So the thing about the LA Film Festival is that making a recommendation list is pretty futile. So any other articles you’ve read telling you what you MUST see are bullsh***ing you. This is because the LA Film Festival is one of the few American film festivals that truly takes risks on its acceptances.

With films in a variety of categories, such as LA Muse (dedicated to Angelino inspired films), Zeitgiest (films that reflect the times), and Nightfall (for us late night horror fans), the offering is a mixed bag, and while there are a few festival-tested films (which is what their Buzz section is for), most films are 100% indie and 100% full of potential. We couldn’t have predicted last year how much we’d love Man From Reno, Runoff (which gets a release later this month), and The Mind of Mark DeFriest. Not to mention last year’s gala screenings of Snowpiercer (among our favorites over all last year) and Dear White People.

As if to prove just how unexpected they can be, the curators of LAFF waited until today—the day before the festival begins—to announce their closing night film. And turns out it isn’t a film at all. It’s a live read-through of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. And guess who’s directing? Just guess. No, don’t. You won’t get it. It’s Eli Roth! Not exactly the dude who comes to mind when you think light-hearted high school humor. Maybe he’ll have a squirt gun of blood to spray at the actors?

As varied as the festival is, there are a few already-buzzed about films (and ones we’ve personally seen) that we can recommend right off the bat. Opening night’s Grandma is one of the best things we saw at Tribeca and has been discussed since Sundance. Lily Tomlin will also be receiving the Spirit of Independence Award so extra reason to catch that one. Additionally The Overnight, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, and Chuck Norris vs. Communism are also playing and have been garnering buzz wherever they are screened.

As for potential diamonds in the rough, here are a few we can’t wait to check out, and don’t forget about all the fun free things to do like a screening of Who Framed Roger Rabbit at Union Station on Friday!

Manson Family Vacation

Sunday, June 14 at 7:00 PM (Regal Cinemas LA Live 11)

These days you put the name “Duplass” in front of or after any film and us indie freaks perk up. The Duplass brothers have been giving us a lot of good stuff the past few years and here we have something new produced by and starring Jay Duplass. Directed by J. Davis, the film offers an intriguing premise. Duplass plays Nick Morgan, a man who has family, home, and career all going for him. His brother Conrad (Linas Phillips) has none of this. Conrad shows up for a visit and convinces Nick to partake in a road trip to visit the sites of the Manson Family murders. Sounds like equal parts unconventional and funny. We’re game.

Band of Robbers

Saturday, June 13 at 6:15 PM (Regal Cinemas LA Live 9)

Starring Kyle Gallner, Adam Nee, Matthew Gray Gubler, Hannibal Buress and mascarading as a modern day Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, this looks like a crazy bandit fantasy. I recommend simply watching the trailer (which has a killer soundtrack btw) below and then buying tickets. LAFF is the perfect place to embrace the weirdest things you can find. They almost always impress.

Too Late

Thursday, June 11 at 7:30 PM (Bing Theater at LACMA)

John Hawkes’s name has carried weight for us ever since Winter’s Bone—and probably should have sooner—so seeing his name among those listed for LAFF means we’re up for what’s next from this dedicated and intense actor. In this one he plays a private investigator named Mel Sampson, hired to track down a missing woman. Turns out she’s connected to his own past and the search takes him through southern California and among some eccentric personalities. Shot on 35mm, we look forward to some gritty California and some gritty John Hawkes.

Crumbs

Sunday, June 14 at 9:30 PM (Regal Cinemas LA Live 9)

As part of the dark and twisty Nightfall category at the festival, this one just reads as straight up enticing. Set in Ethiopia and directed by Spanish filmmaker Miguel Llansó, the basic premise is that an alien mothership has lied dormant for many years floating on the horizon. Then it comes to life and one man decides to make it his quest to board the ship. He crosses a post-apocalyptic landscape to get there as others barter with the aliens using pop cultural artifacts. Slap a big old question mark over my head and consider me intrigued.

The Final Girls

Tuesday, June 16 at 7:30 PM  (Regal Cinemas LA Live 1)

So if you happen to have written your college thesis on slasher films and the concept of the Final Girl, like a certain writer penning this article *ahem*, then the title alone will have wooed you in months ago when first you heard of this film when it premiered at SXSW. Not as in the know? No worries. In this film a girl, Max (Taissa Farmiga), gets sucked into an ’80s slasher flick with her friends. Her mother, a former scream queen actress, stars in the film, and Max has to use her knowledge of the genre to ensure she and her friends survive until the end and make their way back home. If the film simultaneously honors and pokes fun at this most revered of horror genres, then it’s already made my all-time favorite list.

