Annual Pacific Palisades Film Festival Returns May 14

Malibu has one. Santa Barbara has one. Both San Francisco and San Diego have one. And so does Palm Springs. And Hollywood, of course. And, as of six years ago, our town has one, too: an official film festival. Founded by the locally based Friends of Film society, the Sixth Annual Pacific Palisades Film Festival returns Thursday, May 14 through Saturday, May 16, at Pierson Playhouse on 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. Friends of Film just finalized the 2009 program last week, but there are plenty of reasons to look forward to this year’s slate of films, including the riotously entertaining festival opener ‘The Seventh Python,’ billed as a ‘nonfiction musical’ feature, about the life and work of the most elusive of the Monty Python clan, musical satirist Neil Innes; festival centerpiece ‘The Nature of Existence,’ director Roger Nygard’s quest to travel the world and ask people the most difficult questions he could think of; and the documentary ‘Downstream,’ which heralds the return of Academy Award-nominated Leslie Iwerks. A cursory glance at the history of the nascent festival is already ripe with enough notable scenes for a highlight reel. On May 21, 2000, Bob Sharka, a local businessman, founded what he called a Palisades Film Festival at the Pierson Playhouse. The feature film was ‘Bus Riders Union,’ a documentary about a grass-roots effort to improve L.A.’s bus service, directed by multiple Academy Award-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler (‘Coming Home’). Fiction shorts included Judy Chaiken’s ‘Cotillion ’65’ and ‘Kimberly Harwood’s ‘True Confessions of a Sushi Addict.’ In this prototype version of the festival, the programming ran intermittently throughout the latter half of the year, and so Marc Lazard’s ‘Stanley Gig’ (with Faye Dunaway and Marla Gibbs) screened in July 2000, and Mark Anthony Galluzzo’s ‘Trash’ followed in September. From 2001 through 2003, the festival continued in this same loose vein, and highlights included Todd Robison’s ‘Amargosa,’ about legendary Death Valley inhabitant, dancer and painter, Marta Becket and Bob Tur’s ‘Pacific Palisades: The Mockumentary.’ LA Weekly’s film critic Scott Foundas singled out Ara Corbett’s ‘Roof to Roof’ (2001) as one of the ‘exemplary American independent films from the past several years that never surfaced in the local theatres.’ In October 2002, then-Palisades Honorary Mayor Steve Guttenberg held a special PPFF benefit screening of his directorial effort, ‘P.S. Your Cat is Dead.’ Then, in 2004, Friends of Film relaunched the festival in its current format. So that year’s program became what is now demarked as the First Annual Palisades Film Festival. ‘The Palisades Film Fest originally started as a year-round event, with monthly screenings,’ Sharka says. ‘We still continue our ‘monthlies,’ but on a availability basis. We’ve had a three-day fest for the last five years.’ The Second Annual PPFF screened Phil Zlotorynski and Chris Gore’s ‘My Big Fat Independent Movie’ in 2005. On May 11, 2006, Friends of Film honored comic actor Dom DeLuise at the Third Annual PPFF with a lifetime achievement award at Chefmakers Cooking Academy on Via de la Paz. ‘We’re very proud to be honoring Dom, a real class act and a true living legend of the film and television world,’ Sharka said at the time. ‘I can’t think of a better place to hold this event, as Dom is a local guy who, like me, is no stranger in the kitchen.’ On March 6, 2008, the Fifth Annual PPFF’s opening-nighter, Josh Tickell’s ‘Fields of Fuel,’ gripped the Pierson audience and launched a whole program of top-notch documentaries, including Loren Mendell’s ‘Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene.’ Afterwards, a VIP party was held in the Huntington, and, on that warm night on the patio of Carol and Mario Smolinisky’s home, actors Robert Guillaume (‘Phantom of the Opera’) and Seymour Cassel (‘Honeymoon in Vegas’) received their Lifetime Achievement Awards from Sharka, surrounded by friends Palisades-based actor Eric Braeden (‘The Young and the Restless’), Marla Gibbs (Florence on ‘The Jeffersons’), producer David L. Bushell (‘The Wendell Baker Story’), and film editor Matt Cassel (supporting father Seymour). In addition to festivals, Friends of Film’s monthly screenings have spotlighted emerging talents, most famously Jason Reitman, son of veteran comedy director Ivan Reitman. His shorts, ‘In God We Trust’ and ‘GULP,’ were screened by Friends of Film in 2000 and 2001, respectively. He went on to direct the Academy Award-winning ‘Juno’ (2007). This year’s Pali Film Fest, while also favoring documentaries, promises no less diversity. Opening 2009’s three-day festival with something completely different will be ‘The Seventh Python,’ directed by Burt Kearns. The profile of peripheral Monty Python member Innes plays on Thursday, May 14 at 7 p.m. Kearns, a longtime Palisadian, tells the Palisadian-Post, ‘Neil Innes is probably the important and influential satirist perhaps since vaudeville, and the greatest songwriter since the Beatles, but he’s deliberately avoided the spotlight.’ ‘Seventh’ will appear with the short film, ‘The Christmas Conspiracy,’ directed by Jennifer Clary and narrated by Dick Van Patten. On Saturday, May 16, at noon, David Wright’s ‘Children of the Valley’ will re-tell a true-life adventure featuring Palisadian Chuck Rapoport, a former LIFE magazine photographer. ‘I was in Wales in 1966 when a major mining-related disaster occurred and a mountain fell on a building and killed 116 kids in a school,’ Rapoport tells the Post. ‘I was there and I took photographs of the aftermath.’ In 2005, Rapoport, who had since become an episodic-television writer (‘Law & Order’), enjoyed a major exhibition at the National Library of Wales of the photographs he had taken. A UK film company caught wind of Rapoport’s exhibit and contacted him about documenting a trip back. Rapoport’s spring 2007 return to the town, 40 years later, and his reunion with those who survived the disaster, forms the heart of Wright’s documentary. ‘It’s very emotional,’ says Rapoport, who had befriended his subjects. A special event for pass holders and invited guests will take place on the night of Saturday, May 16, with a cocktail party and outdoor screening of Academy Award-nominated Leslie Iwerks’ latest, ‘Downstream.’ Iwerks has previously garnered an Academy Award nomination for her documentary short film ‘Recycled Life’ (about life in the depths of the Guatemala City garbage dump) and an Emmy nomination for ‘The Pixar Story.’ She also made a film about her grandfather (‘ The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story’), the legendary animation artist employed by Walt Disney and credited by animation historians for designing Mickey Mouse. Now, Iwerks returns to the PPFF fold with ‘Downstream,’ a real-life drama about an Alberta doctor risking his career to save the lives of the aboriginal people dying of rare cancers downstream from a gross-polluting oil plant. The Pali Film Fest is still young and building a reputation. But such institutions must be nurtured, and there is no better way to support a burgeoning film festival than to attend. Tickets: $10. For a complete screening schedule and advance tickets available by PayPal, visit www.FriendsofFilm.com

