Los Angeles, U.S.A. - The 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival will screen a diverse slate of nearly 200 feature films, short films, and music videos, representing more than 30 countries, along with signature programs such as the Filmmaker Retreat, Poolside Chats, Coffee Talks, music events and more. Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love will be Opening the Night as Lorene Scafaria’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Ava DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild were selected for the Galas section.

Returning to downtown Los Angeles and headquartered at L.A. LIVE for a third year, the Festival will run from June 14 to June 24 2012. Now in its eighteenth year, the Festival is widely recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American and international cinema, and is produced by Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that also produces the Spirit Awards.

“There is nothing more satisfying than shining a spotlight on so many unique films from both seasoned and emerging filmmakers. Come experience the wonder of Beasts of the Southern Wild, Let Call Me Kuchu Break your Heart and Call you to Action, or simply be entertained by Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike,” said Festival Director Stephanie Allain.

“These are just a few of the diverse stories that bring us into new worlds or put a fresh twist on familiar ones. ‘Exclusively for Everyone’ isn’t just a tag line. It’s an invitation to experience both the specific and the universal, and hopefully come away entertained and enlightened. Enjoy!”

“We’ve got a marvelous mix this year that reflects the incredible diversity of world cinema and of Los Angeles itself. I’m excited to have such giants as Woody Allen, Steven Soderbergh and Andre Techine alongside some amazing first-time filmmakers whose names you’ll be hearing a lot in the future. We want to offer festival-goers stories and visions they haven’t seen before and a chance to meet the most creative minds working in movies.

It’s going to be a fun and mind-expanding ten days,” said Festival Artistic Director David Ansen. The Festival will end its festivities with the World Premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Magic Mike, directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Reid Carolin. Set in the world of male strippers, the dramatic comedy follows Mike (Tatum) as he takes a young dancer called The Kid (Pettyfer) under his wing and schools him in the fine arts of partying, picking up women, and making easy money. Warner Bros. Pictures will release the film nationwide on June 29, 2012.

Dreamworks Pictures’ People Like Us will have its World Premiere amongst the Summer Showcase screenings. The film is directed by Alex Kurtzman, written by Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and Jody Lambert. In a story inspired by true events, Sam (Pine), a twenty-something, fast-talking salesman, is tasked with fulfilling his estranged father’s last wishes – delivering an inheritance to a sister he never knew he had. Dreamworks Pictures will release the film on June 29, 2012.

As part of the Los Angeles Film Festival’s free outdoor programming, there will be a Dirty Dancing Dance-A-Long at California Plaza on June 22 at 7pm to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film. Produced in cooperation with Dance Camera West and Grand Performances, there will be free salsa lessons by Contra-Tiempo, a screening of the film with special guests and a shadow cast consisting of performers from local dance companies to dance on stage below the screening during key scenes.

Image Courtesy of   To Rome With Love

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Three Minnesotan filmmakers are asking America to “get behind the squirrel” and send their squirrel-themed advertisement to the world’s biggest stage. Eric Sturm, Erik Sudheimer, and Michael Yaremchuk teamed up to enter a film in the “Chevrolet Route 66″ contest. Of hundreds of entries received, theirs was one of 35 films selected for the finals and the only one featuring the controversial rodent.

One winning film will be aired during the 2012 NFL Championship game, which boasts an annual viewership of more than 110 million. The trio entered a piece entitled “Grandpa Get That Squirrel!” which is not a typical car commercial. It depicts a grandfather character who is determined to rid his yard of pesky squirrels.

The viewer is taken on a wild trip through the old man’s garage – which just happens to be filled with smoke, a live rock band, and bikini-clad girls – into his Chevrolet Equinox and to his back alley where he slowly chases after a man in a squirrel suit. ”There’s a certain ‘What the…?’ factor in this thing, and that’s intentional,” Yaremchuk said. “I think this commercial screams game day. Girls in bikinis, rock and roll, and a squirrel. It leaves you with the feeling, ‘What the hell did I just watch?’”

“The piece may leave you a little perplexed, but the conflict depicted will resonate with people,” Sudheimer said. “Since the commercial has been in the finals, we’ve been approached by a surprising number of people with their own squirrel story.”

Sturm added, “From the crazy uncle who chases squirrels with a broom to people who feed them like pets, they truly are America’s rodent. The world is kicking our ass in almost everything: industry, math, science. Our piece shows that if there’s one thing Americans are better at, it’s producing semi-humorous, squirrel-based advertising. Let’s rally behind the squirrel!”

The winning film will air February 5 during the game.

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Just one year after its launch, JustFilms, the Ford Foundation’s documentary film fund, is providing major support to five independent films selected for competition and premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the world’s leading showcase for independent filmmaking.

Each of the five embodies JustFilms’ vision of the power of independent film to illuminate the world in which we live and inspire people to engage in pressing social challenges, from the untold story of bravery and activism that opened access to AIDS drugs in the United States to a poignant account of Detroit residents reimagining their city.

