LAFF opening night: Eva Longoria, Brian Grazer come out for the ‘Lowriders’ premiere

The stream of gleaming, customized hot rods making their way through Hollywood on Wednesday night made for quite a sight to commemorate the opening of this year’s L.A. Film Festival. Though the main hub for this year’s festival will be a venue in Culver City, the opening night event was held in Hollywood, with those cars cruising by the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard to celebrate the film “Lowriders,” which is set amid the car culture and street art scenes of Los Angeles.

The spirit of the evening was one of inclusion, warmth and optimism. This year the festival has increased its efforts to diversify its programming: Of 42 world premieres, 43% of the films are directed by women and 38% by people of color.

Before “Lowriders,” Josh Welsh, president of Film Independent, who produced the festival, introduced Los Angeles City Council member Mitch O’Farrell, who represents the 13th district.

“The industry belongs here. This is home for films and television shows and commercials,” said O’Farrell, noting efforts to bring both productions and events like LAFF back to Hollywood.

O’Farrell, in turn, brought out festival director Stephanie Allain.

“Tonight is really special,” said Allain. “We saw this film. We got so excited to bring it here. It’s so Los Angeles, it’s so diverse, it’s so culturally rich.”

Allain then introduced the film’s producers Brian Grazer and Jason Blum. Grazer, an Academy Award winner for “A Beautiful Mind,” said that “Lowriders” was personal to him and that he felt the initial impulse for it while he was making the Eminem film “8 Mile,” which brought up memories of Grazer’s upbringing in the San Fernando Valley and the car club culture he saw around him at Chatsworth High School.

Blum, best known for low-budget horror films such as the “Purge” or “Insidious” franchises but also an Oscar nominee for “Whiplash,” brought up the film’s Peruvian-born director Ricardo de Montreuil, “whose movie I love, but whose last name I still can’t pronounce. So, Ricardo, you can take it from here.”

De Montreuil introduced some of the cast members in the audience, including Eva Longoria, Melissa Benoist, Gabriel Chavarria, Theo Rossi, Tony Revolori and Yvette Monreal.

“We really tried to capture the low-rider culture, and I’m very happy and proud to have the community support us,” De Montreuil. “We’re excited to finally show our film to you guys.”

Though told with a modern visual style and contemporary soundtrack, the film’s story played like something of a throwback melodrama, with its story of a father and sons in conflict and a tension between tradition and independence. (The screenplay is credited to Cheo Hodari Coker and Elgin James.)

In the film, a young L.A. street artist named Danny (Chavarria) is helping his father (Demián Bichir) prepare for a low-rider car contest when the arrival of his older brother (Rossi), fresh out of prison, brings old conflicts back to the fore.

Benoist, currently known as TV’s “Supergirl,” plays the story’s romantic interest, a young photographer in punkish plaid and fishnets who wants to pull Danny into a more conventional art-world milieu. Longoria plays the current partner of Bichir’s character, bringing in the contemporary nuances of multigenerational blended families.

Though Bichir was not at Wednesday night’s opening, the L.A. Film Fest has previously been a good-luck charm for the actor. The film “A Better Life,” for which Bichir would be nominated for an Oscar for lead actor, premiered at the festival in 2011.

A party after the screening was held just a few blocks away at the restaurant Beso, owned by Longoria. The festival will wrap with its closing night screening in Culver City on June 9 with the local premiere of Jonás Cuarón’s “Desierto.”

Mark.Olsen@latimes.com

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