  The
City of Angels Film Festival planning group
welcomes you to the 2004 Festival. We have engineered and
organized a movie-going experience we believe will provide both
entertainment and education. Our festival has always attempted to
screen exceptional films that exhibit the texture of city living with a
spotlight on the spiritual / religious dimensions of daily life.
There is currently a spike in interest around movies that showcase fantasy worlds, sci-fi phantasma, and altered states. This uprising of mythical manifestations in film in triggering animated conversations about the real and the fictional. Why are we fascinated with the mythical and mysterious? What experiences do they offer that resonates so deeply with our fears, hopes and dreams? CAFF’s tenth anniversary event is responding to this surging trend by selecting “Reel Myths” as our theme for the 2004 festival. Myth is often associated with stories or ideas that are untrue. Our festival is designed and developed to retrieve myth from this negative image and to present “Reel Myths” as an imaginary view of “what is” and “what should be.” The films to be screened in this year’s festival intentionally promote myth as one of the ways in which we gain understanding of ourselves, others, and the societies we are constructing. Feature and documentary films will stock our festival programming in exploring the ways visual myths penetrate and provoke our search for an authentic life. Now in its 11th year, the City of Angels Film Festival (CAFF) was born amidst the “Rebuild L.A.” impulse following the intense social upheaval of 1992. The festival was created, in part, as a gift from spiritually sensitive filmmakers and cinematically informed theologians to help revitalize this great city. Responding also to Cardinal Roger Mahony’s stirring pastoral letter to filmmakers and moviegoers to listen to and learn from each other, the coalition behind the CAFF emerged with a specific mission: to identify and showcase movies that probe the ambiguities of human life, which includes the longing for transcendence. Over the years, the festival has specialized in retrospectives of feature films with panel discussions on their cultural capital and spiritual significance. The eventual inclusion of a Documentary and Short Films Program at the festival added a component of freshness to the annual event that demonstrates CAFF’s entrepreneurial spirit as well as its commitment to honor masterpieces of the past. We offer an exhibition of visual art in the theater lobby to complement the cinematic art. Our co-sponsor, Reel Spirituality, provides an excellent educational seminar. Family Theatre Productions generously contributes the “Angelus Awards” a juried student film festival. This year, the Catholic Academy of Communication Professionals brings the Gabriel Awards to the festival. The Spiritus Award is given every year to the best writing on film. Past themes of the festival make clear why it has become “One of the Top Then Coolest Things to Do in L.A.” (Los Angeles Magazine): 1994 – Los
Angeles in the Movies: Dreams / Conflicts / Lifestyles
1995 – The Quest for Reconciliation in Cinema 1996 – The Search for Meaning in Film 1997 – Seeking To Connect: Outsiders and Communities on Screen 1998 – Chasing the Sacred: The Cinema of Spirituality 1999 – Embracing Apocalypse: Vision of Faith and Fear 2000 – Road Trip: Moving with the Spirit 2001 – Touches of Evil 2002 – American Dreams: Life, Liberty, Pursuit of…. 2003 – Revelations/Revolutions: A Century of Cinema The City of Angels Film Festival explores the intersection of Film/City/Religion. We attempt in each festival to produce a dynamic film program in the most culturally rich and diverse city in the 21st Century where we both practice and question religious confessions and entertainment art. Scott Young, Co-Founder/Exec. Director |
