Sunday, September 12, 2010

Republic Pictures vs. French New Wave

Andre Bazin
Earlier this year, our fearless founder, Tracey, had the opportunity to meet icon Jean-Paul Belmondo at the L.A. Film Critics awards, and the seed for our 10th Anniversary theme was planted...50 years of French New Wave. Our desire to embody 1960's cool was reinforced by our move to our new venue, CAP Theatre, which already had its own 60's vibe. With Jean-Luc Godard scheduled to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy next year, and the passing of New Wave director Claude Chabrol, one would think we were in sync with the cinematic universe. 

Le sigh.

Herbert Yates
2010 also happens to be the 75th Anniversary of Republic Pictures, an independent film production company, distributor, and studio in the heart of The Valley: Studio City! The studio closed its production unit in 1959, but its facilities are still in use today as the CBS Radford Studios. OK, so Republic was known for B-movies and westerns, but they did launch the careers of John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry to name a few.

Herein lies our dilemma: Build on the idea we've had for 6+ months, or switch gears to honor a true local legend?

Chime in and let us know what you think.

4 comments:

Will said...

why not have both? if the theme is french new wave, keep it as such, but can you program some talks around the republic era?

Will said...

oddly enough, i just happened to be watching nouvelle vague's cover of idol's 'dancing with myself' set to godard's 'vivre sa vie' tonight. i still say stick with french new wave.

and if you can get the lead of nouvelle vague to show up, all the better.

Will said...

and if you needed another sign, going up against the double bill of 'swamp thing' and 'king kong lives' tonight at our retrofantasma festival was godard's 'breathless'. either hit it with godard or screen king kong redux movies.

The Valley Film Festival said...

I'm glad someone is reading this! Thanks for the input. Once we're done programming, we'll be able to think about our next move.