L.A.’s star turn from backdrop to player

In a documentary composed entirely of movies, Thom Andersen’s monumental “Los Angeles Plays Itself” boldly and provocatively explores the long, evolving relationship between the city and its representation on the screen.

A film historian, social critic and film critic, Andersen loves his native city, and his documentary, screening tonight as part of the American Cinematheque’s Alternative Screen showcase, has a special resonance for L.A. natives and film devotees.

Few films over the decades have captured what it is actually like to live in L.A. -- unless you happen to be a cop or a criminal. Andersen traces the city’s gradual emergence from backdrop to character in such classics as “Double Indemnity,” “Chinatown” and “L.A. Confidential,” plus the visionary and prescient “Blade Runner.” He gives full measure to the late Kent MacKenzie’s remarkable and overlooked “The Exiles” (1961), a depiction of a group of Navajos living on Bunker Hill just before its destruction, as well as a precursor to Haile Gerima’s “Bush Mama,” Billy Woodberry’s “Bless Their Little Hearts” and Charles Burnett’s “Killer of Sheep.” Andersen is spot on when he remarks that the city cannot be known solely from a car; it has to be experienced on foot and on buses as well.

Andersen is a sardonic, impassioned and inspired maker of distinctions -- between Los Angeles and Hollywood for starters, and between films made by foreigners, whom he divides into “low tourists” and “high tourists.” He amusingly observes that in Hollywood movies, celebrated examples of modern architecture serve almost invariably as villain’s lairs. He surveys local landmarks that reappear in movies, some invariably “playing” themselves (e.g., City Hall) and those serving many purposes (e.g., the Bradbury Building).

Andersen suggests powerfully the city has not been served well by the movies, yet “Los Angeles Plays Itself” inevitably shows that even otherwise negligible movies serve as records of a city that traditionally has had little interest in preserving its past.

Blacks out

Outfest recently moved its weekly screenings from the Village at the Ed Gould Plaza to the Egyptian on Wednesdays. This week’s offering is the promotion reel and first episode of writer-producer-director Patrik-Ian Polk’s “Noah’s Arc,” which Polk says would be the first black gay series. Polk at first envisioned it as a DVD series, but special screenings around the country, sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and the Black AIDS Institute, have garnered such response that Polk is now aiming at cable.

It seems a natural for the new Logo gay cable network. The “Noah’s Arc” pilot is good-humored and sexy and features a cast of good-looking and talented actors. Noah (Darryl Stephens) is a struggling screenwriter who meets the much more successful Wade (Jensen Atwood) at a WGA screening. Until that moment Wade thought he was straight, but now he finds himself attracted to Noah.

Noah’s friends -- Alex (Rodney Chester), an AIDS activist with a diva personality; Ricky (Christian Vincent), a Melrose clothing store proprietor; and Chance (Doug Spearman), a college professor -- are concerned that Wade’s feelings for Noah may be passing and that Noah, who is falling fast, will end up hurt. The friends are all caught up in their own romantic challenges. Sex and love are very much on the minds of these upwardly mobile young men, but they are also likable, intelligent and caring human beings. “Noah’s Arc” looks to be a winner.

Funny girl

The eighth annual Los Angeles International Short Film Festival at the ArcLight, which continues through Monday, includes a 15-minute gem -- Sonja Phillips’ “The Knickerman.” The sly comedy, seen through the eyes of a curious but innocent little girl, focuses on a good-looking young traveling salesman (Jamie Sives) who does more than sell risque panties to the women of an English village.

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Screenings

American Cinematheque’s Alternative Screen

* “Los Angeles Plays Itself,” 7:30 tonight.

Where: Lloyd E. Rigler Theater at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

Info: (323) 466-FILM or www.americancinema

theque.com

Outfest weekly selection

* “Noah’s Arc,” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Lloyd E. Rigler Theater at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

Info: (323) 466-FILM or www.outfest.org

Los Angeles International Short Film Festival pick

* “The Knickerman,” 7:35 p.m. Sunday

Where: ArcLight Cinemas, 6360 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

Info: (323) 851-9100