LA Film Fest Moves to Awards-Friendly September; Lines Up Cannes winner ‘Border,’ Sara Zandieh’s ‘Simple Wedding’

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The 24th Los Angeles Film Festival is making a big move this year. Leaving its usual June slot it will now hit the California shores in September; where it will follow Venice, Telluride and Toronto and land just before New York.

A main emphasis of the Lost Angeles Film Festival will be the diversity of its in competition films with 42% of the films being directed by women and 39% coming from people of color.

“Our mission of finding fresh new voices from different geographical and cultural axes remains true,” said L Film Festival director Jennifer Cochis. “These storytellers are united by their ability to transport, impact and inspire audiences with the power of their craft.”

The announcement today also dropped a clue about something we might see at Telluride, which famously only announces its lineup the day before the festival starts. Cannes Un Certain Regard winner Border (read my review here) will be a “California” premiere, hinting that Neon, who bought the film for US release at Cannes, is going to send it to Colorado first (and possibly Toronto in one of the upcoming August announcements).

The 2018 lineup includes 40 feature films across five sections, 41 short films, and 10 short episodic works representing 26 countries.

Here is the complete list of films in competition with opening and closing night films being announced in the coming weeks.

U.S. Fiction Competition

Banana Split, director: Benjamin Francis Kasulke, USA, World Premiere
In Reality, director: Ann Lupo, co-directors: Esteban Pedraza & Aaron Pryka, USA, California Premiere
Olympia, director: Gregory Dixon, USA, World Premiere
Simple Wedding, director: Sara Zandieh, USA, World Premiere|
Softness of Bodies, director:. Jordan Blady, USA/Germany, World Premiere
This Teacher, director:. Mark Jackson, USA, World Premiere
The Wrong Todd, director: Rob Schulbaum, USA, World Premiere

Documentary Competition

Behind the Curve, director: Daniel J. Clark, USA, US Premiere
Facing the Dragon, director: Sedika Mojadidi, USA/Afghanistan, World Premiere
False Confessions, director: Katrine Philp, Denmark, North American Premiere
hillbilly, directors: Sally Rubin, Ashley York, USA, LA Premiere
Mamacita, director: José Pablo Estrada Torrescano, Mexico/Germany, US Premiere
Moroni for President, directors: Saila Huusko, Jasper Rischen, USA, LA Premiere
Same God, director: Linda Midgett, USA, World Premiere
The Silence of Others, directors: Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar, Spain, West Coast Premiere
Stammering Ballad, director: Nan Zhang, China, North American Premiere
Wrestling Ghosts, director: Ana Joanes, USA, World Premiere

World Fiction Competition

Border, director: Ali Abbasi, Sweden, California Premiere
The Cotton Wool War, directors: Cláudio Marques, Marilia Hughes, Brazil, US Premiere
The Day I Lost My Shadow, director: Soudade Kaadan, France/Lebanon/Qatar/Syrian Arab Republic, US Premiere
Heaven Without People, director: Lucien Bourjeily, Lebanon, LA Premiere
Microhabitat, director: Jeon Go-Woon, South Korea, West Coast Premiere
Socrates, director: Alex Moratto, Brazil, World Premiere
Tower. A Bright Day., director: Jagoda Szelc, Poland/Czech Republic, LA Premiere

LA Muse

The Advocates, director: Rémi Kessler, USA, World Premiere
El Chicano, director: Ben Hernandez Bray, USA, World Premiere
Fire on the Hill, director: Brett Fallentine, USA, World Premiere
Funke, director: Gabriel Taraboulsy, USA, World Premiere
Making Montgomery Clift, directors: Robert A. Clift, Hillary Demmon, USA, World Premiere
Saint Judy, director: Sean Hanish, USA, World Premiere
Solace, director: Tchaiko Omawale, USA, California Premiere
Staycation, director: Tanuj Chopra, USA, World Premiere
Stuntman, director: Kurt Mattila, USA, World Premiere
We the Coyotes, directors: Hanna Ladoul, Marco La Via, USA, North American Premiere

Nightfall

The Dead Center, director: Billy Senese, USA, World Premiere
Deep Murder, director: Nick Corirossi, USA, World Premiere
Ghost Light, director: John Stimpson, USA, World Premiere
Head Count, director: Elizabeth Callahan, USA, World Premiere
Spell, director: Brendan Walter, USA, World Premiere
Thriller, director: Dallas Jackson, USA, World Premiere

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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