(HOLLYWOOD PRESS CORPS) — Long Beach, CA — The inaugural Long Beach Film Festival (LBFF) launched in style on Friday night August 28th aboard the iconic Queen Mary and continued throughout the weekend at the Art Theatre of Long Beach attracting hundreds of filmmakers and industry professionals as well as city officials. Among the attendees was Mir Waiss Najibi, the newest reporter for the Hollywood Press Corps, who mingled with guests on the red carpet while capturing the essence of the event and all it entailed.
One of the board directors, Hunter Stiebel spoke to the crowd in attendance Friday and emphasized the early developmental concepts of the festival and how it started with “bringing together a filmmaking, film loving, creative arts appreciating community” and “being able to spotlight Long Beach to the greater creative community at large, and we thought maybe one day we could do that”
The vision proved to be very successful as it brought many of the city’s finest including Long Beach mayor Rex Richardson who spoke about the significance of “having a reason to bring people together and celebrate culture and inspire people”. He went on to say how this can encourage “dreams of cinematography and acting” and even addressed the growing use of A.I by mentioning “people want real experiences to really validate humanity”
That last quote by the mayor ended up being very fitting as the festival featured 30 films including four features with several film panels and workshops throughout the whole weekend. One film in particular titled Again, Again had multiple sold out screenings in Washington prior to the festival. Mia Moore, who wrote, directed, and starred in it had mentioned how her first rough cut screening of the film was at this very same theatre and how poetic it was and is to be back here full circle.
With the festival’s unique blend of entertainment and education, it aims to foster a vibrant community of film enthusiasts moving forward. One of the major highlights of the festival was the sold screening of Rescued, a film written, directed, and starring Long Beach resident D.J Hale This film in itself is a perfect example of community empowerment as Hale himself admitted that the film was based on his own experiences in Long Beach and he was able to “keep everything local and get the support of those from the city in order to showcase my work”.
The LBFF has every reason to stand tall and proud for what was accomplished and there’s no doubt that next year’s run will be even better, but for now here’s to a historic and successful debut. Congratulations are in order for all who made it happen. GO BEACH!!!
Special thanks goes out to Luke McGartland of Sequence and Tori Walker of Victori Solutions LBFF was also produced in partnership with the Arts Council for Long Beach, City of Long Beach, Port of Long Beach and BMO Bank. For more information on the festival please go to www.longbeachfilmfestival.org.
