Los Angeles Film Festival

Hailed in the Trouser Press Record Guide as "one of America's greatest and most overlooked bands," Fishbone broke out from the early 1980s club scene in Los Angeles with its raucous, high-energy mix of punk, ska, funk and straight rock. The band came up alongside acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction and is an acknowledged influence on No Doubt. Yet the broader, bigger successes of those peers escaped Fishbone. Saturday night saw the world premiere of "Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone" as part of the documentary competition at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

The Los Angeles Film Festival strives to be both urban and urbane with its move downtown and a far-ranging program of foreign films and documentaries. But take a closer look and you'll notice that this event covets the Comic-Con crowd as well. If you need proof, take note of the fact that at one major screening this year, fans who come dressed as Darth Vader or Yoda get free popcorn — and that's not even a joke. The festival, which runs through June 27, closes with a Nokia Theatre screening of "Despicable Me," the animated superhero farce starring Steve Carell; plus, on Wednesday, the festival hosts the West Coast premiere of "The People vs. George Lucas," a documentary that delves into the complicated legacy of the "Star Wars" films (and, yes, this is the show where anyone in costume gets free popcorn)

Anyone compiling a list of the all-time great funk masterminds would inevitably think of names such as James Brown, George Clinton and Sly Stone. One name that may not come as readily to most is Conrad O. Johnson, band director of the Kashmere Stage Band. As the new documentary "Thunder Soul" makes clear, Johnson and his group of Houston, Texas, high school students likely deserve recognition alongside those pantheon players. "Thunder Soul," directed by Mark Landsman, tells the story of the student band from Kashmere High School.

If the late John Hughes is considered the filmmaker who captured the dreams and angst of 1980s teenagers, then it's director Susan Seidelman who best caught the punk, free-wheeling vibe of the decade. The Los Angeles Film Festival is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Seidelman's best-known film, the delightful 1985 romantic comedy "Desperately Seeking Susan," which marked Madonna's first starring role in a studio feature film, Saturday evening at a free screening at the Ernst & Young Plaza at 7+ Fig in downtown L.A. In a recent interview, Seidelman recalled that when she received Leora Barish's script for "Desperately Seeking Susan" from producers Sarah Pillsbury and Midge Sanford, actress Rosanna Arquette was already attached to the project.

BOOKS Sloane Crosley The author of the bestselling "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" returns with a new volume of humorous essays. She'll present and sign "How Did You Get This Number," nine thoughtful, witty accounts of her recent misadventures, including being threatened by an Alaskan bear and nearly being deported from France. Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. 7 p.m. Free. (310) 659-3110. http://www.booksoup.com. MOVIES Los Angeles Film Festival For the last 16 years, the Los Angeles Film Festival has programmed a mix of underground film, box-office hits like "The Devil Wears Prada" and a slew of features and shorts that fall somewhere in between.

While film festivals are most commonly thought of as launching pads for filmmakers, they also serve as stages to break out performers as well. This year's Los Angeles Film Festival may give just such a boost to an actress appearing in two films — Trieste Kelly Dunn. Writer-director Aaron Katz's slacker detective yarn "Cold Weather" was the toast of this spring's South by Southwest Film Festival, and much of the movie's emotional resonance comes from the performances by Dunn and Cris Lankenau, who play a sister and brother searching for a missing friend.

For the last 16 years, the Los Angeles Film Festival has programmed a mix of underground film, box-office hits like "The Devil Wears Prada" and a slew of features and shorts that fall somewhere in between. This year the festival will present 200 films, including music videos, from more than 40 countries, with notable works including Focus Features' "The Kids Are All Right" and "Revolucion," a collaboration by 10 Mexican filmmakers. Los Angeles Film Festival, assorted venues. June 17-27.

It makes perfect sense that "The Kids Are All Right" is opening the Los Angeles Film Festival. Director Lisa Cholodenko's movie, premiering at LAFF on Thursday night, unfolds around Venice and Echo Park. Its characters include a community gardener who runs a restaurant focused on locally grown organic ingredients, and Joni Mitchell's music figures prominently in the narrative. The film's central plot — a lesbian couple's interloping sperm donor upends their yuppie family life — could hardly be more Left Coast.

Most film festivals are torn between playing art-house obscurities and movies with mass appeal. But new Los Angeles Film Festival artistic director David Ansen believes he can have it both ways. "Some festivals take the position that it's only art if it hurts. I believe in the pleasure principle," says Ansen, taking a break Monday, during a busy day of media screenings and last-minute decisions, to have lunch at Canter's Deli. "But I also hear constantly that people under a certain age don't want to go to subtitled movies, and my devout wish is that we can turn those people on to them."