By KATHLEEN BISHOP Special to the Daily Press
MALIBU — Celebrity glitz and glamour normally seen here will be set aside this week to celebrate unknown independent films.
Five years ago the Malibu International Film Festival began with a few hundred submissions and 30 films. This year, 1,400 films competed for 80 spots at a festival, which aims not to be a celebrity beacon, but to simply showcase the work of today’s best independent filmmakers.
The festival starts Sept. 16 with an opening night party on the Malibu Pier sponsored by Billabong. The festival runs through Sept. 23, closing with another party in the Malibu Vineyards. The week in between will feature screenings of the selected films and other events for film-makers and movie buffs.
David Katz, president and founder of the festival, began planning it in 1997. Two years later, the first festival kicked off with what he calls “a huge, $80,000 party.” That year, the festival honored John Frankehnheimer and James Cameron.
“We had to make our mark, we had to go big on our first year,” he said. “We really set a high standard of who our celebrity honorees are, but our interest is not in honoring the well-known, but in supporting the underdog.”
Those underdogs include Jack McCoy’s “Blue Horizon,” and Chris Malloy’s “A Brokedown Melody,” which were chosen as screenings on opening night.
Tim Lynch, who co-produced “A Brokedown Palace,” said he was surprised when he was selected as one of the opening films since he, Malloy and coproducer Emmett Malloy initially submitted only a trailer.
“No one has even seen it yet,” Lynch said. “We just finished it last night,” he said last week.
Nevertheless, there is buzz surrounding the film, and Katz believes both opening films, which are about the surfing lifestyle, fittingly reflect a city that is influenced as much by surfing as by entertainment.
Lynch has lived in Santa Monica for five years, and for him and his collaborators, finding distribution is part of the goal. But they entered the festival to expose their film to people, and he believes that is the fundamental importance of independent film festivals.
The exposure will be greater this year since the festival expanded its venues to Santa Monica and Hollywood, a step that will benefit both filmmakers and viewers, Katz said.
“The film industry is very thick in Santa Monica, and the filmmakers will benefit from that,” Katz said. “And who doesn’t want to spend the day in Santa Monica, eat lunch, shop and see one of these films?”
The week also includes a “How to Sell Your Script” symposium, a Malibu film-makers dinner theater and a new addition to the festival, Sept. 22’s “Pitch Day,” where writers, directors and producers have the opportunity to meet with industry executives to pitch ideas and scripts.
Many of the films include well-known names such as Martin Landau, Hayley Mills, Tara Reid, Paul Sorvino and John Stamos.
Nevertheless, Katz wants his film festival to be “a tool for the film world to find new, cutting-edge talent, as opposed to just going out and honoring people.”
To purchase tickets, go to TicketWeb.com or call TicketWeb at (866) 468-3399. To see screening schedules and a film guide, or to get more information about the Malibu International Film Festival, go to www.malibufilmfestival.com.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 9, 2004. Read the original PDF.