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SEEfest April 26-May 3, 2023 in Los Angeles: A Unique Event

Los Angeles, my hometown, probably has different film festivals every day of the year. The most known of course is the AFI Fest, a part of the venerable industry institution the American Film Institute. A list of all of them is below. But worth mentioning is the upcoming SEEfest.

In highlighting it here, I know I will be asked by others (and I will not have the capacity) to cover them, but I will mention the one I am on the Advisory Board for before going on to SEEfest and the innumerable others.

The Asian World Film Festival in November is the place to catch the most Asian submissions for the Academy Award Best International Film Nominations. Founded by Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, Chairman of the Union of Filmmakers of Kyrgyzstan, who followed his dream to attend film school in Moscow at the age of 38 and Co-Founder and Managing Director, Asel Sherniyazova, who has an economic and business educational background and for two years studied in China and is fluent in English, Chinese, Russian and Kyrgyz. She is a Co-Founder of a business consultancy company in China, an investment corporation in the USA and a non-profit organization in Kyrgyzstan. Asel is an integral part of the Festival, managing the structure and strategic content as well as event sponsorship and all promotional activity. She is also instrumental in liaising between Consulates, Embassies and Ministries from the Asian Continent, ensuring that their countries’ films and filmmakers receive a high degree of exposure during the Festival.

Asel Sherniyazova

And the most visible face of the festival is Georges N. Chamchoum, an Emmy and multiple award-winning Film Director and Producer, born in Niger, West Africa of Lebanese origin. Educated in France, Germany and Wales, he entered the film industry in 1968 after graduating from the Conservatoire du Cinema Français in Paris. Georges has directed and produced over 35 features in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Canada and the USA, with many screened at various International Film Festivals and Universities. Georges has lived in Los Angeles for the past 32 years.

Georges Chamchoum

Asian World Film Festival: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar., Republic of Georgia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

Next closest to my heart is SEEfest, the South East European Film Festival in Los Angeles which pioneered the concept of regional, cross-border programming with issue-driven films that tell a larger story about South East Europe, where borders of all kinds are fluid and porous just as often as poisonous. By presenting multiple points of view from this troubled region, the festival unlocks delicate doors into human existence, highlighting concerns of our time that resonate with American audiences.

SEEfest: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine

Founded in 2006 by Vera Mijojlić, a cultural producer, who began her career as a cultural reporter and film critic in Sarajevo, and holds a degree in journalism from the University of Belgrade. She has curated major film retrospectives for the UCLA Film Archive and Austin Film Society, and initiated a national tour of landmark short films with the Los Angeles FilmForum, which was presented at the Pacific Film Archive, Harvard Film Archive, National Gallery of Art, and MoMA. In addition to the 2018 Women in Leadership Award from the City of West Hollywood, she has received multiple recognitions from the State of California, as well as the County and City of Los Angeles.

Vera Mijojlić

A great deal of what I do is directly related to the festival I founded, including writing about cinematic milestones, highlighting interesting books, especially those related to the region of South East Europe, and giving tributes to outstanding artists across the spectrum. What sets me apart, and by extension the festival as well, is an intense focus on the multidisciplinary approach to all the arts, not just the cinematic, but also the art of literature, architecture, design, publishing, and including the rich legacy of fine arts.

The joy of making my dream a reality, creating and building from the ground up the first platform in the U.S. for a host of countries and emerging filmmakers with little or no access to American audiences — during my 16-year long journey with SEEfest, was worth the mammoth effort it took to get there.

This year’s 18th annual SEEfest, co-presented by ELMA, opens on April 26th at the Writers Guild Theater and runs at seven different locations around L.A. County through May 3rd. With over 50 features, documentaries and short films, the festival brings to Los Angeles U.S. premieres, European talent and an Industry Accelerator with seminars, panels and workshops.

‘Sonne’ directed by Kurdwin Ayub

Get ready for the charm offensive of Sonne when a trio of young actresses singing their way to YouTube fame and coming of age online and in real life simultaneously decide, in a moment of ordinary madness, to shoot a burqa music video. Produced by Ulrich Seidl and directed by Austria-born Kurdwin Ayub, this great debut film had already won accolades internationally, including Berlin Film Festival’s GWFF Best First Feature Award.

