Jen Clay
Staff Writer
The Malibu Film Festival returns to the coastal city this week for its 5th annual competition. With a mix of special events and movie screenings, the festival will see more than 20 feature-length films and 50 shorts screened in Malibu and Santa Monica.
Humanities and film professor Dr. Michael Gose said many students will be interested in the festival because it is so close to Pepperdine and many topics included in the film relate to Pepperdine students.
“It is an opportunity to experience the business up close, something students at most other American colleges can’t do just a mile away,” Gose said.
The festivities officially begin tonight with two films about surfing and a fashion show on the Malibu Pier. Beginning at 8 p.m., director Jack McCoy’s “Blue Horizon” follows surfers Andy Irons and David Rastovich and traces the history of surfing to present time. “A Brokedown Melody,” beginning at 10:30 p.m., features music and a cinematic apearance by Jack Johnson.
Gose said “Brokedown Melody” may be of interest to the surfing segments of the Pepperdine community.
“My understanding is that it is something of a throwback in style to some of the earlier surfing movies,” Gose said.
Friday’s lineup will move to Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex in Santa Monica for its screenings. The schedule includes the 82-minute “See this Movie,” which features Saturday Night Live’s Seth Myers as a despondent filmmaker who attempts to enter an unmade film into the Montreal Film Festival.
Of the more than 20 feature-length films selected for this year’s festival are eleven documentaries, which will be screened at the Malibu Public Library and Santa Monica’s CineSpace starting Saturday. Entries include “The Dance,” a 68-minute film executive-produced by Nicolas Cage. The film tells the story of professional boxer Billy “The Kid” Roth who has worked as a volunteer mentor to Louisiana’s incarcerated.
Another documentary highlight, “Flight from Death” pursues the notion that fear of death is the root of everyday human behavior. Acclaimed actor Gabriel Byrne narrates the 86-minute film.
Short programs, which have been packaged together based on similar shooting materials, will be screened daily beginning Friday. The short category has the most entries of any category in the festival with more than 50 works.
Gose said the short format is attractive for up-and-coming filmmakers with few funds.
“It’s an opportunity to ply one’s craft, get some audience feedback, and the short film allows this without the investment of money and time required by a feature,” Gose said.
He also said many filmmakers who enter festivals are looking for distribution deals or the opportunity to work on a funded project.
In addition to the films, the festival is hosting a “Pitch Day” scheduled for Sept. 22 at Duke’s Malibu. For $50, up-and-coming filmmakers and Hollywood hopefuls can pitch their ideas to established executives, managers and agents. According to the festival’s Web site, the event is much like speed dating, as participants have 5 minutes to plead their case before moving onto the next Hollywood big-wig.
Gose said the opportunity is not unlike betting on the lottery.
“You can’t win if you don’t play, and if you are a person who is likely to buy 50 lottery tickets, the odds here probably aren’t worse,” Gose said.
The festival concludes with next Thursday’s awards party at the Malibu Inn, where this year’s winners will be announced, and a 7 p.m. “Best of the Fest” screening of Miramax’s “Dear Frankie” in Santa Monica will officially end the festival’s screenings.
A complete program of screenings and festival tickets are available at http://www.malibufilmfestival.com
09-16-2004