The Silver Lake Film Festival closed here September 30th after moving this year’s event to the state of the art Arclight Cinema’s in Hollywood. SLFF is as an international, multi-cultural event that reflects the cultural diversity, edgy creativity and historic cinematic roots of the Silver Lake community. Last year’s festival featured more than 135 films, including features, shorts, documentaries and film performance art as well as musical performances, lectures, literary readings and wild parties. The festival presented 18 world premieres and 35 Los Angeles premieres. New Times, the Los Angeles weekly newspaper, heralded the Silver Film Festival as "beautifully illuminated by a scintillating array of productions-a confident festival with its own distinct energy."

The festival featured the Los Angeles premiere of filmmaker Gabrielle Conforti’s ‘BETRUNNER . This sizzling short has been the talk of the festival circuit this year. “Betrunner’ is based on Gabrielle’s real life experiences in the seamy underworld of West Coast gambling. The filmmaker’s performance is riveting and was an early choice by festival chair Greg Ptacek. more details are available at www.betrunnermovie.com The film is the result of Gabrielles collaboration with Los Angeles based collaborative The Filmmakers Alliance. The Filmmakers Alliance is a rapidly expanding presence in the Los Angeles independent film community. Members come from every aspect of filmmaking -- they include producers, writers, post-production supervisors, directors, actors, editors, cinematographers and students.. =

Though the festival originated in Silver Lake, the home of the first movie studios and film pioneers in Los Angeles, it has spread throughout the city with screenings in Pasadena, Hollywood, Echo Park, Watts and other east side communities.

The festival headquarters is located at the Arclight Cinema in a 30,000-square-foot-plus area called, "The Zone." A ticket to any of the festival's day events will guarantee you free admission into that night's after party, usually located at The Zone.

Opening night feature, "The Yes Men," centers on two men who pose as corporate leaders and appear on numerous panels and television shows as members of the World Trade Organization. The results of their escapades are both enthralling and surprising, definitely a must see in this fest.

Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, Vaginal Davis and Curtis Harrington will be the recipients of various honors from the film fest for their unique contributions to the world of performing arts.

Documentary, foreign , animated and politically minded films will all be screened at the festival. Accompanying the main festival is the Fringe Feast. The Fringe Feast features those wonderfully experimental films that just don't fit into any one category but are too good not to be seen.

Music has always been a part of the festival and on Friday, September 24, the Silver Lake Film Festival sponsored an evening of punk, gothic, and glam rock entertainment serving the hearts and minds of the political movement meant to bring down what they deem the “fascist regime.”

Now in its fifth year this ‘local’ L.A. festival is the sort of homegrown event where the future filmmakers can be found. Gabrielle Conforti’s “Betrunner’ is proof that this festival offers rare gems before they emerge onto the international festival scene.

Dane Allan Smith
Menithings.com