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THE INVISIBLE FRONT Q&A’s this Weekend at the Music Hall

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Winner of the Audience Award at the international film festival “Kino Pavasaris” in Vilnius 2014, THE INVISIBLE FRONT is the story of one of the 20th centuries most significant anti-Soviet resistance movements, told through the words and experiences of Juozas Luksa and his fellow Forest Brothers. Their war was completely unknown to the public in the West. The Soviet Security forces, fighting against them, dubbed the conflict “The Invisible Front.”

THE INVISIBLE FRONT filmmakers Vincas Sruoginis, Jonas Ohman, and Mark Johnston will participate in Q&A’s after the 7 PM screenings at the Music Hall on Friday and Saturday, November 21 and 22.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUfIuzZLDGk

 

Operation Firefly Goes Live!

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Operation Firefly Goes Live! With the help of the LAEMMLE FOUNDATION, our friends at the LACBC (Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition) are it again!  They’re hitting the streets and making Southland roads safer by distributing free bicycle lights.  It’s all part of their annual OPERATION FIREFLY.

Here’s how it works: LACBC’s street team descends (unannounced) upon a surprise location that typically experiences a high volume of cyclists during the peak commute hours of 5-7pm.  With the recent turning back of the clock, these are dark hours, perfect for sussing out bicycles in need of lights. Operation Firefly volunteers stop any non-illuminated cyclist and offer to install high-quality front and rear LED lights completely free of charge! In addition to the lights, recipients receive an informational “spoke card” that explains the laws for riding at night and includes vital safety tips.

This year, thousands of lights will be given away through over 25 distribution events across the L.A region including multiple sites in the valley, city, and all the way down to Long Beach. The program continues until we turn the clock forward in March.

Distribution site are not announced in advance. But you can get the scoop the day of a giveaway by subscribing to the LACBC’s Twitter Feed.   And all those who include #OperationFirefly in their social media posts during the run of the program will be eligible to win prizes such as LACBC memberships, Operation Firefly Merchandise, and Laemmle prizes (including movie tickets).

As mentioned above, this year the Laemmle Foundation is proud to be the primary sponsor of Operation Firefly. With the support of the Foundation, LACBC is striving to double the number of lights distributed in 2014 from the previous year.

Operation Firefly Goes Live!
Greg Laemmle volunteers at this season's inaugural Operation Firefly distribution a the NoHo Metro station just blocks away from the NoHo 7.

LACBC Programs Director
COLIN BOGART remarks, “We are thrilled to have the Laemmle Foundation as our ‘guiding light’ for Operation Firefly this year.”
He continues, “And by making city streets safer for cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists, we’re pleased to be doing our part in fulfilling the foundation’s aim of ‘projecting a brighter future for L.A.'”

As part of our involvement, Laemmle volunteers will be on-hand at a number of the distributions to assist in the light give-aways and perhaps even give away samples of our world-famous popcorn!  Stay current with our Operation Firefly involvement and other happenings via Twitter at — twitter.com/laemmle.  And be sure to stay connected with the Laemmle Foundation and join the conversation via #laemmlegiving.

You can support Operation Firefly by “gifting” a set of lights, buying program merch (very cool cycling caps and vests!) or through simple donations.  Get all the details HERE.

Italy’s Great Toni Servillo Returns to U.S. Screens in VIVA LA LIBERTA

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Many U.S. arthouse moviegoers were wowed last year when they were introduced to Toni Servillo, one of Italy’s finest actors, in The Great Beauty. The film went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Next Friday the 28th we are excited to open Mr. Servillo’s latest film to make the journey from overseas, VIVA LA LIBERTA. Servillo plays Enrico Oliveri, a politician who realizes that the decline of his party is inevitable and decides to disappear, fleeing to Paris to find peace in the home of his ex-girlfriend Danielle (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) while creating a panic within the party. His top aide and his wife decide to contact his twin brother, a genius philosopher suffering from bi-polar disorder and living in a psychiatric institution. The three of them concoct a dangerous plan.

We will open VIVA LA LIBERTA at the Royal, Playhouse and Town Center on Friday, November 21.

http://www.vimeo.com/106627472
Italy's Great Toni Servillo Returns to U.S. Screens in VIVA LA LIBERTA
Toni Servillo

