Film buffs should head to the mountains this memorial weekend, as May 25 through May 29, The Mammoth Lakes Film Festival is serving up a bevy of unique films and festival favorites.
The annual fest is opening for the second year in a mountain setting perhaps a little reminiscent – there is a ski season, and there are independent films on screen – of the Sundance Film Festival, but with a more intimate vibe.
Festival director Shira Dubrovner, above, is currently the artistic director of the Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theatre, but spent 17 years working in film here in Los Angeles. After successfully producing theater in Mammoth Lakes, with the help of her programming director, LA-based filmmaker and film programmer Paul Sbrizzi, Dubrovner started her film festival last year. Sbrizzi has programmed for Slamdance, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and Outfest.
“I picked an amazing programmer who has programmed for fifteen years. He really knows how to identify amazing films and find raw talent,” Dubrovner says.
After moving to achieve a “more community-based lifestyle,” she worked exclusively producing theater in Mammoth Lakes. But Dubrovner says she missed working in independent film, reached out to Sbrizzi, and the fest was born.
Mammoth makes a great location for a festival. As a ski resort just five hours north of LA, many industry pros have second houses here, Dubrovner notes, resulting in a solid support system of filmmakers.
“Since we put on the festival, people have started coming out of the woodwork in terms of contributing to the idea and giving back to the community,” she says.
One such local, cinematographer Mitchell Amundsen, connected Dubrovner to her first sponsors, Red Digital and Panavision.
This year, the festival is showing over 50 films, including Saturday morning indie cartoons for children, 17 feature films, and 40 shorts.
“Around 20% of our films are world premieres. After the first year, Movie Maker Magazine named us as one of the top fifty festivals worth the entry fee, and that helped us to create a nice balance between festival favorites and obscure films that have not been seen. We’ve grown in the number of films we’re screening this year, but I like to not bite off too much more than I can chew, and become a well-oiled machine rather than growing too quickly,” Dubrovner explains.
One new addition is the festival’s Spirit Award, which this year is going to director Joe Dante. “He came out of the indie film world, starting in Roger Corman’s camp. We thought he would be the perfect recipient. He’s never been to Mammoth, but I think he’s going to fall in love with the area,” Dubrovner laughs.
The Spirit Award event will screen Dante’s classic film Innerspace, followed by an award presentation, an in-depth Q & A with Dante and actor Robert Picardo, and a lively after-party.
The festival hosts all of its attending filmmakers, and some 26 films are sending directors, producers, and actors to the festival. Along with accommodations and festival passes, these filmmakers will be taken on excursions in the area, including a private tour to the ghost town of Bodie.
“It’s kind of like giving a party, you want all your guests to have a good time. I really want them to leave revved up, ready to move on to the rest of their career, and reconnected to nature. That does something to the spirit that is undeniable. I’m excited and proud to be a part of that experience for them,” Dubrovner reports. “Our filmmakers come first. We like to screen risk taking, unapologetic films made by creative, artistic people.”
But the festival director wants not only to inspire filmmakers, but her audiences as well. “I want them to leave still thinking about the stories and images they’ve experienced, so that it is a continuing process for them that doesn’t end when they leave the theater.”
Among the festival’s top picks are the quirky, engaging, opening night offering, Operation Avalanche, set in 1967, and involving the moon landing, Soviet spies, and stunning conspiracies; the intense Beware the Slenderman, the story of an Internet bogeyman; and closing night, Sonita, an inspiring story about Sonita Alizadeh, an 18-year-old Afghan refugee in Iran.
“We have a mix of all different styles of filmmaking which support the indie film world,” Dubrovner says. “We schedule many films that haven’t been seen elsewhere, films that are edgy and push the limits.”
All but one venue are within walking distance of each other, making the festival’s logistics as personal as its warm director. Dubrovner has created a festival in which attendees can easily interact with filmmakers, and vice-versa.
“We want to create an intimate and accessible experience for everyone. We kind of leave Hollywood at the entrance to the town, and just get back to everyone’s creative roots. When you’re inspired in a natural setting, the walls come down, it’s just artist to artist, filmmaker to audience. Accessible and intimate, that’s what I love,” she says.
As do most filmmakers and film lovers. So get ready to hit Mammoth mountain – where a still-new film festival is offering cinematic marvels alongside the region’s natural ones.
While many screenings are filling up, there are still tickets and passes available. See http://www.mammothlakesfilmfestival.com/#!mammoth-lakes-film-festival-tickets/cq53 for more information.
Note: We’ll be reviewing the festival lineup and covering the inaugural Spirit Awards as well.
- Genie Davis; Photos: Courtesy Mammoth Lakes Film Festival and Unimedia Images