The First Five Years: A View from the Top

By BOB SHARKA Special to the Palisadian-Post Times, indeed, are changing. As the Pacific Palisades Film Festival (PPFF)”produced by the nonprofit Friends Of Film”gears up for year six, one thing is certain’the PPFF is on the map. What started as a small festival, the PPFF is really seeing the benefits of sticking around during the initial few years when it’s typically more difficult getting the momentum going: increased submissions, better quality films, returning filmmakers, substantial press coverage and more and more local interest in the FOF events that will be part of the three day event from May 14 through 16. The festival’s submissions are up 80 percent this year alone as more and more filmmakers (particularly L.A.-based ones) are recognizing that the Palisades is a great place to showcase their work. Last year, supporters Mario and Carol Smolinski opened up their Huntington home for the opening-night party, where actors Robert Guillaume and Seymour Cassel were honored with our Lifetime Achievement Awards. It was truly a classy night all around and one of the most memorable events in the history of our five-year event. A close second, dare I say, was recognizing Palisadian Dom DeLuise with a Lifetime Achievement Award as his good pals and living legends Burt Reynolds and Charles Durning looked on. I still get calls from folks wanting to see the highlight reel of Dom’s work that we screened that night. We’ll be taking advantage of the wonderful weather again with two outdoor events on tap for this year’s festival; FOF Gold Supporters Bob and Teresa Akerblom have stepped up their support of the nonprofit by hosting the VIP opening-night party where Golden Globe winner Stacy Keach will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award after a 15-minute highlight reel of his very distinguished career. Another more intimate film event is slated at the home of Michael and Diane Ziering the following evening.   A limited number of festival passes”which include admission to both VIP events”are on sale for $100. I am often asked, ‘How can we help, Bob?’ Well, here’s your chance. We need a home this year where the festival will experience another first: honoring an Academy Award-winning actor. Did I mention the PPFF is on the map?   Bob Sharka lives in Pacific Palisades with his wife, Debbie, and their miniature dachshund, Pencil.