BRAHMIN BULLS Q&A’s this Weekend at the Playhouse

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In BRAHMIN BULLS, when Ashok makes a surprise trip to L.A. to visit his estranged son, the two begin a journey to mend their relationship until Sid discovers that his father has actually come in search of an old flame.  Starring Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes, Beauty and the Beast), Roshan Seth (Gandhi), Academy Award winner Mary Steenburgen (The Help), Justin Bartha (The Hangover), and Academy Award nominated Michael Lerner (Barton Fink), BRAHMIN BULLS is a heartfelt and humorous look at the ever-evolving relationship between a father and son, the women in their lives, and the powerful secrets they keep.
The BRAHMIN BULLS filmmakers will participate in Q&A’s all weekend at the Playhouse: they will answer audience member’s questions after the 11/21, 22, and 23 7 PM screenings, as well as after the 1:20 PM show on Sunday the 23rd.
11/21 – Cassidy Freeman (actor), Mahesh Pailoor (director), Anu Pradhan (co-writer), Yoshi Tsuji (producer);
11/22 – Presented by Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Gingger Shankar (Composer), Mahesh Pailoor (director), Anu Pradhan (co-writer);
11/23 (1:20 PM) – Mahesh Pailoor (director), Anu Pradhan (co-writer);
11/23 (7 PM) – Presented by the Indian Film Festival Los Angeles, Mahesh Pailoor (director), Anu Pradhan (co-writer).

SHADOWS FROM MY PAST Q&A’s this Weekend at the Town Center

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The documentary SHADOWS FROM MY PAST, which we open this Friday at the Town Center 5, juxtaposes interviews of prominent contemporary Austrians grappling with their nation’s complicity in the Holocaust with desperate letters written by filmmaker Gita Kaufman’s Jewish family from Vienna, 1939 – 1941, begging to save their children. Both the interviews and the letters reverberate to today.

SHADOWS FROM MY PAST  co-director Gita Kaufman will participate in Q&A’s after the 8 PM screenings on Friday and Saturday and the 1 PM and 3:20 PM screenings on Sunday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJetDlcLUxk

FOOD CHAINS, Documentary Expose About the Exploitation of Farm Workers, Opens this Weekend with Q&A’s and Panel Discussions

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This weekend we open FOOD CHAINS, a new feature documentary that exposes the abuse of farm workers within the United States and the complicity of the multi-billion dollar supermarket and fast food industries. There is more interest in food these days than ever, yet there is very little interest in the hands that pick it. Farm workers, the foundation of our fresh food industry, are routinely abused and robbed of wages. In extreme cases they can be beaten, sexually harassed or even enslaved – all within the borders of the United States.

The FOOD CHAINS filmmakers are planning a number of events around the screenings at the Playhouse 7:

November 21st

5:20PM – TENTATIVE PANEL – details tbd

7:30PM – PANEL:

Thomas Saenz (MALDEF)

Lupe Gonzalo (CIW),

Elena Stein (CIW)

November 22nd

5:20PM – PANEL:

David Damien Figueroa (MALDEF, Executive Producer of Food Chains),

Jon Esformes (Operating Partner of Pacific Tomato Growers featured in Food Chains)

7:30PM – PANEL:

Lupe Gonzalo (CIW),

Elena Stein (CIW); UNCONFIRMED PANELIST: Melody and Bobby Kennedy Jr

(After 5:20 screening there will be Wine Happy Hour at Whole Foods Pasadena).

November 23rd

1:00PM – PANEL:

Joann Lo (Food Chains Worker Alliance),

Lupe Gonzalo (CIW),

Elena Stein (CIW)

7:30 PM – TENTATIVE PANEL – details tbd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqZLrXVAde4

GLEN CAMPBELL…I’LL BE ME Q&A Tonight at the Music Hall

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In 2011, music legend Glen Campbell set out on an unprecedented tour across America. He thought it would last five weeks. Instead it went for 151 spectacular sold-out shows over a triumphant year and a half. What made this tour extraordinary was that Glen had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He was told to hang up his guitar and prepare for the inevitable. Instead, Glen and his wife went public with his diagnosis and announced that he and his family would set out on a “Goodbye Tour.”

GLEN CAMPBELL…I’LL BE ME director James Keach, producer Trevor Albert, executive producer Susan Lord Disney and CEO of Alzheimer’s Association Susan Galeas will introduce and participate in a Q&A following the 7:20 pm screening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAtgraWN5-I

AS NIGHT COMES Q&A Saturday at the Music Hall with Cast and Crew

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In the new thriller AS NIGHT COMES, troubled 17-year-old Sean Holloway falls in with a group of teenage outcasts called ‘The Misfits,’ whose charismatic leader, Ricky, takes him under his wing. But as Sean becomes more and more entangled in the gang’s anarchist ways, things begin to spiral out of control, and Sean realizes Ricky is a ticking time bomb on a rampage of revenge. On the eve of Halloween, as night comes, everything explodes…

AS NIGHT COMES producer/co-writer/director Richard Zelniker, co-producer/actor Jesse Kove and cast members Luke Baines (playing Ricky), Myko Oliver (playing Sean), Evanne Friedmann (playing Sarah) will participate in a Q&A at the Music Hall after the 4:40 screening on Saturday, November 15.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX8PvmCRhdI&feature=youtu.be