On day 3 of the festival, rising teen idols and a CSI star flashed their pearly whites (for good causes), young songstresses made the crowd swoon at a legendary nightclub, and the classiest “madman” actor of all received a loving tribute (and a shiny award to go with it).

The Mill Valley Rush

The Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center was packed again after yesterday’s tribute to Costa Gavras, this time to pay homage to beloved Australian actor Geoffrey Rush. Back in 1996, when Shine–one of Rush’s first feature roles and one that won him an Oscar for best actor in 1997–premiered in the United States at Sundance, but Rush wasn’t in attendance. When the film screened at the Mill Valley film festival, however, he was all too happy to fly out to the Bay Area to make an appearance. Last night, in front of hundreds of Rush’s admirers and friends, Zoe Elton, MVFF’s director of programming, shared with Rush that a few of the staffers at the festival remember him visiting the “2AM Club”–one of Mill Valley’s oldest bars–after the screening of Shine. “I have no memory of this,” Rush replied, with the same charmingly dry wit he’s infused into so many of his roles over the years, drawing a wave of laughter from the crowd (including yours truly).

The Mill Valley Award was presented to Rush by esteemed director Philip Kaufman, who admitted he had a bit of stage fright prior to taking the theater stage, not because he was afraid of public speaking, but because he was to be followed by the enchanting Mr. Rush. As Rush joined him onstage, it was clear what Kaufman meant by the compliment–Rush’s personality is as magnetic in person as it is on screen. He speaks with his hands, exhibits a keen sense of humor, and exudes class with his low, round timbre. During the Q&A mediated by Elton, the two revisited Rush’s illustrious film career, in which he’s played every type of role imaginable, from eccentrics like Captain Barbosa (Pirates of the Caribbean), The Marquis de Sade (Quills), and Casanova Frankenstein (Mystery Men), to his powerful turns as Leon Trotsky (Frida), Philip Henslowe (Shakespeare in Love), and, of course, pianist David Helfgott in Shine.

Rush recalled his mindset at the time of Shine‘s American release, when he was still quite active in the theater in Australia. “I reached a point where I thought, whatever happens to  Shine–and it was an interesting journey for me to come to America and Mill Valley–I can always go back to a solid career in the theater.” Luckily for all of us, Shine did amazingly well here in the States, and we’ve been gifted some of the most unforgettable performances by one of the great actors of the past 20 years.

Anti-Bullying Message Delivered by Teen Dream Messengers

Earlier in the day, the cast and director of anti-bullying high school drama Contest were met at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center by a mob of adoring kids, eager to get autographs from the photogenic teen stars. The actors were all smiles as they posed for pictures, gave out big hugs, and chatted with the youngsters, all in the name of promoting the film’s anti-bullying message. “It’s about a high school kid who is a talented chef and has been bullied for three years by a jock,” director Anthony Giuda says of the film. “The two are forced to work on a project together, and though they’re reluctant to work together at first, they gradually form a friendship.”

Beautiful young actress Katherine McNamara plays the new kid in school. “I’m a bystander of the bullying situation. I’m the new girl in town, so I have a more objective view of things and can see through most of the games being played.” McNamara explained that the film “addresses every kind of bullying, from at school, to outside of school, cyber-bullying, bullying between siblings…everything is covered.” According to Giunta, the film has been received well by kids who’ve seen it, and the message is getting across loud and clear. “People gravitate toward this movie and think it’s going to help a lot of people.” The films airs Tonight at 6pm ET/PT on Cartoon Network.

Rescuing the King of the Jungle

Actress Jorja Fox, best known for her role as Sara Sidle on CSI, and directer Tim Phillips were on hand in Mill Valley with their new documentary, Lion Ark, following a team of animal activists trying to save lions from circus runners in Bolivia keeping them in captivity illegally. Film subject and President of Animal Defenders International, Jan Creamer, was also in attendance to introduce the film, which has generated quite a bit of buzz at the festival for its thrilling narrative storytelling and its fascinating interviews and footage.

At Sweetwater

Just down the street from the Lion Ark screening, at Sweetwater Music Hall (a tiny, historic night club with a long legacy), a smaller, more intimate crowd was gathered to listen to gorgeous songs played by young female talents. The nightclub–which for over 40 years hosted the likes of Carlos Santana, Bob Weir (who’s an investor of the venue), and Elvis Costello among many others–is a historical live music staple of Marin County with state-of-the-art sound (it really does sound great) and gourmet food.

Lily Kershaw, a 22-year-old folk songwriter with a smoky, tender, smooth-as-butter voice, played an intimate set of rich, well-crafted songs that had the club entranced. Her song “Promised Land” was a highlight, a song that begins with the line “I gave you my body”, which makes it all the more hilarious that it’s a favorite of Kershaw’s grandfather, which she revealed in the song’s introduction.

Following Kershaw, Jazz Mills of the band “Cowboy and Indian” took the stage and was supposed to be joined on stage by her fellow bandmate, actor Jesse Plemons of Breaking Bad and Friday Night Lights fame, but he had to miss the show because, well, his acting career is blowing up at the moment. Much to my surprise and delight, Plemoms was replaced by his Friday Night Lights co-star, Stephanie Hunt, who was a fellow member with him in the show’s fictional rock band “Crucifictorious”. As a big FNL fan, I could barely contain my excitement, though I thankfully was able to gather myself and keep composure. The impromptu duo of Mills and Hunt (whose voices melded together beautifully) came to the venue without a name, though they claimed that the band name was still “up for grabs”. Hmm…”Up For Grabs” would be a great band name…

As always, stay tuned to Way Too Indie for more updates from the festival!

