A Time and a Place Called SPIFF

GELFAND’S WORLD--About 4 years ago, the head of the San Pedro Art Association called me over during a neighborhood council meeting and said, "Bob, you should meet Ziggy. She's going to start a film festival here." That's how I met Ziggy Mrkich (photo left), the brains behind several film festivals. It's how our council became one of the original sponsors of a significant cultural event. Now in its fourth year, the San Pedro International Film Festival, also known as SPIFF, will run next weekend October 9-11. It's going to be well worth attending, if I do say so myself. And I do say so, with full disclosure: I enjoyed the festival enough to become an active volunteer participant and eventually to join the board of directors. 

The more general theme of this discussion is that civic organizations including arts districts, neighborhood councils, and business improvement districts can synergize to create a lively arts and entertainment culture in their regions. They do so by cutting through legal and bureaucratic red tape and supplying a little bit of seed money, the funding that is always hardest for any budding organization to develop at the beginning. In our region, both the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council and the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council have been supportive of cultural organizations since we first came into existence. 

So let's talk a little about what came out of one such synergy, the film festival known as SPIFF, and what you have to look forward to this weekend. 

At the regional level, SPIFF is one element in the rejuvenation of the harbor as a center of the arts, both visual and theatrical. San Pedro is a place that has a strong contingent of working painters and sculptors, and has been home to the LA Harbor International Film Festival (LAHIFF) for more than a decade. LAHIFF happens in the spring, whereas SPIFF takes place in the fall. The area is also home to the Grand Vision Foundation, which supported the renovation of the Warner Grand Theatre and supports a large number of musical programs. 

On Saturday, SPIFF will continue its tradition of 3D screening. This time around, there will be two shows, one on underwater exploration called Deepsea Challenge 3D, the other called Soldiers' Stories, featuring 3D pictures from our previous wars. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring filmmakers who have been successful at working in 3D. 

Another element of this film festival (which it does particularly well) involves screening short films. Think of all those young talents out there, struggling to put together financing and on-camera talent, all in the hope of turning their inner visions into reality. SPIFF will be running several collections of the best short films. I always find it remarkable how technically sound most of these films are. We might also consider that some commercially successful directors and actors have emerged from the world of short independent film. Check out the film schedule and click on one of the short takes links. 

We will also be showing collections of student films. These films often enough involve a very different perspective than what you are used to seeing in the more commercially oriented films. One set of student films is close to the SPIFF organization. In the spring and early summer, we hosted young people who are interested in making their own films. We tutored them in videography, introduced them to the art of video editing, and invited them to go out into the community and develop short documentaries. This year's crop is particularly good. Our topics include the history of the LA Fire Department and two local businesses that are colorful to say the least. 

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I'm particularly interested in a Vietnamese film that takes a science fictional look at a future in which the rising seas start to cover the land. 

The hottest ticket (because the distributor is limiting the number of available seats) is the documentary A Ballerina's Tale, about the American Ballet Theater star Misty Copeland, who grew up in San Pedro. It will be the final showing at SPIFF 2015, on Sunday afternoon. 

SPIFF is just one of many film events that fill the Los Angeles calendar. On a daily and weekly level, we have the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian in Hollywood and the Aero in Santa Monica. We have a small number of art theaters and a dwindling number of theaters that specialize in older films. And as I have described in previous columns, Los Angeles has become more active in celebrating its heritage as a place where film began. 

If you come down to the harbor and attend SPIFF, introduce yourself to me. I'll be the one looking overworked.

 

(Bob Gelfand writes on culture and politics for City Watch. He can be reached at [email protected])  

-cw