Editor

The LA Femme Film Festival will open this week their 2nd annual Festival on October 5th. The festival, will run from October 5th -8th and will include new independent features, shorts, student films, animated films, special screenings and seminars. The four day event will be held at two theatres: the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills at 8556 Wilshire Blvd. and the Wilshire Screening Room at 8670 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, California.

The focus and mission of this Festival is to catapulting a new breed of female filmmakers to the top of Hollywood’s A-List. The festival exhibits the diverse talents of emerging artists to wider audiences by showcasing new work to industry professionals, up and coming filmmakers and film fans. The festival includes film screenings of submitted works, seminars with industry experts, networking events, an awards ceremony and a benefit gala.

LA Femme Film Festival accepted submissions of films produced, directed or written by women. Each film, video, short and screenplay challenges other films in its category and is eligible for awards such as: Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Screenplay, Best Commercial, Best Music Video, Best PSA (Public Service Announcement), Best Short, Best Indie Feature, Best Indie Writer, Best Director and Honorable Mention for Outstanding Achievement.

Ms. LaPage is an accomplished director and producer. For the past 15 years, she has produced, directed and line-produced for film, television, music videos, commercials and theatrical productions. She also serves as a consultant to independent filmmakers offering assistance with script analysis, budgets, marketing and helping to submit projects to other film festivals around the globe. For five years, Ms. LaPage was a Slamdance Film Festival Programmer.

The winners gain priceless exposure for their films. For example, the 2005 Best Feature winner “Green Street Hooligans” went on to open in over 2,000 theaters nationwide and Yelena Lanskaya, winner of the 2005 Best Director award, saw her film “The Colt” air on The Hallmark Channel.



Awards at the Festival’s Closing Ceremony are:

Susan Seidelman (Director) will be accepting the Meritorious Achievement award.
Angela Bromstad, President of NBC Universal Television Studios, will be accepting the
Executive Achievement Award.

Lauren Zelnick, Bravo President, will be accepting the Executive Achievement in Community Service
“BRAVO on the Set” - Community Outreach award.
Maria Conchita Alonso (Actress) will be accepting the Pioneer Award.
Julie Davis – will be accepting the Rising Star in Indie Directing award.
Festival founder Ms. LaPage said, “After more than a decade of working as a producer in the industry, I have seen women filmmakers rise to the top and I wanted to create a specific forum in which our stars of tomorrow could be championed. Our festival’s winner last year promptly received a distribution deal and we hope that this year’s cadre of extraordinary filmmakers will enjoy the same success.”

Unique to other festivals, LA Femme not only exhibits films, it also distributes selected works through the festival’s own Foundation Films Distribution (FFD). Plus, LA Femme recently formed a strategic alliance with mixcast.tv. The two companies plan on launching the LF Indie Channel, which will focus on independent urban films.

The seminar line-up includes a prestigious array of film business professionals. The Writers Guild America West will sponsor a writers’ panel featuring women screenwriters who have adapted novels, plays and short stories for the big screen.

LA Femme Film Festival is open to the general public and tickets are available on the website www.lafemme.org or by calling (310) 441-1645. Tickets for individual films are $10.00 and seminars are each $20.00 at the door, while a VIP pass for all events is $149.99. High school students may attend screenings and seminars for free. Full Festival VIP passes include all screenings, after parties, seminars, the benefit Gala and the Closing Night Awards Ceremony. Students with a current ID from film school are welcome to attend the seminars for FREE and the screenings for $10. Single tickets are also available for industry cocktail parties ($25) the benefit gala ($75) and the awards ceremony ($35).

A Femme Film Festival is strongly committed to improving the lives of women. The Festival benefits the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation at UCLA, which provides comprehensive and multi-disciplinary support for women with breast ailments.

Sponsors include: Smith Barney, Zimand Entertainment, Writers Guild America West, The Hallmark Channel, The DR Group, Women In Cable, Writers Guild America, West, Yogi Times, NBC/Universal Telvision Studio, Bravo, Pinky Vodka, Upright LA Cabaret, The Dr. Group, Function Drinks, The Luxe Hotel, Showbiz Software, Inktip, The Governer’s Office Of Film and Entertainment For the State of Florida, G2, LA Studios, Inc., Charter Digital TV

The full schedule and tickets are available at: www.lafemme.org.