Film Festivals

THE Cannes Film Festival generates plenty of publicity, paparazzi and starlets parading in the skimpiest of bikinis -- some even leave their swimwear at home. The Sundance Film Festival has Robert Redford plus practically every major star, studio or distributor gallivanting around Park City, Utah. But the Los Angeles area is the go-to place for film festivals.

Finally, a film festival for the over-50 crowd. AARP's Movies For Grownups Film Festival , opening Nov. 14 and continuing through Nov. 17 at Regal Cinemas in L.A. Live, will feature nine films with appeal to the 50-plus moviegoer that are being considered for the organization's annual Movies For Grownups Awards. The majority of the films are likely Oscar contenders, and there will be Q&As with cast and filmmakers after the screenings. PHOTOS: Behind the scenes of movies and TV "It's clear that Hollywood is paying attention to the tastes of the 50-plus moviegoer as films for grownup audiences dominate the box office this year," said AARP editorial director Myrna Blyth in a statement.

The 2014 edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival will run April 10-13. The festival, in its fifth year, will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Turner Classic Movies cable channel. Passes for the 2013 TCM Classic Film Fest will go on sale in November at prices from $249 to $1,599. TCM's Robert Osborne will again serve as official host of the festival, with Ben Mankiewicz also introducing various events. FULL COVERAGE: Film festivals The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel will again serve as the festival's official hotel and central gathering point, with screenings and events held at the TCL Chinese Theatre and Chinese 6 Theatres, as well as the Egyptian Theatre.

Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland") is the recipient of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film. Whitaker, who is also a producer and director, will receive the honor at a black-tie gala Dec. 15 at the Bacara Resort & Spa in Santa Barbara. "Forest Whitaker is an exceptional man and actor," Kirk Douglas said in a statement. "His commitment to human causes, his passion for what is right, and his dedication to his craft are inspirational and at my age, inspiration is rare.

Several film festivals are gracing the Southland this weekend, including the Hola Mexico Film Festival, which opens Thursday at the ArcLight Cinema in Hollywood. The festival is said to be the largest tribute to Mexican film in the world. The opening presentation is the U.S. premiere of " Bala Mordida." The closing night event on Tuesday is the L.A. premiere of "Alamar." http://www.holamexicoff.com European festival Also beginning Thursday is the South East European Film Festival, which opens at the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles with the 1989 documentary vignette " The Wall ," as well as the U.S. premiere of the Serbian documentary " Goodbye, How Are You?"

A diverse quartet of film festivals open this weekend celebrating Spanish cinema, women directors,  horror films and international films. The American Cinematheque's Recent Spanish Cinema XVIII opens at the Egyptian Theatre on Thursday evening with 2012's “Blancanieves,” Pablo Berger's black-and-white silent version of the Snow White story that pays homage to the 1920s European silent film. Berger and actress Angelina Molina will appear at the event. The film is Spain's official Oscar entry in the foreign language film derby.

With 40 foreign-language Oscar contenders, a 15-hour movie about the history of movies, and appearances by Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Michelle Williams, this year's Palm Springs International Film Festival will cater to a wide spectrum of cinema fans. The 23rd annual festival opens Thursday with a screening of "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," a British romantic comedy starring Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor. Other highlights include a showcase of Middle Eastern films, a tribute to Glenn Close and a photography exhibit of Marilyn Monroe portraits.

With a minute left before the deadline, Mike Cahill raced along Burbank's Providencia Avenue to get to Media City Church on time. He was rushing to get his short film, "In the Company of Sinners," into the 168 Film Festival, the culmination of a faith-based competition that helps Christian filmmakers break into the mainstream movie business. "I made it. Yes!" Cahill yelled, raising his clipboard above his head. Seconds later, Adekunle Ilori, who had fought traffic all the way from Lancaster, became the last of 73 competitors to qualify.

The third annual Method Fest Independent Film Festival is seeking feature and short film entries for the June 15-22 event, taking place at Laemmle Playhouse 7 Theaters in Pasadena. The festival--which emphasizes "breakout acting performances," will screen works in 16 millimeter, 35 millimeter, Beta SP and digital. The initial entry deadline is Feb. 20, with late entries accepted through April 1. Information: (310) 535-9230, or http://www.methodfest.com.

Look at the lineup for AFI Fest, which gets underway in Hollywood on Thursday, and you'll find a handful of award season hopefuls. It's a list that includes "The Artist," a black-and-white silent movie paying homage to the beginnings of cinema's Golden Age; "My Week With Marilyn," in which Michelle Williams takes on tragic icon Marilyn Monroe; and "Shame," an NC-17 rated film about a sex addict played by Michael Fassbender. While none of those movies has opened in theaters, they have all unspooled at high-profile festivals earlier in the year including in Cannes, Toronto and New York.

