Let’s Keep It Rolling : County Film Fans Show That a Festival Is a Natural Fit

If Palm Springs has a film festival, why not Orange County? After all, we’re closer to Hollywood, have a beach and served as the location for numerous movies over the years--although on screen they tended to stand in for the sands of Iwo Jima or palm tree-lined Hawaii.

Well, thanks to a film buff who also happens to be an attorney and developer, the county recently finished 10 days of showings of films of all stripes, courtesy of the Newport Beach International Film Festival.

Jack Lemmon graced the opening. The favor was returned when his latest movie, “A Weekend in the Country,” opened the festival and received the Audience Award.

Rightly recognizing that sophisticated moviegoers in the county have an appetite for more than comedy, two movies dealing with the former Yugoslavia also were screened.

One, “Vukovar Poste Restante,” was honored with the top accolade, the Jury Award, voted on by 15 entertainment professionals, educators and local business leaders. The movie was shot in Sarajevo, a once-beautiful city reduced to rubble by war, and told the story of love between a Croatian woman and a Serbian man.

The festival’s founder, Jeffrey S. Conner, indicated he wanted more than frothy films when he said “Vukovar Pose Restante” was honored for “best representing the type of films we want now and for the future of the festival.” Conner presented 85 movies, chosen from 400 submissions. A documentary titled “Miss Sarajevo” won the Maverick Award for its director, Bill Carter.

Movie festivals can be important chances for directors of out-of-the-mainstream movies, such as “Miss Sarajevo,” to display their wares and try to attract companies to bring their work to wider audiences. A distribution deal is a jackpot for the type of independent movie makers who try to exhibit at festivals. The audiences benefit with variety and the chance to find a gem that would never have made it to the local multiplex. Conner said more than 10,000 tickets were sold to festival offerings. Making the festival an annual event is a good goal; the more movies available, the better. Orange County has a flourishing arts community, from art galleries to opera to plays and live music. A film festival could be a natural fit.