MEDIA ADVISORY

February 12, 2004

FRENCH CONNECTION, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. FILMMAKER WILLIAM FRIEDKIN TO RECEIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT LMU’S STUDENT FILM FESTIVAL

Film Outside The Frame To Be Held At The Director’s Guild Of America On February 19

Long before Peter Jackson directed “The Lord of The Rings,” he first crafted an impressive student film called “The Valley,” involving an enormous Cyclops. For eight young filmmakers from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, the first stop before reaching exclusive film festivals like Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, Venice, and even the Academy Awards is a nomination for their student film festival, Film Outside The Frame. See the new generation of Hollywood filmmakers before they’re the next big thing!

Beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 19, at the Directors Guild of America, the celebratory evening serves as an unofficial launch of the madcap week of parties leading up to the Academy Awards.

The festival includes the film screenings, a brief awards ceremony, and a post-screening reception. For general information, film industry professionals are invited to email events@lmu.edu, or to call 310.338.5278.

MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA ONLY are invited to attend a special pre-event VIP reception with the filmmakers, Lifetime Achievement Award recipient William Friedkin, and other top industry professionals beginning at 6:30 p.m

Now entering its second year, Loyola Marymount University’s Film Outside The Frame features a range of experimental, documentary, and narrative work. This year’s entries represent three countries and a variety of ethnicities.

During the event, the university will present Academy Award-winning feature film director William Friedkin (The French Connection, To Live and Die in LA, The Exorcist) with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The eight films selected for this year’s Film Outside The Frame film festival are:

• Big Blue Bus, by Ashley H. Chiang – The real life struggle of three new immigrants—a stubborn elderly Chinese man, a Mexican day-laborer, and a French actress—whose lives intersect on a Los Angeles city bus.
• Bombay Raj, by Sachin Parekh – An Indian man, just released from prison, learns the power of hope. Despite being shunned by his friends and neighbors, he fights to get back his wife and child, who have fallen into a life of prostitution.
• Born In Beirut, by Liliane Matta – Matta's own story about growing up during the 1975-1990 war in Lebanon. The film weaves the past and present together, expressing in a very personal way, the devastating toll taken by a constant struggle for survival.
• Chloe, by Heather Banta – Thirteen year-old Cody’s innocent obsession with nineteen year-old Chloe leads him to follow her everywhere—and to learn love's first bittersweet lesson.
• Dementia, by Paul Marchand – Obsessive-compulsive behavior is visually defined in this genre-smashing scientific drama.
• Heroes And Millionaires, by Nick Carpenter – Having lost his life’s dream of becoming a tire-changer for NASCAR, a Southern man concocts another scheme to become a hero.
• Last Chair, by Leona Whitney Beatty – A 1960s-era drama about black freshman Jeannie Spencer, a new student at a predominantly white high school. Her love of music and an unlikely friendship with another girl in the band eventually change the school's view of race relations.
• Paul Is Dead, by John Carlson – A bungling hit man has a bad day. When he stops to fix a flat tire, he mistakenly locks his keys in the car with a dead body. And then things get worse.

Founded in 1967, Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television has increasingly reinforced its reputation for turning out successful industry grads over the last two decades, including: Academy Award-winning writer/director Brian Helgeland (LA Confidential, A Knight’s Tale) – currently nominated for an Academy Award for Mystic River; three-time Sundance Film Festival Award winner Tony Bui (Green Dragon, Three Seasons); animated series creator Van Partible (Johnny Bravo); The Simpson’s Emmy Award-winning writer/director David Mirkin; and Emmy Award-winning writer/co-executive producer of ER Jack Orman, among many others.
LMU has been recognized in The Hollywood Reporter’s Special Film Schools issue as a prominent LA-based contender helping to prepare successful new professionals join the Hollywood workforce.

For more information, visit the LMU website at www.lmu.edu.

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