Matthew Modine to receive honor at HollyShorts Film Festival
Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy on location in Manhattan for the filming Ned Benson’s “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.”
(Aby Baker/Getty Images)James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain are filming “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” on the streets of Manhattan on July 12.
(Aby Baker/Getty Images)Dakota Fanning on location in New York City for “Very Good Girls.”
(Aby Baker/Getty Images)Veteran actor Matthew Modine, whose latest film, “Jobs,” opens Friday, will be the recipient of the HollyShorts Festival’s Indie Maverick Award during opening-night festivities Thursday at the TCL Chinese 6 in Hollywood.
As part of the celebration, Modine will screen his short film “Jesus Was a Commie.” He will also be on hand for “The Short Films of Matthew Modine Showcase,” which takes place closing night, Aug. 22.
The ninth edition of the largest short film festival in Los Angeles will feature several other shorts on opening night, including “42” star Chadwick Boseman’s “Heaven”; Dan Carrillo Levy’s “Zero Hour”; Phil Joanou’s “Punisher: Dirty Laundry,” with Thomas Jane; “The Sidekick,” with Ron Livingston; and Josh Levy’s “The Immigrant.” The festival also will showcase a feature film, festival alumni David Rodriguez’s “Last I Heard.”
In all, the festival will screen 350 shorts representing 26 countries. It also features Q&A sessions with filmmakers and networking events.
Another highlight is the HollyShorts Film Conference at the Roosevelt Hotel, which features such panels as “Tools of the Trade: Demystifying VFX,” “The Art of the Horror Short Film” and “Indiegogo Pitch Fest -- Pitch Your Indie Project.”
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Susan King is a former entertainment writer at the Los Angeles Times who specialized in Classic Hollywood stories. She also wrote about independent, foreign and studio movies and occasionally TV and theater stories. Born in East Orange, N.J., she received her master’s degree in film history and criticism at USC. She worked for 10 years at the L.A. Herald Examiner and came to work at The Times in January 1990. She left in 2016.