Actor Stacy Keach to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

Actor Stacy Keach, star of such films as ‘The Long Riders,’ TV’s ‘Mike Hammer,’ and, most recently, of the Fox series ‘Prison Break’ and the traveling production of ‘Frost/Nixon’ at the Ahmanson, will be honored by Friends of Film at its opening night VIP party on Thursday, May 14. The party will be held at a private residence in the Huntington Palisades. When Keach receives the Friends Of Film Lifetime Achievement Award, he will join distinguished company. Actor Robert Pine won the festival’s inaugural award. Past recipients have included several Palisadians, including the Academy Award-winning editor Paul Hirsch (‘Star Wars’), actress Nanette Fabray and actor Dom DeLuise. In 2008, the festival’s highest accolade went to a pair of veteran thespians with risky and varied resumes: Seymour Cassel and Robert Guillaume.

J.J. Abrams may have ‘Star Trek,’ one of this summer’s most anticipated featured films, coming out on May 8, but last Thursday, he enjoyed some ‘Fringe’ benefits. The producer/director, who co-created Fox’s TV show ‘Fringe’ with hot screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, toplined a panel discussion of the supernatural series about paranormal investigators, now ending its first season. The evening, at Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome, was hosted by the Paley Center for Media. After previewing an upcoming episode of ‘Fringe’ intermingling a commercial airliner crash with a bio-terrorism plot, the Beverly Hills-based Paley Center welcomed the show’s creators and stars. Abrams, who grew up in Pacific Palisades (PaliHi class of ’84) and still resides here, participated on a panel with Orci and Kurtzman, showrunner Jeff Pinkner, executive producer Bryan Burk, and ‘Fringe’ stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble. At ease in front of a full house, the panel’s participants were relaxed and jocular as they interacted with the moderator, Entertainment Weekly critic Ken Tucker, and audience members, and Abrams himself was in top comedic form. As actress Torv (whose character speaks with an American accent on the show) answered one of Tucker’s questions in her native Down Under drawl, Abrams interjected, ‘She’s Australian! How cool is that?!’ Abrams explained the genesis of ‘Fringe,’ which began when he and Orci and Kurtzman (Abrams’ ‘Star Trek’ screenwriters) threw around the names of science-fiction works that they had enjoyed over the years. ‘We loved David Cronenberg-type stories [such as] ‘Altered States,’ ‘The Twilight Zone,’ ‘X-Files,” Abrams said. The challenge, he continued, was creating a show that was accessible enough for audiences to jump right in. ‘Having worked on ‘Alias’ and ‘Lost,’ that was clearly not us!’ Pinkner argued that shows such as ‘Fringe’ get a bad rap for being inaccessible: ‘If it were ‘ER,’ you’d have no problem tuning in and seeing who is dating whom’There’s a fear it’s going to be harder to understand because it’s a genre show, but it’s about character relationships and we try to make it trackable.’ Later, Abrams commented on his admiration for veteran actress Blair Brown, whom he hired on ‘Fringe’ (‘She brings a wonderful ambiguity to the role’) and ‘the beauty and the fun and the terror’ of planning and executing a series once he learns ‘it will keep going.’ An evening highlight was when Abrams discussed working with the original Mr. Spock on his much-anticipated ‘Star Trek’ prequel. ‘Obviously, working with Leonard Nimoy on ‘Star Trek’ was an insane honor,’ said Abrams, excited and ‘intimidated’ by Nimoy, who took some coaxing to bring aboard the new U.S.S. Enterprise. Abrams went through similar emotions enlisting Nimoy to guest-appear on upcoming episodes of ‘Fringe’ as a colleague of Noble’s character. ‘We’re proud to have him on the show. ‘I tend to work with the same people again and again and again,’ Abrams added, to which Orci exclaimed, ‘Thank God!’ For more information on the Paley Center for Media, visit www.PaleyCenter.org.

  Marc Wanamaker, author of ‘Early Beverly Hills and Beverly Hills 1930-2005,’ will treat Pacific Palisades Historical Society members and guests to an interesting perspective on Beverly Hills on Thursday, May 7, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Aldersgate Retreat Center, 925 Haverford.   Burton Green, one of the three original land developers of the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas, named this place of severe terrain after Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, a 19th century spa. Since its establishment in 1907, Beverly Hills has been a crossroads for the great movers and shakers of the entertainment industry, tycoons and world leaders.   Initially, Beverly Hills was established as a residential community broken into three units. North of Sunset Boulevard was reserved for large estates and mansions; south of Sunset was devoted to medium-sized estates and mansions; and the modest single-family homes and apartments were located south of Wilshire Boulevard.   Wanamaker’s presentation will focus on estates north of Sunset and will cover the more famous estates, the people who built them from 1909 through the 1980s, and the intrigues associated with them. He will share secrets that most people do not know about the early days of historic personalities who have helped to shape a universally recognized part of the Westside community.   Wanamaker, an expert on film history, is probably the most accessible celebrity in the world. He publishes his telephone number on the Internet and actually answers the telephone himself. In 1971, he formed Bison Archives, a production and research organization. The meeting is free and open to the public.