Animated Films at the Los Angeles Film Festival, June 18-28

Animation, comics, graphic novels, and anime will take center stage at Film Independent's 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. This year's festival, held June 18-28, will feature a wide variety of options for graphic arts fans, highlighted by the U.S. debut of the award winning animated feature PONYO, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to view a diverse selection of animated shorts and music videos from around the world. Titles include THE CABLE CAR, WESTERN SPAGHETTI, and the critically acclaimed SKHIZEIN, directed by Jeremy Clapin and recent recipient of the Audience Prize and a Jury Special Mention at this year's Stuttgart Trickfilm Festival.

In addition, comic book and graphic novel fans alike can attend a special discussion about Hollywood's latest fascination with these mediums. Industry insiders, including Zak Penn (Screenwriter, INCREDIBLE HULK, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND) and Barry Levine (Publisher, Radical Comics), will lead a panel discussion about the creative challenge of adapting works such as 300, WANTED, and SIN CITY to the big screen.

FEATURE

PONYO (DIRECTOR/WRITER Hayao Miyazaki DIRECTORS - ENGLISH VOICE TALENT John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, Peter Sohn WRITER - ENGLISH VERSION Melissa Mathison PRODUCER Toshio Suzuki PRODUCERS - ENGLISH VERSION Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steve Alpert CAST Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, Betty White) - From Academy Award-winning director and world-renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki comes PONYO, a story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid." Featuring the voices of Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson and Frankie Jonas, this is the story of Ponyo, a young over eager goldfish on a quest to become human who is befriended by a young boy named Sosuke.

SHORT FILMS

-- BILLIS VISTORS. Directed by Simon Deshon. England
-- THE CABLE CAR. Directed by Claudius Gentinetta, Frank Braun.. Switzerland
-- CODSWALLOP. Directed by The Brothers McLeod. England
-- I LIVE IN THE WOODS. Directed by Max Winston. USA
-- PHOTOGRAPH OF JESUS. Directed by Laurie Hill. England
-- RAINS (LIONDEE). Directed by David Coquard-Dassault. Canada
-- THE ROYAL NIGHTMARE. Directed by Alex Budosky. USA
-- SKHIZEIN. Directed by Jeremy Clapin. France
-- STAND UP. Directed by Joseph Pierce. England
-- WESTERN SPAGHETTI. Directed by PES. USA

MUSIC VIDEOS

-- "21st Century Life": Sam Sparro. Directed by Mariah Garnett
-- "Her Morning Elegance": Oren Lavie. Directed by Oren Lavie, Yuval & Merav Nathan
-- "Fortress": Pinback. Directed by Elliot Jokelson
-- "Grapevine Fires": Death Cab for Cutie. Directed by Walter Robot
-- "Mykonos": Fleet Foxes. Directed by Sean Pecknold
-- "Ruler of Everything": Tally Hall. Directed by Sean Donnelly
-- "Who's Gonna Save my Soul": Gnarls Barkley. Directed by Chris Milk

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

-- Graphic Explosion -- Adaptations of comic books and graphic novels have proliferated in recent years, and it's not all superheroes: SIN CITY, 300, WANTED, and PERSEPOLIS all came from graphic novels. A group of filmmakers, artists, writers, and fans explore Hollywood's fascination with the medium and the creative challenges of translating them to the screen. Panelists include Zak Penn (Screenwriter, INCREDIBLE HULK, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND) and Barry Levine (Publisher, Radical Comics).