July 15 to 17, 2011 became a time to celebrate independent and mainstream filmmaking -- the Las Vegas way. The fourth Las Vegas Film Festival (LVFF) showcased an interesting roster of fresh and critically acclaimed films around the United States and other parts of the world. The Las Vegas Hilton, the host of the festival for second year in a row, celebrated with filmmakers and filmgoers from different countries for three days of filmmaking pride.
Connecting Filmmakers and Audiences
Aptly set in the heart of the world's entertainment and tourist capital, this annual film event is an ideal opportunity to connect both emerging and established filmmakers to the dynamic Las Vegas audience. Aside from being a popular Hollywood movie location, the city also provides a strategic film festival setting given its proximity to Los Angeles. This year's festival offered a variety of films from Oscar-winning pieces to world premieres of American and international films, along with a series of film events including a screenplay competition, interactive panel discussions, film seminars, tributes, celebrity interviews and sightings, and red carpet parties.
Participating Films
Participating countries for this year's festival were the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, and Ireland. This year's diverse selections mainly included full-length features, shorts, foreign films, documentaries, animation films, experimental films, music videos, TV pilots, and a Nevada Filmmakers showcase. There were also special sections for local short films from the students of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) and the College of Southern Nevada (CSN).
The opening night attraction featured the local premiere of the ski documentary "The Story," a film about Olympic gold medalists Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn. Another talked about feature in the festival was the critically acclaimed "Virgin Alexander," the debut film of Vegas husband-and-wife filmmakers Sean Fallon and Charlotte Barett. There was also a program focusing on Vegas-centric films, which included "Hitting the Nuts," a film about ragtag poker plays, and "Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians."
Key Film Events
The festival hosted a number of parties and galas -- opening and closing night parties, networking dinners, filmmaker and after premiere receptions and parties, VIP night parties, and the Golden Aces Awards Ceremony. The panel discussions featured three events including the Filmmakers Panel's "Filmmakers on Filmmaking," Producers Panel's "The Business of Filmmaking," and Writers Panel's "The Art of Storytelling."
Free events featured an interactive discussion about the journey past their mob days in "A Conversation with Henry Hill and His Favorite Wise Guys," a film showcase and Q&A event with Craig Kausen, the grandson of the man considered as one of the greatest cartoonists of all time in "Chuck Jones' Celebrity Saturday Morning Cartoons," and the Michael Madsen "Indie Icon" Award Presentation.
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