“We’re extremely pleased that five projects receiving major support from JustFilms have been selected to premiere at Sundance,” said Darren Walker, vice president of Ford’s Education, Creativity and Free Expression Program. “This is exactly what our initiative is all about– ensuring that talented filmmakers who are tackling tough social issues can break through to large new audiences in a timely way.”

JustFilms was launched one year ago, a day before the start of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In its inaugural year, the initiative has made more than $10 million in grants to support more than 100 filmmakers and mediamakers around the world.

“We believe that Sundance is just the beginning of an opportunity for these filmmakers, and many others like them, to reach a new audience of engaged people who are hungry for stories about issues shaping our future,” added Walker.

JustFilms focuses on film, video and digital works that show courageous people confronting difficult issues and actively pursuing a more just, secure, and sustainable world. Through 2016, it will invest $10 million every year to support and expand the community of filmmakers and mediamakers around the world focused on creating documentaries with passion and purpose, but who often lack funding to realize their visions or reach audiences.

“While focusing on issues as diverse as human rights, poverty, cultural expression, and sustainable development, every project supported by JustFilms has one thing in common– the power of good storytelling,” said Orlando Bagwell, director of the JustFilms initiative at Ford. “These films make complex and often difficult issues accessible and entertaining, opening up whole new opportunities for audiences to engage on topics that may have once felt overwhelming or simply out of reach.”

With the explosion of digital media production over the past decade, there is far more film and video content available from which audiences can choose. However, it remains a challenge for most documentary filmmakers to find support– and audiences– for works that address social issues in meaningful and compelling ways. JustFilms seeks to support courageous filmmakers to complete their important works and to help them reach a growing audience of engaged and socially conscious viewers.

The Ford Foundation’s JustFilms initiative builds on the foundation’s longtime support for scores of documentaries, including such landmark productions as “Eyes on the Prize,” “State of Fear,” and “Why Democracy.” It also leverages the foundation’s global network of 10 regional offices to identify and lift new talent from around the world and to strengthen emerging communities of documentary filmmakers.

Ben Haslam / Haslam Photography / Shutterstock.com

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Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced the winners of its four Spirit Awards filmmaker grants today at its annual Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch held at BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood. Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson hosted the casual event and handed out the honors.

Winners for the remaining categories will be revealed at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards in a tent at Santa Monica beach on Saturday, February 25, 2012. The awards ceremony will premiere later that evening at 10:00 P.M. ET/PT on IFC, and as previously announced actor, writer, and producer, Seth Rogen, will serve as host of the ceremony.

“We’re so appreciative to Audi of America, Nokia, Piaget, and Jameson Irish Whiskey for funding cash prizes as part of the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards. In addition to industry recognition the Spirit Awards provides, this kind of direct financial support makes a meaningful difference. It allows our grant winners to pay some bills as they take the next natural step in their careers, and it brings extra attention to their compelling and provocative stories,” said Co-President Josh Welsh.

“At Film Independent, we exist to provide a community for independent filmmakers, and the brunch is one way we bring together current and past Spirit Award nominees to, first celebrate them, but also to introduce them to one another prior to the awards ceremony.

The event especially shines a spotlight on the talented group of emerging film artists, selected by our blue-ribbon committees, who should be on the radar of the film industry. The grant nominees and winners are part of the next generation of filmmakers we expect to inspire film lovers for years to come,” said Co-President Sean Mc Manus.

Mark Jackson, director of ‘Without,’ received the Audi Someone to Watch Award, which recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award, which is in its eighteenth year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Audi of America. The finalists for the award included Simon Arthur for ‘Silver Tongues’ and Nicholas Ozeki for ‘Mamitas’.

Heather Courtney, director of ‘Where Soldiers Come From’ received the Nokia Truer Than Fiction Award, which is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not received significant recognition. The award is in its seventeenth year and includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Nokia. Danfung Dennis for ‘Hell and Back Again’ and Alma Har’el for ‘Bombay Beach’ were also finalists for the award.

Sophia Lin, producer of ‘Take Shelter’ received the Piaget Producers Award, which honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The annual award, in its fifteenth year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget. Finalists were Chad Burris for ‘Mosquita Y Mari’ and Josh Mond for ‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’.

Benjamin Murray and Alysa Nahmias for ‘Unfinished Spaces’ received the second annual Jameson FIND Your Audience Award, which helps one low-budget independent film find a broader audience. The award included a $40,000 marketing and distribution grant funded by Jameson Irish Whiskey.

The other finalists were Cara Marcous for ‘On the Ice’ and Sheldon Larry for ‘Leave It On The Floor’. The nominating committee was composed of publicist and Film Independent Board Member, Laura Kim, filmmaker Scott Macaulay, and CrowdStarter’s Liz Ogilvie.

cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com

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