Super-sized festival to hit silver screens

Alicia Robinson

Whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer pulling a film together on a

shoestring budget or a pedigreed director with a big bankroll, there

may be a place for you on screen in Newport Beach.

The fifth annual Newport Beach Film Festival opens Thursday and

will screen 350 films from around the world in its 10-day run.

Topping the list are the premiere of star-studded mainstream

Hollywood comedy “The Laws of Attraction,” which opens the festival

Thursday night; the 40th anniversary showing of the classic surf film

“Endless Summer” with a tribute to director Bruce Brown; and a slate

of documentaries including “Super Size Me,” which took the Sundance

film festival by storm.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a $10-million budget or a $10,000

budget,” said Keiko Beatie, the festival’s director of program

development. “We’re not looking for the big bells and whistles.”

Everyone should find something of interest at the festival, which

uses a unique process to select its films. A group of about 40

community members from all walks of life helped screen more than

1,500 films that were submitted, Beatie said.

“It gave us a wide variety of what’s going to appeal to the

community,” she said.

“It’s very exciting because the group of screeners reaches all

areas, all demographics, and they all have their own definite

opinions.”

The festival’s programmers then selected 350 movies including a

variety of shorts, children’s films and features from places

including France, Italy and Ireland.

One of the hot genres this year is the documentary genre. Beatie

said tickets for “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,” about the trials

and tribulations of the heavy metal band, sold out the first day they

went on sale. On Tuesday night, the festival will hold the world

premiere of “Trekkies II,” the sequel to a cult favorite documentary

about fanatical fans of the Star Trek TV and movie franchise.

Most documentaries will be screened at the Orange County Museum of

Art, where people can come on April 24 and 25 to see rescreenings of

the more popular films they missed during the festival.

“This is the first time we’re actually doing this and this is sort

of answering the requests of the filmgoers,” said festival marketing

director Todd Quartararo.

For those interested in filmmaking, three days of free seminars on

screenwriting, animation and other film subjects will be held at the

Radisson Hotel in Newport Beach in conjunction with the festival.

During the festival’s 10 days, planners expect 25,000 people from

30 countries to attend events. Some of the guests will include cast

and crew of the films to be shown, and the Newport Beach Conference

and Visitors Bureau is using the opportunity to market the city to

media.

Bureau Executive Director Marta Hayden said the bureau invited

more than 200 members of the media to be wined and dined while

attending the festival. About 20 local journalists and writers plan

to come, and Hayden will be taking them to after-parties and giving

them tours of Corona del Mar, Balboa Island and other local sights.

“It’s a great value added once we have the tourists here,” Hayden

said. “We want them obviously to enjoy the film festival, but more

than that it’s to create awareness for Newport Beach and drive future

business to Newport Beach.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.