims to premiere independent films, such as “Jimmy and Judy,” in hopes of getting them publicized and raising interest in the work of on-the-rise filmmakers from around the globe.
“It’s not specific to Malibu,” said Tiffany Peckosh, who is directing the festival for the second time.
“It’s international,” she said.
Films featured at the festival include: “Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars,” narrated by Susan Sarandon with songs by Carly Simon, “Edmond,” starring William H. Macy, Julia Stiles, Denise Richards and Mena Suvari and “Little Fish,” with Cate Blanchett.
Peckosh said she is hoping that this year’s festival will draw out more college students than ever before.
“(It’s) a chance for Pepperdine students to see films and go to a theater since there’s not one in Malibu currently,”
she said.
Junior telecommunications production major Clint Loveness said he will be working at the festival this weekend.
“I started making movies when I was in fourth grade,” he said. “I turned my hobby into something I want to do for a living.”
Loveness, who recently won an iPod in a film competition on campus, said he is interested in all aspects of filmmaking, especially cinematography. He premiered one of his own movies in his hometown this last summer.
“I love dinosaurs,” he said. “I would love to have the chance to make a Jurassic Park type film or the biblical story of David and Goliath.”
The festival will showcase an array of short-length and feature-length films from a variety of international filmmakers.
The weekend-long event commences Friday night with the showing of “Rising Son: The Legend of Skateboarder Christian Holsoi,” at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica followed by an opening night party at The Victorian. Saturday and Sunday various independent and centerpiece film will be screened at both the Jaguar Theater in Malibu and the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. The festival’s final film screening will be director John Hillcoat’s “The Proposition,” Sunday night in Malibu. On Monday night, there will be an awards ceremony, a dinner and a live performance by The Toledo Show.
Peckosh said the group of films that made it to the final round were chosen out of a pool of thousands of submissions. She described the job of the panel who chose the official selections as “a long process.”
As the festival’s opening night approaches, Schroder offered a few words of advice for aspiring student filmmakers.
“Make anything you possibly can whenever you can,” he said. “Hearing your words come to life for the first time (is) certainly one of the most rewarding things.”
The Malibu International Film Festival runs Friday through Monday. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.malibufilmfestival.org/ or by calling the festival box office at (866)-468-3399. To see each film, prices range from $5 to $10.
04-06-2006