Seoul Searching

Wednesday, June 17 at 7:30 PM (Regal Cinemas LA Live 1)

Another of the festival’s Gala screenings, this one is similar to The Final Girls in its ’80s genre homage. This time to the high school films of John Hughes. Based on filmmaker Benson Lee’s personal experiences, the film centers on a group of Korean high school misfits during the summer of 1986. Hailing from around the world, the teens are forced to go to a “propaganda” camp in Seoul over the summer in order to connect with what it means to be Korean. Filled with ’80s nostalgia and cultural hilarity, it looks like the situational comedy we never knew we were missing.

Dude Bro Party Massacre III

Saturday, June 13 at 10:20 PM (Regal Cinemas LA Live 8)

I’m tempted to say the title alone is weird enough to warrant a viewing. And as it falls under that never-know-what-your-gonna-get Nightfall category, it could be super bad. Or so bad it’s good. Or intentionally bad so as to be so good. Watch the trailer below, it reeks of satire but seems especially dedicated to mimicking those direct-to-VHS horror franchise films we sometimes got suckered into back in the day when a person could still rent a video. If you love (fake) blood and sheer tongue-in-cheek ridiculousness, this looks like great fun.

The 21st Los Angeles Film Festival, produced by Film Independent, announced its complete lineup this morning. 30 films have been chosen for inclusion in their U.S. Fiction, Documentary and World Fiction competitions, 18 of which will be world premieres.

Previously they had already announced that the Opening Night Film will be Grandma and there will be Gala Screenings of the first episode of the MTV TV series Scream as well as the feature films Seoul Searching and The Final Girls (which just won an audience award at 2015 Stanley Film Festival). Additionally two pre-festival screenings will also be held: Dope will have its LA Premiere on June 8 and Inside Out will screen on June 9 and be preceded by a special Master Class with writer/director Pete Docter. It was also announced, this year’s Guest Director is Rodrigo García, Gale Anne Hurd will receive the Jaeger-Lecoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award and Lily Tomlin will receive the Spirit of Independence Award.

The Los Angeles Film Festival will be held in LA between June 10 – 18. Way Too Indie will have comprehensive coverage of the festival.

Complete LA Film Festival Lineup

(Does not include short films, Launch digital media lineup, high school competition, or music videos.)

US Fiction Competition

Original voices with distinct visions from emerging and established American independent filmmakers.

3rd Street Blackout, dir. Negin Farsad, Jeremy Redleaf, USA, World Premiere

A Country Called Home, dir. Anna Axster, USA, World Premiere

Bastards Y Diablos, dir. A.D. Freese, USA/Colombia, World Premiere

The Girl in the Book, dir. Marya Cohn, USA, World Premiere

How He Fell in Love, dir. Marc Meyers, USA, World Premiere

It’s Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong, dir. Emily Ting, USA, World Premiere

Mekko, dir. Sterlin Harjo, USA, World Premiere

Out of My Hand, dir. Takeshi Fukunaga, USA/Liberia, N. American Premiere

Puerto Ricans in Paris, dir. Ian Edelman, USA/France/Czech Republic, World Premiere

Too Late, dir. Dennis Hauck, USA, World Premiere

Documentary Competition

Sponsored by Netflix and Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television.
Compelling, character-driven non-fiction films from the U.S. and around the world.

A New High, dir. Samuel Miron, Stephen Scarpulla, USA, World Premiere

The Babushkas of Chernobyl, dirs. Holly Morris & Anne Bogart , USA/Ukraine, World Premiere

Be Here Now (The Andy Whitfield Story), dir. Lilibet Foster, USA/Australia, World Premiere

Catching the Sun, dir. Shalini Kantayya, USA, World Premiere

In a Perfect World, dir. Daphne McWilliams, USA, World Premiere

Incorruptible, dir. Chai Vasarhelyi, Senegal/USA, International Premiere

Love Between the Covers, dir. Laurie Kahn, USA, U.S. Premiere

Maiko: Dancing Child, dir. Åse Svenheim Drivenes, Japan/Norway, World Premiere

Missing People, dir. David Shapiro, USA, U.S. Premiere

My Love, Don’t Cross That River, dir. Mo-Young Jin, South Korea, U.S. Premiere

Oriented, dir. Jake Winternitz, UK/Palestine/Israel, International Premiere

Treasure; From Tragedy to Trans Justice, Mapping a Detroit Story, dir. dream hampton, USA, World Premiere

World Fiction Competition

Unique fiction films from around the world from emerging and established filmmakers, especially curated for LA audiences.

