Palm Springs Life / Desert Guide / June 2010 / Satisfy Your Inner Cinephile

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Satisfy Your Inner Cinephile

ShortFest and More Summer Screenings

After you’ve enjoyed a round of golf at one of several courses serving up summer specials (see page 13), played a set or two on well-maintained local courts, or taken an early morning hike, it’s comforting to know that the cool dark of a movie theater awaits. With one of the most prestigious festivals in the United States rooted in Palm Springs, film is a big deal in the desert, even during the summer. In fact, the warmer months may encourage such passion as evidenced by the popularity of film festivals and screenings. From ShortFest to Global Lens to Movies & Margaritas, Mojitos, and Martinis, summer is a great time to nurture the cinephile within.

ShortFest Not Short on Celebrities
A favorite hot-season festival is the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival & Film Market, or ShortFest, as it is casually known. One of the top short film festivals in the world, ShortFest takes place June 22-28 at Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs. Presented by the Palm Springs International Film Society, which also produces the renowned feature film festival in January, ShortFest presents 300-plus short films from more than 40 countries. In addition, the festival offers seminars, special presentations, and receptions.

Notable in this year’s submissions is the degree of Hollywood participation in front of or behind the camera, according to Executive Director Darryl Macdonald, who also helms the January festival. There’s been a definite upward trend in accomplished directorial work from well-known young actors and actresses, which Macdonald believes is reflective of a serious approach to their craft. “They are striving to work with gifted directors, and are paying attention to the lessons they learn from working with those directors – both the techniques they employ and the ways in which they interact with their actors,” he observes. “And you know the old Hollywood saying: ‘But what I really want to do is direct….’”

Shorts involving certifiable celebrities include Flat Love, narrated by Isabella Rosselini; Pax, a documentary directed and narrated by Glenn Close; and a new short directed by Kirsten Dunst. James Franco, of Pineapple Express and Milk fame, wrote and directed three new shorts and is participating in this year’s Talking Pictures program, one of several seminars offered at ShortFest.

“Three of our animated shorts have amazing lineups of known talent lending their voices,” Macdonald continues. “Higglety Pigglety Pop! features the voices of Meryl Streep, Forrest Whitaker, and Spike Jonze, who also produced the short; The Gruffalo features Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Tom Wilkinson, and John Hurt; and Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation features the voices of Ian McKellan and Joseph Fiennes.”

Other well known actors featured in ShortFest live action shorts include Michael Shannon (Oscar nominated for Revolutionary Road), Brian Gerahty (The Hurt Locker), Juno Temple (Greenberg), and Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale). “Perhaps the most striking are the three shorts written and directed by James Franco, who shows that he is a writer/director whose talent in those fields is a match for his acting talents,” Macdonald explains. “Each of his films is highly original and utterly compelling, though none of them is in any way conventional. His work puts me in mind of a next-generation Gus Van Sant, with a very distinctive vision and voice to match his idiosyncratic sensibility.” Macdonald also lauds Kirsten Dunst for her compelling storytelling style. “[It’s] simultaneously gripping and oblique,” he says, “about as far from conventional Hollywood storytelling as you could get.”

An uplifting shift at ShortFest 2010 is a striking focus on love and relationships. “Romantic pursuits and entanglements of all kinds are among the major themes you’ll see at this year’s ShortFest,” Macdonald explains. “I think this reflects a redefining of values in our culture. Perhaps the economic instability of recent times has caused writers and directors to focus more on their own relationships and the things that truly matter, and the stories they are creating on film reflect that, rather than being genre driven. Whatever the cause, it’s a refreshing change, and I think one that the ShortFest audience will appreciate.”

As usual, diehard ShortFest fans revel in the familiar mix of thrillers, engrossing dramas, and stories about family relationships, along with the festival’s trademark touch of comedy — from slapstick to edgy irony to dark comedy. “Coming-of-age stories are another staple of the genres on view at ShortFest, perhaps because so many of the filmmakers are young, and these are stories that are particularly close to their own experience,” Macdonald explains. “There are also a number of strong films dealing with immigrants and assimilation, a trend we’ve been seeing escalate recently, which reflects the current zeitgeist in the real world.”

