San Diego Film Festival
September 25th-28th, 2008

by Alicia Glass

Hosted at the Pacific Gaslamp Theater in Downtown San Diego, the San Diego Film Festival is the largest and most party-filled festival SD has to offer!

Given that this was my first time attending the San Diego Film Festival, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. There were plenty of movie posters and cards laid out everywhere, that is common. Filmmakers and directors and cast members mingled in the lobby with eager movie-goers. The volunteers, as in every movie festival I’ve attended so far, are a joy and kindness to work with. The one thing I wasn’t prepared for was the lack of scheduling fixes. Every day that I attended the Film Festival, with the exception of opening night Thursday, there was some sort of scheduling conflict that generally involved me not being able to see some movie I had wanted to. And hey, when I pay that much for a ticket, I expect the full monte. Here’s hoping next year they’re able to fix any scheduling conflicts that arise before the Festival actually starts. Click here to check out the many shorts and movies I saw.

Sponsors and treats and gimmicks and performances are a way of life at any given movie Festival to attend, and this one was no different. A performance of traditional Spanish Flamenco dancing was done by Paloma Aragon and her troupe from the Flamenco Dance Studio, in celebration of the movie The Matador.
A cupcake on wheels brought many tiny sweet-enough-to-make-your-teeth-explode strawberry cupcakes from Heavenly Cupcake. Think Blue San Diego, a group dedicated to the cleaning and reclamation of our beaches, brought free doggie cleanup bag containers and safe things to enjoy on the beach, like Frisbees.

Of course, no Film Festival would be complete without at least one party. And the San Diego Film Festival is famous for its parties. Matter of fact, there was a party every single night of the festival, it was pretty wild.

Thursdays opening night found me at Westfield Horton Plaza’s Sun Deck, where the party was being hosted by 944 Magazine. That party was pretty wild even for an opening night event. Lots of free stuff given out: Diesel perfume or cologne, Godiva-dipped chocolate strawberries, Frederick’s of Hollywood goodies, and much more!

Friday’s party found me at the W Hotel in San Diego, at the Limelight PR Industry party. The W Hotel is indeed lovely, and they opened it up completely to us insane partygoers. There’s even a sand floor on the upper deck of the hotel, where you can literally walk on sand near a big bonfire, enjoying your drinks from Tommy Bahamas!

Saturday’s party, hosted at the New Children’s Museum, was the GQ Magazine’s Actor’s Ball and Awards Ceremony. More Tommy Bahamas rum and a lot of fairly sloshed people in really nice outfits, wandering around playing with adult size childrens exhibits. It was a sight to see. I wasn’t able to get very close when the awards where given out, but here they are anyway!

Best Feature ---- “Summerhood”
Best Actress ---- Sasha Alexander “The Last Lullaby”
Best Actor ---- Michael Tassoni “The Appearance of a Man”
Heineken Red Star Award ---- “The Appearance of a Man”
Physical Graffiti Best Action Sports Story ---- “Against the Grain”
Best Short ---- “In The Name of The Son”
Best Documentary ---- “Uncounted”
Best Music Video ---- Greg Laswell “How the Day Sounds”
Best San Diego Short ---- “Residue”
Audience Choice Award Feature ---- “The Last Lullaby”
Audience Choice Award Documentary ---- “Speed and Angels”

And Sunday night found me at the closing night party, hosted by Heineken at the first ever hip-hop Greek restaurant/club I’ve ever been to, called EXY. EXY’s mojitos are quite good by the way, I strongly recommend them. The closing night party was much more relaxed than the rest of them had been, and it was fine fun to hang out with the many friends of filmmakers and others I had made!