The LA Shorts Fest is Back

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Today marks the start of the 16th Los Angeles International Short Film Festival (aka LA Shorts Fest). The event features short films from around the world and is one of the largest festivals of its kind. Since the LA Shorts Fest is recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, some of the films presented during the event may receive Oscar nominations. In addition to film screenings, attendees can participate in educational panels and various interactive events.

8th Annual HollyShorts Film Fest Opens August 9th

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If you love going to the movies but are ready for something other than the big summer blockbusters, the HollyShorts Film Festival is for you. Now in its 8th year, the festival showcases short subject films from around the world that run no longer than 30 minutes.

The Art of Illusions: Pre-cinematic Entertainment in Mexico

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Before the advent of cinema as we know it today, audiences around the world experienced other types of entertainment that involved optical magic, such as the diorama, cosmorama, magic lantern, panorama and scientific spectacles. Mexico is one country where these forms of visual culture flourished and then set the stage for later generations of moving image entertainment, including the Kinetoscope and the Cinematograph.

Cruelly, Madly, Deeply: The Films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder

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To mark the 30th anniversary of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s (1945 – 1982) untimely death at age 37, the American Cinematheque has put together a 16-film retrospective of the German film director’s work. The program will include such films as Love is Colder Than Death (1969), The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971), Lola (1981), and Veronika Voss (1981), among others.

REDCAT International Children’s Film Festival

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My family loves the REDCAT International Children’s Film Festival. The selection of shorts is always excellent, the audience’s energy and enthusiasm is infectious and the theater offers an intimate place to immerse yourself in wonderful stories from around the world.

I highly recommend you attend one or more screenings during the festival’s two-weekend run. If the films are anything like the ones I’ve seen in the past, you won’t be disappointed.

LA Light – Colin Rich’s Visual Tribute to the City of Angels

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When executed well, time-lapse photography reveals the ebb and flow of life – the visual rhythms of human activities and the natural processes that continually unfold all around us. Colin Rich, a highly skilled local practitioner of this photographic technique and native Angeleno, has produced a mesmerizing time-lapse film that he calls LA Light.

Last Remaining Seats – Classic Films in Historic Theaters

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Today the LA Conservancy begins selling tickets to its members for the 26th Annual installment of Last Remaining Seats (LRS), the hugely popular festival that brings classic films and live entertainment to historic theaters in the LA area. I’ve attended this event in the past and always had a great time. Not only do you have the opportunity to watch wonderful films on the big screen, but you’ll experience them in some of the most beautiful movie palaces ever built in this country.