Iranians have been portrayed on the big screen as pre-Revolution radicals in “Argo,” scary, bare-chested villains in “300” and video game characters come to life in “Prince of Persia.” While these depictions can be entertaining, they're hardly the only ones out there. Disseminating alternative perspectives is the goal of the annual Noor Iranian Film Festival . The week-long gathering, which wrapped up its sixth year on Thursday, showcased a wide variety of films by Iranians - ranging from documentaries on Iran-Iraq War veterans who suffered from chemical bomb exposure (“The Skin That Burns”)

This post has been updated. See bottom for details. Critics are enamored with "12 Years a Slave," but will moviegoers also embrace the brutal portrayal of slavery? That has been the question posed by many box-office watchers in recent weeks, as the probable best picture contender has continued to win fans at film festivals despite being hard to watch at times. But judging by early ticket sales for Steve McQueen's historical drama, at least, audiences are eager to see the critical darling.

The Arab Film Festival, which opens Friday at the Harmony Gold Theatre in Los Angeles and continues through Oct. 20, is the largest independent annual showcase of Arab films and filmmakers in the United States. Founded in San Francisco in 1996, the festival is marking its seventh edition in Los Angeles. Besides San Francisco and L.A., it also visits Berkeley, Oakland and San Diego. "Arab culture is a rich feast of cultures and textures, with many stories to tell," Jordan Elgrably, director of the Levantine Cultural Center, one of the local organizations supporting the festival, said in a statement.

Richard Montoya keeps a mental library of depictions of L.A. gleaned from "Chinatown," "Repo Man," "Mulholland Drive," the novels of James Ellroy, and other pop-culture texts. So when he began adapting his neo-noir stage drama "Water & Power" for the screen in 2007, as a Sundance Institute film fellow, it was natural for Montoya to seek advice from Walter Mosley, author of Angeleno classics such as "Devil In a Blue Dress," and one of Montoya's literary idols. Montoya quickly learned that he had a lot to learn about filmmaking.

When the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival canceled its annual showcase last fall, some local cinephiles feared that its 15th edition in 2011 might've been its last. But the festival , one of the country's largest for Spanish- and Portuguese-language films, has rebounded this year, albeit in a more condensed version than in  times past. Its 16th edition will open a five-day run tonight with a screening at the El Capitan in Hollywood of Brazilian director Richard Goldgewicht's partially animated documentary "Pablo," about the visionary Cuban American graphic designer Pablo Ferro.

The Hollywood Black Film Festival, which begins Wednesday and continues through Sunday at the Montalban Theatre and the W Hotel, includes an array of films and panels. But in what might be a first, the festival also features complementary beauty services Friday and Saturday for guests with all-access passes, so you can look good while attending the programs. The festival,  founded in 1998 by Executive Director Tanya Kersey to help develop the careers of both emerging and established black filmmakers, is bookended by movies starring Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”)

Ewan McGregor first came to the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007 with Woody Allen's "Cassandra's Dream," and last year he was back at the Canadian cinematic gathering to debut his quirky comedic drama "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. " "Beginners," another film from the prolific actor, also found a buyer after screening in Toronto two years ago. This week, McGregor returns to unveil "The Impossible," a drama from Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona about a family torn apart by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

A man adrift at sea. A woman adrift in space. And a young girl all by herself in the desert. If there's a theme at this weekend's Telluride Film Festival, it's that solo travel may have its benefits but also carries more than a few risks. Colorado's Labor Day weekend festival - which is starting Thursday, a day earlier than normal, to commemorate its 40th edition - is known for eclectic programming announced at the very last minute, and it's often difficult to detect trends. PHOTOS: Hollywood backlot moments But the inclusion of three films - Alfonso Cuarón's "Gravity," which stars Sandra Bullock opposite George Clooney as astronauts detached from their space shuttle by a mission disaster, "All Is Lost," director J.C. Chandor's account of an unaccompanied sailor (Robert Redford)

The 2014 edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival will run April 10-13. The festival, in its fifth year, will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Turner Classic Movies cable channel. Passes for the 2013 TCM Classic Film Fest will go on sale in November at prices from $249 to $1,599. TCM's Robert Osborne will again serve as official host of the festival, with Ben Mankiewicz also introducing various events. FULL COVERAGE: Film festivals The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel will again serve as the festival's official hotel and central gathering point, with screenings and events held at the TCL Chinese Theatre and Chinese 6 Theatres, as well as the Egyptian Theatre.

NEW YORK - For years, the New York Film Festival was a quaint afterthought on the fall festival circuit, good for locals to catch up on prestige titles but devoid of much Hollywood fizz. Not anymore. The Lincoln Center event has become an increasingly important spot for big fall movies, both launching pad and bellwether for the frenzied months of Oscar-contending releases that follow. The 51st edition opens Friday with the Tom Hanks hijacking thriller "Captain Phillips," part of an ambitious Hollywood slate and an indication of a new festival bent.