Nestled in the green, redwood-populated hills of Mill Valley, the 36th Mill Valley Film Festival kicked off with a duo of gorgeous dramas: Alexander Payne’s Nebraska and Brian Percival’s The Book Thief. The arrival of several special guests from the films heightened the already high level of excitement. Nebraska stars Will Forte and Bruce Dern and The Book Thief stars Sophie Nelisse and Goffrey Rush, along with Percival, were on hand to discuss the films and pose for the cameras with the gorgeous Mill Valley scenery surrounding them at the festival pre-party.

Book Thieves, Young and Old

After the photo-op parade, everybody shuffled over to the press conference room. When asked if she’d read the book on which The Book Thief is based, Nelisse–a blonde Canadian teenager with a charming adolescent verbosity–explained why reading the source material was a quite difficult undertaking. “I started to read the first 20 pages of the book when we started to shoot, but I thought it would be a bit confusing if I read the script, shot the movie, and read the book at the same time.” She did finally read the book about a month ago, but reading it now posed a new challenge. “I see every scene when I read the book. I wish I had read it before I shot the movie, so I could [use] my own imagination.”

The film follows a little girl (Nelisse) who learns about the value of books and stories in the turbulent environment of WWII Germany. Percival, whose most recent acclaim has come from directing episodes of the hugely popular television series Downton Abbey, had nothing but praise for Nelisse. “Sophie was ideal,” he gushed. “There wasn’t anybody else to come close.”

Rush got cheeky when asked why he–a proven picky role-chooser–decided to join the project. “I was looking at joining an Australian pole vaulting team, then Brian called me” Rush joked, to waves of laughter. “I didn’t know about the book,” he continued, now speaking honestly. “It felt like for the first time somebody had bravely given me a fairly ordinary character. It wasn’t too eccentric or too off-the-planet like most of the other things I do. I wanted the challenge of, how mundane could I be in a film, but [still] interesting?”

A Nebraskan Love Fest

Forte looked physically overwhelmed with gratitude and humility as uber-experienced co-star and screen legend Dern gave him possibly the highest praise an SNL veteran has ever received. “I’ll give him a tie for 1st place with Jack Nicholson [for best acting teammate,]” referring to his turn with Nicholson in The King of Marvin Gardens. Dern poured the love on some more as Forte looked dumbfounded by the weight of the kind words. “[Will] was scared when we started shooting,” due, according to Dern, to the fact that the beginning of the film isn’t comedic. Dern admired Forte’s strength in the face of the challenge. “There were 80 people in the room who were waiting for him to be funny, because that’s how they know him. The fact that he overcame that…it’s tough to do.”

Anti-Bullying Passion Project to Premiere this Sunday

The stars of the two opening night films weren’t the only people at the pre-party with films at the festival. I ran into director Anthony Joseph Guinta and rising-star actress Katherine McNamara, whose anti-bullying high school drama, Contest, premieres on the Cartoon Network this Sunday, October 6th at 6pm. The film, which explores the evils and many different types of bullying from several angles, was an important project for both director and star. “I was bullied quite a bit growing up,” the strawberry blonde admitted. “I even had my face smashed into a water fountain once because somebody didn’t like me, for some reason.” Giunta believes that bullying is an entirely different beast from when he was a kid. “I could go home and close the door and not have to deal with it until I got to school the next day. Kids today live a 24/7 nightmare.” With hope, Contest will lend a helping hand to bullied kids and–more importantly–de-bully some bullies.

VIP’s and Conga Lines

After the films screened to hundreds of elated (but hungry) festival-goers, the lucky souls found mounds of yummy treats and artisan eats at the opening night after party, set in an “s”-shaped, blocked-off section of Town Center Corte Madera (an outdoor mall). As I weaved through the mobs of gleefully chomping cinephiles, I was led to a tent full of even more food and, excitingly, a terrific samba band that made the crowd move so hard they had no choice but to form an epic conga line.

In the closed-off VIP section of the party, legends of sight and sound were tucked away, having a blast meeting with their fellow-filmmaker brethren. Along with Rush and Dern, who were having a chatty good time, master craftsmen Andrew Stanton (Wall-E) and Phillip Kaufman (The Right Stuff) were mixing it up with the rest of the exclusive bunch. After the fanciful, delightful insanity of opening night, I shudder with joy at the thought of what the rest of the festival has in store. Stay tuned to find out!

Check back tomorrow for our Day 2 coverage!

In order to celebrate the release of Wes Anderson’s latest film Moonrise Kingdom in theaters this Friday, Way Too Indie is giving away two special “Moonrise Kingdom Survival Packages”. It is undoubtedly one the most anticipated indie films of the summer as it has been three long years since Wes Anderson has put out a new film.

We are giving away two (2) “Moonrise Kingdom Survival Packages” which include:

How do you enter the giveaway?

• Leave a comment below and Like our Facebook page. Tell us what your favorite Wes Anderson movie is in comments below. Then click here to Like Way Too Indie on Facebook. Simple as that.
• Winners will be selected at random. Two (2) winners will win one (1) “Survival Package”.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Must be in the United States to win.
• Entries can be submmited until May 27th, 2012 at 11:59PM CT. Good luck!
• Giveaway closed, winners were notified.

Moonrise Kingdom is in select cities May 25th. Wide release is June 29th.

Official trailer for Moonrise Kingdom: