Film festival unveils latest lineup

Young Chang

NEWPORT BEACH -- Film festival organizers trumpet a more aggressive

tune this year compared to last spring’s “evolution, not revolution”

motto.

A young tradition just trying to grow, the Newport Beach Film Festival

focused in 2001 on evolving what was fortunate to even happen the year

before.

Today, executive director Gregg Schwenk and his staff are through with

the cautious treading.

“This year, it’s making the pie bigger,” Schwenk said. “Creating a

critical mass that draws in more industry players, more visitors from out

of town, that excites more aspects of local community and fulfills the

pledges I’ve made not only to the City Council, but to the community

overall.”

The 2002 festival lineup released Tuesday indicates a 35% increase in

screenings, including more than 70 feature films and more than 100 short

films. Movies will be shown at three locations (Edwards Island Cinemas,

the Lido Theater and Edwards Big Newport) and special tributes will honor

everyone from legendary composer Elmer Bernstein to local-boy turned

Hollywood director Joseph McGinty -- McG -- of “Charlie’s Angels” fame.

More than 25 countries will be represented through the week’s worth of

films, with spotlights on German, Filipino, Irish and Japanese films, to

name a few. The features lineup includes the Taiwanese title “The

Cabbie,” the Korean film “Joint Security” and the Tanzanian piece

“Maangamizi -- The Ancient One.”

“We always focus on quality and we focus on reaching out to the

uniquely diverse aspects of our county,” Schwenk said. “We feel that

these nationalities also reflect the people of Orange County.”

Confirmed celebrity appearances include director John Waters and a

team of speakers for the festival’s seminar series, to be announced later

this month.

The premiere of “The Bank,” an Australian film starring Anthony La

Paglia, will kick off the festival on April 11. Last year’s opener was a

tribute to the 1970s film “The Sting.”

“I think it’s a film of exceptional quality,” Schwenk said of “The

Bank.” “I think it’s wonderfully written, superbly acted and it sets the

bar for the rest of the festival.”

Other highlights include the premiere of the Italian film “Eugenio, I

Love You” on closing night and a music-video spotlight honoring McG, who

has directed nearly 50 videos with such artists as Sugar Ray and

Barenaked Ladies.

Filmmaker Tom Bullard’s short piece, “Beyond the Fear” -- which he

created three years ago while a student at Orange Coast College -- will

be screened and so will Kathy Leek’s feature-length documentary for

veterans from World War II’s Army Airforce Sailors.

Leek, a pubic relations director for Newport Beach’s Adventures at Sea

Yacht Charters, made the film after discovering three years ago that one

of the company’s boats had been a World War II vessel.

Last year’s film festival attracted more than 20,000 visitors.

The concept of a festival celebrating films started seven years ago

with the Newport Beach International Film Festival, spearheaded by

Jeffrey Conner and declared bankrupt in 1999. Schwenk and patrons

resurrected the short-lived tradition in the spring of 2000, assuming a

new identity and shorter title, sans the “international.”

* Young Chang writes features. She may be reached at (949) 574-4268 or

by e-mail at o7 young.chang@latimes.comf7 .