The LA Festival of Movies Debuts with Its First Lineup, Led by ‘I Saw the TV Glow’

Ryan Lattanzio
·3 min read
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The LA film festival scene just got a bit brighter.

The Los Angeles Festival of Movies (LAFM), co-presented by MUBI and Mezzanine, announced the full lineup for its inaugural festival taking place April 4-7, 2024. The new festival will screen 11 titles including one world premiere, three 4K restorations, plus a featured artist talk, documentary series, and a curated short film program. Passes are currently on sale, and single film tickets go on sale March 14.

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Per the festival’s organizers, LAFM was created to redefine Los Angeles as a destination for independent film. There are many film festivals in LA, primarily led by AFI Fest in the fall, but rarely do they make independent film their only focus.

The festival’s screenings will all take place at three recently opened venues on the east side of Los Angeles: Vidiots in Eagle Rock, 2220 Arts + Archives in Historic Filipinotown, and Now Instant Image Hall in Chinatown.

A24’s “I Saw the TV Glow,” from filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun will open the festival and have its west coast premiere on Thursday, April 4, at Vidiots’ Eagle Theatre. Closing the festival is the world premiere of Conner O’Malley and Danny Scharer’s “Rap World” on Sunday, April 7, also at Vidiots.

Other highlights include a 4K restoration of “Toute Une Nuit,” Chantal Akerman’s 1982 darkly erotic drama, the Los Angeles premieres of India Donaldson’s 2024 Sundance breakout film “Good One” and the Ross Bros.’ freewheeling road trip of discovery “Gasoline Rainbow,” and the first episode of the HBO documentary series “Ren Faire,” a three-part “docu-fantasia” from Lance Oppenheim and Elara Pictures, the company run by the Safdies.

“This lineup is a snapshot of the past and present landscape of independent cinema, and a group of films we feel very passionately about. We’re really proud to be presenting such a varied group of films that are all ambitious, personal, and self-determined,” said Micah Gottlieb and Sarah Winshall, founders of the Los Angeles Festival of Movies.

On closing night: “Connor O’Malley is one of the funniest living performers in America today, and he and Danny Scharer are responsible for some of our favorite moments in comedy in recent memory. Rap World is a joyous, unbridled version of what they do best, featuring many of their collaborators. We didn’t want it to end, and we are overjoyed to be sharing the world premiere with our audience.”

“We’re also incredibly pleased that Now Instant crafted such a strong program of shorts from an international selection of vital experimental artists. Their program really reflects many different shades of contemporary avant-garde filmmaking.”

Official Selection

Dream Team, dir. Lev Kalman & Whitney Horn

Gasoline Rainbow, dir. Bill Ross IV & Turner Ross

Good One, dir. India Donaldson

The Human Surge 3, dir. Eduardo Williams

I Saw the TV Glow, dir. Jane Schoenbrun

Malqueridas, dir. Tana Gilbert

Naked Acts, dir. Bridgett M. Davis

New Strains, dir. Artemis Shaw & Prashanth Kamalakanthan

Rap World, dir. Connor O’Malley & Danny Scharar

Ren Faire, Episode One, dir. Lance Oppenheim

Toute Une Nuit, dir. Chantal Akerman

Un Rêve Plus Long Que La Nuit, dir. Niki de Saint Phalle; preceded by: Realms, dir. Maximilla Lukacs

Short Films

Holographic Will, dir. Mike Stoltz

History As Hypnosis, dir. Alison Nguyen

Sola La Luna Comprenderá, dir. Kim Torres

Otherhood, dir. Deborah Stratman

In a Nearby Field, dir. Laida Lertxundi and Ren Ebel

Lemon Tree, dir. Rachel Walden

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