April 13-18, 2000

Wrap Up

...the 6th Annual Los Angeles Independent Film Festival wrapped Tuesday amid overwhelming filmmaker appreciation and a strong feel for the current state of independent film from a broad American sensibility...

Still, confident in their firm and unshakeable commitment to the art form , the no-longer fledging festival and new Festival Director Richard Raddon drew their challenge firmly in the sand as festival programmers and organizers dared the jaded LA industry to 'put up or shut up' when it came time to support the truly independent American filmmakers.

With rare exceptions, not a star nor studio backer could be found throughout the lineup, offering audience members at the very least a unique opportunity to experience the re-emergence of a cinematic voice from talented auteurs all too often caught up in the hype of their profession. And, high level development players were indeed sparked enough by the clearly apparent talent of a number of emerging filmmakers to take various meetings to discuss the next projects on the Indie slates.

The films that screened well amid strong audience buzz included I'll Take You There (Director Adrienne Shelley); Bruno (Director Shirely MacLaine); Keep the River On Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale (Directors David Shapiro and Laurie Gwen Shapiro); Cowboys and Angels (Director Gregory C. Haynes); George Washington (Director David Gordon Green) and Amargosa (Director Todd Robinson)...

Veteran festival-circuit filmmakers attending LAIFF couldn't help but wonder out loud about the intrinsic difficulties of staging a film festival in Los Angeles. A general industry apathy mixed wildly with an aggressive shark-like hunger from many of the participants gave the festival an unwarranted air of elitism that didn't serve the filmmaking craft nor sense of camaraderie well. However, the strong new direction of Raddon and the extraordinary professionalism of his festival staff bode well as LAIFF pushes forward to find its own unique artistic and creative voice.