A great thrill for film festival programmers, especially in the short film genre notes Macdonald, is the fresh approach to storytelling. “During the viewing and programming process you are repeatedly surprised by new filmmakers who have such a sophisticated grasp of filmmaking techniques,” he says. “Then there are the directors who may be making their first film, but have the sure hand of an old master. And subjects and stories that are so unexpected, they leave you kind of stunned and speechless at the end. Then too, you come across things like this year’s run of short films from Norway that make you wonder at what can be going on there to give rise to such a sudden wealth of new talent.”

Advance tickets for all films and events scheduled for ShortFest 2010 are available online 24 hours a day (psfilmfest.org), beginning June 15, and by phone (800-898-7256) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All films screen at Camelot Theatres, 2300 E. Baristo Rd., Palm Springs. For a complete program visit psfilmfest.org.

Global Appeal
Every summer, the Annenberg Theater at the Palm Springs Art Museum opens its doors for a free foreign film series. Global Lens 2010 takes place Thursdays from June 10 through Aug. 12. The films, part of the Global Film Initiative, represent slices of life from countries such as Vietnam, Peru, Algeria, and Serbia.

A wide swath of topics colors Global Lens. The Vietnamese film, Adrift (June 10), explores sexual mores and the power of passion, as a young newlywed searches for intimacy outside of her unconsummated marriage. In GODS (June 24), from Peru, a working-class woman weds a wealthy industrialist only to find that money really doesn’t buy happiness — a biting satire on upper-crust society and privilege, lust and desire. Ordinary People (the Serbian version sans Mary Tyler Moore, screening on July 29) offers a candid and unsentimental glimpse into a day in the life of a newly recruited soldier who’s commanded to execute civilians, and how he ultimately deals with the atrocity of this act. And Shirley Adams (August 12), a South African film providing a deeply affecting portrait of ordinary courage as a single mother struggles to care for her paraplegic teenage son. This is just a sampling of the films screening at Global Lens 2010.

In addition, the museum screens two four-week mini-series before and after Global Lens featuring classics by renowned directors such as Robert Altman, Sam Peckinpah, Alfred Hitchcock, and Fellini, stretching this summer of free films into early September. Annenberg Theater at Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Dr., Palm Springs. 1-760-322-4800; psmuseum.org.

More Summer Screenings
Hollywood Déjà Vu Film Series: There are still a few chances to disappear into the glamour of entertainment’s golden age by catching the Hollywood Déjà Vu Film Series presented by the Rancho Mirage Public Library. The library transforms into a movie house every Monday from 2 to 4 p.m. This free series features versions of Hollywood classics. Where else can you see A Star is Born in all its various incarnations? June screenings offer Profumo di donna, Mon., June 7 and Scent of a Woman, June 14. Rancho Mirage Public Library, 71100 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage. 1-760-341-7323; ranchomiragelibrary.org.

M&M Series: Movies & Margaritas, Mojitos, and Martinis: If anyone can turn film appreciation into a bona fide party, it’s the folks at Hotel Zoso. Last year’s Dive-In movie series was a blockbuster in its own right, and this year promises to deliver the same boisterous attitude and application. The M&M series marries movies and mixed drinks with the playfulness of a weekend pool party. Check in with Hotel Zoso over the summer to find out what’s on tap. Hotel Zoso, 150 S. Indian Canyon Dr., Palm Springs. 1-760-325-9676 hotelzoso.com

Old Town La Quinta’s Film Night: When the sun sets during the summer, the screens light up in Old Town La Quinta. Film lovers will appreciate the family-friendly selection of films that will be shown outside at dusk every first Friday though October. Catch first-run films like The Blind Side, Where the Wild Things Are, and Wall-E. 78100 Main Street, La Quinta. 1-760-777-1770 oldtownlaquinta.com