Chad Allen, Eric Debets in Hollywood, je t'aime (top); Branson (middle); El General (bottom)
Los Angeles Film Festival Sunday, June 21, highlights:
- One-hour "Coffee Talks" (W Los Angeles-Westwood Hotel, beginning at 11 am) with directors (Zach Helm, Todd Phillips, Jason Reitman), actors (Andre Royo, Melissa Leo, Freddy Rodriguez), composers (Harry Gregson-Williams, Lyle Workman, Christopher Young), and screenwriters (Nicholas Kazan, Robin Swicord, Alex Tse).
- Starring Eric Debets as a befuddled Frenchman who comes to Los Angeles expecting to make it in the movie business, writer-director Jason Bushman's clever, funny Hollywood, je t'aime (Majestic Crest, 7 pm) seems to be the only narrative film in competition with a gay theme. Debets' remarkable, understated comic performance would have done Jacques Tati proud, while the colorful characters that populate this unglamourized LA are all beautifully played by a top-notch supporting cast that includes Chad Allen as an HIV-positive pothead, Diarra Kilpatrick as a gorgeous transvestite sex worker, and Michael Airington as a sweet-and-sour drag queen.
- Set in Branson, located in Missouri's Ozark Mountains region, Brent Meeske's documentary Branson (The Regent, 7 pm) follows the performers of three acts playing in that small town's strip mall. As per the LAFF notes, Branson, "the entertainment capital of Middle America," each year attracts seven million visitors to its 100+ shows. (Meeske's documentary should not to be confused with Bronson, Nicolas Winding Refn's penitentiary drama that will be screened at the Landmark 4 at 10 pm.)
- Celina Murga's Una semana solos / A Week Alone (Landmark 8, 7 pm) delves into class distinctions, family relations, and sexual awakening as several adolescents and pre-adolescents are left alone for a week at a gated community not far from Buenos Aires. Winner of the best director award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
- Winner of the best directing award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Natalia Almada's El General (Landmark 4, 7:15 pm) explores the complex life and legacy of Mexican president Plutarco Elías Calles, the director's great-grandfather. Curiously, while priests were being brutally persecuted during his presidency (1924-28), Calles' daughter was going to Catholic school north of the border.
- Rafael Filippelli's Argentinean drama Música Nocturna (Billy Wilder Theater, 9:45 pm) follows a writer suffering from both writer's block and a troubled marriage. Throughout it all, he ponders about the significance of his favorite composers. With Horacio Acosta, Silvia Arazi, and Enrique Piñeyro.