Not just another ‘Lost Weekend’
Silver Lake Film Festival promises to be a wild 48 hours for aspiring filmmakers
By Zachary Urbina 03/23/2006
During the last week of March, the seventh annual Silver Lake Film Festival unspools a litany of exciting new films, as well as a festival within a festival that is sure to serve cinephiles a delicious slice of independent movies all week long.
When a film buff hears the phrase “The Lost Weekend,” the classic 1945 Billy Wilder-directed film about an alcoholic on a binge during a wild weekend might spring to mind.
On Friday, a different kind of lost weekend will begin that is sure to be just as entertaining and intoxicating.
The SoCal Film Group recently announced a partnership with the Silver Lake Film Festival to exhibit short films, which must be written, cast, shot, edited and scored within a 48-hour period from Friday to Sunday. The SoCal film group expects between 10 and 30 filmmaking teams to participate in the event.
As with most other film festivals, the films being screened take a variety of paths from creative conception to silver screen exhibition. Independent filmmaking can take days, weeks, months, even years, depending on availability of resources and flexibility of schedules. The Lost Weekend offers a fresh look at the filmmaking process so that all filmmakers involved produce their projects on a level playing field.
SoCal Film Group organizers remain tight-lipped about the specific details surrounding The Lost Weekend. However, event insiders tell us that one particular prop will be revealed on Friday night that must find its way into each film in order to guarantee that no team of filmmakers is able to get a head start. In this sense, The Lost Weekend is something of a scavenger hunt, forcing filmmakers to seek out ways to creatively incorporate the prop into their own unique story.
After The Lost Weekend officially ends at 7 p.m. Sunday, completed films will be reviewed and judged by a panel appointed by the SoCal Film Group. All completed films will screen at the Silver Lake Film Festival on Tuesday at the Monte Cristo Club, 3100 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Winners will receive their prizes from the SoCal Film Group judges.
In addition to The Lost Weekend screening on Tuesday, the Silver Lake Film Festival runs from tonight to March 31 at the Arc Light theaters in Hollywood. This year, the festival ranks higher than ever on LA’s film festival radar. Special guests expected to attend include recent Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sally Field, singer k.d. lang, comedian Bobcat Goldthwaite and actor Goran Visnjic.
The line-up at the festival also promises to dazzle with 85 films showing at the event. Most notably is the premiere of “Edmond,” based on a play and written for the screen by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Mamet. It stars William H. Macy, Julia Stiles, Joe Mantegna and Rebecca Pidgeon.
“Edmond” follows the title character, played by Macy, as he descends into the New York underworld following a fortuneteller’s prognostication. During several key moments in the film, he notices a young couple in love, which drives his character to analyze his isolation in life.
Actress Vanessa Born, who plays one half of the kissing couple, had a unique moment on the set with co-star Macy. “We were sharing a make-up trailer. I was in a terrible mood because I had just broken up with a guy who is also an actor. [Macy] shared his experience meeting his wife [Oscar nominee Felicity Huffman] and told me not to give up on actors. You just have to find the right one.”
Despite the film’s modest budget, the professionalism of the cast and crew impressed Born. Macy, she said, “is one of those guys who’s really grateful and humble, a pleasure to work with. We only had 16 days to shoot the entire film. [The crew] had me in and out of there very quickly.”
“Edmond” premieres opening night and also screens at the Centerpiece Gala Program.
Another film that managed to raise eyebrows without big-name stars or a substantial budget is the thriller “Subject Two.” The plot of the film unravels a new twist on the classic story of Frankenstein. This time, the doctor in question invents a means to resurrect his willing subject using cryonics and nanotechnology.
Writer/director/producer Philip Chidel shot “Subject Two” entirely on location in and above Aspen, Colo., at a 12,000-foot elevation, for a pittance of only $23,000. During shooting on top of Aspen Mountain, there was only a crew of nine and a Panasonic 24P high-definition camera. In addition to the Silver Lake Film Festival, “Subject Two” was also an official selection at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.
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