11 Offerings Make Up Film Event in Laguna

The first Laguna Beach Film Festival will take place Friday through March 16 at the Forum Theatre as a benefit for child-abuse prevention programs in South County.

Eleven foreign and independent films will be presented by the Laguna Beach Exchange Club, a nonprofit community-service organization that expects to raise about $20,000 for the programs. Officials hope to make the event an annual affair.

“We looked for a blend of films,” festival organizer Rick Leckey said Friday. “Some are a little bit avant-garde, but a number of them are very much family oriented.”

One--”Brassed Off,” a drama about coal-mining closures in northern England during the early 1990s--drew acclaim when shown recently at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival.

Tickets are $6 per screening and $35 to an opening-night party at the Tivoli Terrace restaurant. A $65 pass is good for admission to all the screenings and the party. The Forum Theatre is at 650 Laguna Canyon Road. (714) 494-1313.

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FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Friday:

6 p.m. “Tollbooth.”

8:30 p.m. “Hollow Reed.”

Saturday:

10 a.m. “Men Lie.”

Noon “The River Chao Phraya.”

2 p.m. “Caught in the Act.”

4 p.m. “Lost in Mississippi.”

6 p.m. “It’s in the Water.”

8 p.m. “The Size of Watermelons.”

Sunday:

10 a.m. “Tollbooth.”

Noon “The End of the Golden Weather.”

2 p.m. “Blossom Time.”

4 p.m. “Hollow Reed.”

6 p.m. “Brassed Off.”