Atomic Heart, dir. Ali Ahmadzadeh, Iran, North American Premiere

Ayanda and the Mechanic, dir. Sara Blecher, South Africa, World Premiere

Elvira, Te Daria Mi Vida Pero La Estoy Usando (Elvira, I’d Give You My Life But I’m Using It), dir. Manolo Caro, Mexico, International Premiere

Flocking (Flocken), dir. Baeta Gardeler, Sweden, North American Premiere

Las Malas Lenguas (Sweet and Vicious), dir. Juan Paolo Arias, Colombia, World Premiere

A Midsummer’s Fantasia, dir. Jang Kun-Jae, South Korea/Japan, U.S. Premiere

Sin Alas (Without Wings), dir. Ben Chace, Cuba, International Premiere

White Moss (Belyy Yagel), dir. Vladimir Tumaev, Russian Federation, International Premiere

Buzz

Los Angeles premieres of celebrated favorites from around the world.

Brand: A Second Coming, dir. Ondi Timoner, UK/USA

Chuck Norris vs Communism, dir. Illinca Calugareanu, UK/Romania/Germany

The Dark Horse, dir. James Napier Robertson, New Zealand

Diary of a Teenage Girl, dir. Marielle Heller, USA

In Football We Trust, dir. Tony Vainuku, co-dir. Erika Cohn, USA

Infinitely Polar Bear, dir. Maya Forbes, USA

Jimmy’s Hall, dir. Ken Loach, UK/Ireland/France

Manson Family Vacation, dir. J. Davis, USA

The Overnight, dir. Patrick Brice, USA

People, Places, Things, dir. James C. Strouse, USA

The Vanished Elephant, dir. Javier Fuentes León, Peru/Colombia/Spain

Victoria, dir. Sebastian Schipper, Germany

Sweet Micky for President, dir. Ben Patterson, Haiti/USA

LA Muse

A competitive section of world premieres of fiction and documentary films that are quintessentially L.A.

A Beautiful Now, dir. Daniela Amavia, USA, World Premiere

Aram, Aram, dir. Christopher Chambers, USA, World Premiere

Can You Dig This, dir. Delila Vallot, USA, World Premiere

Day Out of Days, dir. Zoe R. Cassavetes, USA, World Premiere

The Drew: No Excuse, Just Produce, dir. Baron Davis, Chad Gordon, USA, World Premiere

The Escort, dir. Will Slocombe, USA, World Premiere

Flock of Dudes, dir. Bob Castrone, USA, World Premiere

French Dirty, dir. Wade Allain-Marcus & Jesse Allain-Marcus, USA, World Premiere

No Más Bebés (No More Babies), dir. Renee Tajima-Peña, USA, World Premiere

Weepah Way for Now, dir. Stephen Ringer, USA, World Premiere

Nightfall

From the bizarre to the horrifying, these are films to watch after dark. Films premiering for the first time in the U.S. are nominated for the Nightfall Award.

Caught, dir. Maggie Kiley, USA, World Premiere

The Confines, dir. Eytan Rockaway, USA, World Premiere

Crumbs, dir. Miguel Llansó, Spain/Ethiopia/Finland, North American Premiere

Crush the Skull, dir. Viet Nguyen, USA, World Premiere

Dude Bro Party Massacre III, dir. Tomm Jacobsen, Michael Rousselet, Jon Salmon, USA, World Premiere

Plan Sexenal (Six Year Plan), dir. Santiago Cendejas, Mexico, North American Premiere

Ratter, dir. Branden Kramer, USA, LA Premiere

Shut In, dir. Adam Schindler, USA, World Premiere

Zeitgeist

A competitive section of curated, World Premiere films that embody key trends in American independent filmmaking. 2015 captures hard knock, coming of age stories.

A Girl Like Grace, dir. Ty Hodges, USA, World Premiere

Band of Robbers, dir. Aaron Nee & Adam Nee, USA, World Premiere

In the Treetops, dir. Matthew Brown, USA, World Premiere

Manifest Destiny, dir. Michael Dwyer, Kaitlin McLaughlin, USA, World Premiere

Stealing Cars, dir. Bradley Kaplan, USA, World Premiere

What Lola Wants, dir. Rupert Glasson, USA, World Premiere

Visit www.lafilmfest.com for more info or to buy tickets.