AFI Goes on Location in Hollywood

The American Film Institute will hold the 10th annual AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival at Hollywood Boulevard’s historic Mann’s Chinese Theatre and General Cinema’s Hollywood Galaxy Theaters rather than at its former Westside locations, AFI and city officials are scheduled to announce today in Hollywood.

In previous years, the festival’s films were screened at the Laemmle’s Sunset 5 theaters and at the Laemmle’s Monica Cinemas in Santa Monica. All of this year’s films--90 titles from more than 30 countries--will be shown at Mann’s Chinese and the Galaxy during the Oct. 18-31 festival, though some films will be repeated at the Monica Cinemas and other locations.

The festival, which has historically focused on domestic independent films and movies from abroad, has occasionally wrestled with its identity. Critics have lamented a lack of excitement generated by the event and its inability to land prestige titles. There has, however, been one constant--high-profile, commercial films produced by Hollywood studios have had little presence.

AFI director Jean Picker Firstenberg called the fact that the bulk of the films screened at the festival are not Hollywood products, “an appropriate irony. . . . The AFI exists because the world loves American movies, and they really relate to American film history. Hollywood is the film capital of the world, and it’s appropriate that we bring in films from other countries.”

The festival’s Oct. 17 opening night event, however, will be the local premiere of Al Pacino’s new film “Looking for Richard,” a quasi-documentary directed by the actor about his search for the meaning of Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” The film was shown at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals.

At a news conference today in front of Mann’s Chinese, Firstenberg, Mayor Richard Riordan, City Council member Jackie Goldberg, AFI Chairman Charlton Heston and other city officials are expected to announce a new association between AFI and the city, launched by an invitation from Riordan and the Entertainment Industry Development Corporation (EIDC) to hold the event in Hollywood.

In his April 18 state of the city address, Riordan pledged to bring about a “Hollywood renaissance,” which drew both praise and skepticism from community leaders. Other city officials and agencies that secured or provided support for the AFI were the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Sports and Entertainment Commission, the Cultural Affairs Department and Hollywood Sign Trust.

“It’s tremendous news for Hollywood, particularly with the Cannes Film Festival going down in popularity,” Riordan said Tuesday in a phone interview. (Recent news reports note that this year’s Cannes festival suffered from the growing stature of the Sundance and Telluride film festivals, considered to be more cutting-edge.) “Some other festival will take over, and hopefully the AFI is going to be a part of that. . . . I think this is a vote of confidence and big proof that Hollywood is turning around and becoming the Hollywood of our dreams, not the disappointment we all feel when we visit it today.”

The AFI’s Firstenberg said the various organizations are providing monetary support “well over six figures.” A spokesman for the mayor said the figure in cash and in-kind donations exceeds $120,000. Mann’s Chinese and the Galaxy are donating the screen time.

“It’s really a turning point for the AFI fest to have been invited to come to Hollywood. . . . It’s about the city saying we want to really make this Hollywood renaissance a reality,” Firstenberg said in an interview Tuesday. She said that the “art” film audience, traditionally thought to be a Westside crowd, exists throughout the city. She added that the partnership with the city represents an ongoing effort to better market the AFI, which has suffered severe federal funding cuts in recent years and has responded by licensing merchandise such as T-shirts and CD-ROMs, as well as opening a new 7,000-square-foot attraction at Disney-MGM studios in Florida.

The AFI announcement comes on the heels of news that Hollywood’s 1922 Egyptian Theater will be restored with a $2-million Community Redevelopment Agency grant as the new headquarters for the nonprofit American Cinematheque, expected to open for screenings in 1998. The nearby Hollywood Entertainment Museum is slated to open in late September, said Hollywood Chamber of Commerce executive director Leron Gubler.

Gregory Laemmle, vice president of the Laemmle Theaters chain, said, “I think it’s a significant attempt to attract serious filmgoers to a part of town they really don’t visit that much anymore. Personally I think it’s a great boon to Hollywood and the city’s attempts to revitalize Hollywood Boulevard, I think it’s in the same light as the city getting behind the American Cinematheque, and their return to the Egyptian Theater.

“There’s a very educated community in that area who appreciate these films. One of the digs against the AFI Fest since they’ve been at the Monica is that it’s just the Westside. People who live on the Eastside of town, now you have to put up or shut up. If you want to see these films, you now have no reason not to go. Hollywood Boulevard is safe, the theaters are beautiful.”

Gil Cates, director of the Academy Awards broadcast and dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, said, as someone who lives and works on the Westside, he “would prefer things to be closer, but I do understand why they would move to those historic locations, and actually I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

Cinematheque executive director Barbara Smith said, “I think it’s absolutely great, the more things are going on in Hollywood, the better. When you talk to filmmakers around the world, there is something about Hollywood, and I think it’s exciting for them to know that their films are being shown in Hollywood.”