The 13th annual Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival, which is set to run from September 14-18 at Regal L.A. Live, has announced its full lineup today. A total of 112 titles including 36 features and 76 short films are slated to screen, with virtually all making their world, West Coast, or Los Angeles premieres, and all eligible for awards.
“In 2022 DTLA Film Festival continues to embrace its decade-long mission of showcasing movies of all genres by filmmakers from groups traditionally underrepresented by Hollywood,” says Karolyne Sosa, director of programming. “This year’s film line-up reflects that commitment to diversity with 62 percent of the films directed by people of color, and well over 40 percent directed by women.”
Established in 2008 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the festival has grown to become the single largest film-TV event in burgeoning downtown Los Angeles, the historic core and new creative nexus of the city.
Opening the festival is Carlos Through the Tall Grass, a coming-of-age tale about a brilliant young Latinx high school student who is having doubts about going to college when he realizes how much all the needy, desperate and deranged people in his dysfunctional world depend on him.
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to present the world premiere of Carlos Through the Tall Grass as our opening night film,” says Festival Co-Founder Henry Priest. “This is a story with an inspiring message about how the promise of the American dream affects one individual and an entire community."
The festival’s centerpiece film is Cherry, a narrative drama about a driftless young woman who discovers she's 11 weeks pregnant and has only 24 hours to make a consequential decision.
“Cherry is fascinating in how director Sophie Galibert and her cast, and particularly Alex Trewhitt who plays the lead character, seamlessly bridge the divide between comedy and drama,” says Sosa. “The fact that it fearlessly tackles a hot-button issue – abortion – with aplomb made the film our obvious choice this year for our centerpiece.”
“This year’s festival will screen more short films than ever before with 17 separate programs, comprising 74 films. We literally have something for everyone in this year’s selection from animation, comedies and social justice to horror, documentary, and local L.A. films,” says Sonia Bajaj, senior short films programmer.
Closing the festival is writer-director Florencia Krochik's The Rest of Us, a stunning, thought-provoking documentary shot over a seven-year period during the rise and fall of DACA that explores the broken American immigration system.