Los Angeles Film Festival announces new Zeitgeist, Nightfall sections

This year’s Los Angeles Film Festival will introduce two new competitive sections: Zeitgeist, dedicated to key trends, and Nightfall, showcasing genre films.

Festival organizer Film Independent announced the lineups for both sections Tuesday.

The six films in the Zeitgeist section tell hard-knock coming-of-age stories. They are Aaron Nee and Adam Nee’s “Band of Robbers,” Ty Hodges’ “A Girl Like Grace,” Matthew Brown’s “In the Treetops,” Michael Dwyer and Kaitlin McLaughlin’s “Manifest Destiny,” Bradley Kaplan’s “Stealing Cars” and Rupert Glasson’s “What Lola Wants.”

The eight Nightfall selections are “films that will make audiences squirm,” in the words of senior programmer Jennifer Cochis. The films are Maggie Kiley’s “Caught”; Eytan Rockaway’s “The Confines”; Miguel Llanso’s “Crumbs”; Viet Nguyen’s “Crush the Skull”; Tomm Jacobsen, Michael Rousselet and Jon Salmon’s “Dude Bro Party Massacre III”; Santiago Cendejas’ “Plan Sexenal”; Branden Kramer’s “Ratter”; and Adam Schindler’s “Shut In.”

The LAFF, which is sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, also named the 10 selections for its L.A. Muse section of films set in, shot in or inspired by Los Angeles. They include Daniela Amavia’s “A Beautiful Now,” Zoe R. Cassavetes’ “Day Out of Days” and Stephen Ringer’s “Weepay Way for Now.” (The full list is available on the Film Independent website.)

The Los Angeles Film Festival runs June 10-18 at the Regal Cinemas L.A. Live. “Grandma” will open the fest, and the full lineup will be revealed May 5.

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