By Steven Zeitchik
LAS VEGAS (Hollywood Reporter) - CineVegas, the annual Sin City gathering of indie film powerbrokers amid the slot machines and black-jack tables, wound down Sunday after providing several breakouts -- and more than a few surreal spectacles.
Among the world premieres to make a splash were Jeff Mizushima's "Etienne!," Frankie Latina's "Modus Operandi" and Kyle Patrick Alvarez's "Easier With Practice."
Mizushima's "Etienne!" was a conversation piece for many over the weekend. The film, a spiritual cousin to "Lars and the Real Girl," centers on a pudgy loner who has only one friend -- the titular dwarf hamster -- whom he decides to take on a bike trip up the California coast after the critter is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
"Operandi," meanwhile, was the talk of the festival among media and execs after its premiere Saturday night. Nominally a thriller involving a revenge-bent CIA agent, it also bursts with campiness and odes to '70s movie outrageousness.
Perhaps the best-received movie of the fest was "Practice," an understated drama about an introverted twentysomething writer who develops an unlikely relationship with a woman who calls him randomly one day.
All three movies have U.S. theatrical rights available and were being circled by acquisition execs as the fest wound down.
On Sunday night, "Practice" took the grand jury prize, while "Etienne!" and Robert Saitzyk's Alaskan thriller "Godspeed" won special jury prizes.
In other categories, Doug Tirola's poker study "All In" took the documentary jury prize while Jessica Oreck's Japan-insect exploration "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo" scored the special documentary jury prize. Jon Voight and Willem Dafoe were given achievement awards.
Executives from a range of companies -- IFC, Magnolia, Miramax and Fox Searchlight -- all turned up to scout for the next big indie thing.
"It's really one of the most enjoyable and even important of the boutique festivals," said one exec. "It's a chance to find a film or a filmmaker months or years before a lot of other people are going to hear about them."
The festival also aims for edginess no matter the subject.
"We don't want to show movies that you can see at any other festival," said artistic director Trevor Groth. "This is a city based on risk-taking, not only because of the gambling and casinos but because of how the whole city was founded. It shouldn't even exist. This place should be sagebrush and lizards."
With the Vegas setting came a mix of partying -- splashy fetes at the Palms pool and the Mandalay Bay's Morrea Beach Club anchored the weekend -- and, as the only film festival to be set in a casino, plenty of other only-in-Vegas moments.
Fest headquarters and the screening theaters are both located in the Palms hotel, and a walk between the two requires a stroll through the casino, past the sportsbook area and right between the slot and video-poker machines.
Entertainment was often brought in to the laid-back headquarters space -- like a Billy Idol impersonator (who, oh yes, also stars in a fest pic), who vamped for festgoers. Continued...
Source: Reuters
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