The festival’s co-presenting sponsor ELMA, Foundation for European Languages and Movies in America has the mission to create new avenues for better cultural understanding between the people of Europe and the USA by celebrating alternative cinema.

Image courtesy of Doctors Without Borders

A biology teacher in my elementary school “Veselin Masleša” in Sarajevo introduced the topic of germs by telling us the story of the 1955 French film If All The Guys In The World by Christian-Jaque, written by him and Henri-Georges Clouzot. Sailors on a fishing trawler became ill after eating contaminated meat. The heroes of the film are radio amateurs from all over the world who unite to deliver the medicine that will cure them.

The catastrophic earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has left tens of thousands dead and hundreds of thousands homeless and displaced. Rescue teams from many countries have been dispatched and aid is being delivered. And if all the people in the world stand in solidarity then people on the ground in the affected areas will not be alone. The legacy of those radio amateurs working across borders will live on.

How You Can Help: Red Cross, Direct Relief, Doctors Without Borders

Call for Papers

A conference taking place in June at the Central European University is an opportunity for scholars working in the field of Romani studies to submit proposals.

Conference Info

‘Outrageous comparisons’– On March 6, Professor Willibald Steinmetz gave a work-in-progress report on a book he is currently writing about ‘outrageous comparisons’, i.e. comparisons that create public outrage. Polemical equations of someone with Hitler or the Nazis, or analogies to the Holocaust, are the most salient cases in point, but by no means the only instances of outrageous comparisons.

Book Recommendations

A SEA OF TRANSIENCE

Poetics, Politics and Aesthetics along the Black Sea Coast

Edited by Tamta Khalvashi and Martin Demant Frederiksen

Transience is found in every meeting and form of coexistence between people and things that live and exist by or move across or along, the Black Sea. It may come in various forms and guises, from de facto states, tourism, migration, trafficking or military troops, and it needs to be written and captured in sensuous, affective and imaginative ways.

With particular attention to poetics, politics and aesthetics, this volume focuses on the scales of transient moments and histories, and enables readers to see and sense the many forms of transience that occur in a given landscape, sea or space.

In her new book, MEMORIES DO NOT BURN, Judith Jenya recounts the fascinating stories of what it took to start, fund and organize Global Children’s organization and create summer camps bringing together children from opposing sides during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and other troubled spots where her work took her.

Become a Member

Not a member yet? Become an art patron with other SEEfest arthouse aficionados in support of great events and programs.

Become A CINE-FAN Today!

SEEfest program and activities are supported, in part, by the California Arts Council, a state agency; Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture; by a grant from the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, ELMA Foundation for European Movies in America, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Below is a list of the many other film festivals in LA. Whether it is the definitive list, I do not know.

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) Film Festival — April 22nd, 2023

TCM Classic Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival, Outfest, City of Lights, City of Angels (French Film Festival), Polish Film Festival Los Angeles, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival, Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival, Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, Israel Film Festival, Turkish Film Festival of LA, Los Angeles Italia Film Festival, Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival, LA Shorts Fest, DTLA Film Festival, Doc LA - Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival, Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival, Los Angeles International Culture Film Festival, Hollywood Film Festival, FirstGlance Film Festival,The Valley Film Festival, L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival, Independent Filmmakers Showcase Film Festival, Los Angeles Animation Festival, Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories, Los Angeles International Underground Film Festival, Poetry Film Festival Los Angeles, Fri, Apr 28 Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice

Sunset International Film Festival, Beverly Hills Film Festival, Silicon Beach Film Festival, Lift Off Fest, Monsterpalooza, HollyShorts Film, Hollywood ShortsFest…

https://www.lafilmfestivals.com/ alone hosts the LA Comedy Film Festival, LA Indie Film Festival, LA Queer Film Festival, LA Women in Film Festival, LA Black Film Festival, LA Asian Film Festival, LA Latinx Film Festival, LA Sci-Fi Film Festival, LA Action Film Festival, LA Horror Film Festival, LA Animated Film Festival, and LA Student Film Festival.

And in April alone:

Beyond Hollywood International Film Festival 2023 Apr 20 at the Regal LA Live, Los Angeles Short Film Festival Apr 15 at Los Angeles Performing Arts Conservatory, 2023 Universe Multicultural Film Festival April 14 at Peninsula Center Library at Rolling Hills Estates, Los Angeles Pasifika Film Festival, Malibu Film Festival, Silent Films Live 3