The Circuit

AFI FEST got a double dose of bad news yesterday when Paramount decided to move "The Soloist" to March 09 and "Defiance" to Jan 09. 

While the "Defiance" move is less of an issue, "The Soloist" was widely expected as an awards contender with its AFI FEST bow as the kickoff.  It effectively robs the fest of valuable awards press.

Fest director Rose Kuo's international selection is well-made this year.  And she still has Danny Boyle's widely hailed "Slumdog Millionaire" and Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" as a possible awards contenders. 

But the fest's location and dates -- deep within the awards season -- make it a prime place to begin award campaigns in the voter's backyard.  It also points to a deeper issue of why an LA-based fest is so hard to pull off.

To have a Los Angeles film festival is like selling sand in the desert -- the town is so silly with film screenings and film parties that any sort of annual film celebration is met with a shrug.  Even some of the big preems at LA fests feel like studio-funded, red carpet events with the fest taking a backseat. 

While it's easier said than done, an LA film festival should remember what makes a fest unique -- what it selects to unspool and what it doesn't.  An LA fest should serve as just that kind of art gallery.  It should be a taste-maker, but not just indie and foreign pics.  It should also curate the award contenders, too.  In a perfect world it would be fun to wonder why AFI FEST picked "The Soloist" over "Revolutionary Road" as much as it was interesting to ponder why "The Changeling" didn't make the cut for Telluride.  With the latter, you can bet it had little to do with Clint Eastwood's long history with the mountain fest rather than what the programmers thought about the film. 

Perhaps this is pie-in-the-sky.  Celebs bring press, no matter what they happen to be in.  Some events can't afford to be picky.  During this economic dive a fest can't be blamed much for slotting celeb-heavy films if it satisfies the few US sponsors still out there who believe fests provide good exposure.  AFI FEST's presenting sponsor Audi probably loves the attention that Daniel Craig will bring as he walks the carpet to the "Defiance" preem.  They probably won't think too much that their dollars are also providing a screen for the LA preem of "Tokyo Sonata," "Gomorrah," or Kuo's Argentine focus. 

Kuo is extremely proud of her international films this year, proving sometimes LA aud's need to look a little deeper to find the curator's voice. 

But good luck asking LA to look deeper.