There’s glitz, there’s glamour, and there’s a whole slate of the top flicks descending on Las Vegas in summer 2018 for the 11th Annual Las Vegas Film Festival. With applicants encouraged to submit entries for the June 6th – 10th 2018 run of films across the Strip by the end of March 2018, the hype for the festival is fast approaching. Hosting a film festival in Las Vegas makes complete sense, given the strong ties to the city with successful shows has. But what can film fans and pundits expect from Las Vegas’s finest offerings?
What is the Las Vegas Film Festival?
The festival was created in order to give a voice to passionate independent filmmakers – a chance to win away from the prestigious Festival de Cannes and Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah for those not already in the Hollywood machine to attempt to tell their stories. Film festivals have been a key factor for gaining distribution for a film from the start of filmmaking, and with the advent of Netflix and other online distributors, the power has fallen back to those telling the stories. This makes the LVFF a key domain for cultivating that talent. Founded in 2007 and housed in various locations on the Las Vegas Strip over the years, the festival was held exclusively in the Brenden Theatres and the Palms Casino Resort in 2017. Offering Oscar-winning screenings, celebrity tributes and Q&As, panel discussions, and the red carpet treatment, the LVFF is as much a high-profile event in filmmakers' calendar as the Academy Awards.
SOURCE: Las Vegas Film Festival via Facebook
Las Vegas and Film
As a Ranker list shows, Vegas has a prolific history in cinema. Being one of the most recognizable and iconic cities in the USA and having features that translate well onto the big screen, the city of lights has had a strong pull on actors and actresses as well as directors and production companies. From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) to The Hangover (2009), Last Vegas (2013), Casino (1995), and What Happens in Vegas…(2008), almost every genre has been shot in the adaptable landscape. But it was Elvis Presley’s dedication to Las Vegas in 1964’s racing flick Viva Las Vegas and the success of the accompanying song that first placed Las Vegas on the cinematic map. It also allowed him to maintain his connection to the city with a residency at the Westgate Resort and Casino. According to research from Betway Online, Elvis managed to earn $229,761,360 in his seven-year tenure in Sin City. Celebrities have followed suit, with sometime-actors Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez following in his footsteps with residencies in Vegas.
Nevada has been named as the fifth highest state for concentration of employment in the field of film editing, which shows the extent to which Nevada and Las Vegas are locations chosen to film in. The rise in filming in the state could have informed the choice to set up the film festival, which has helped to solidify Nevada itself as one renowned for its link to the cinema. The LVFF is one of 21 film festivals that take place in Nevada, with others including the Las Vegas Black Film Festival, and the Reno Film Festival in nearby Reno, Nevada. The entire year can be mapped out for budding filmmakers with festivals that serve both general areas of film, and those which are more targeted and specific. The range of festivals further reinforces how connected to the silver screen Las Vegas is.
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SOURCE: @lvfilmfest via Twitter
In It to Win It
So with such a connection to film, it’s no surprise that the city continues to be a mecca for cinephiles from around the world. For filmmakers, even having had their film shown at a film festival, let alone winning an award at one, is an impressive feat and can help catapult a budding amateurs career onto the silver screen. With categories in feature film, short film, documentary, student film, and animation, almost all disciplines in the film world are accounted for, with an experimental "wild card" category, art installations and films that are outside the traditional rules of filmmaking are also accepted. Plus, a local Nevada award for films that are either about Nevada, shot in Nevada, or feature prominent Nevada cast and crew helps keep the festival local and in favour with those who maintain the city throughout the year.
The Las Vegas Film Festival runs as professionally as other festivals, with fully juried and balloted awards run by a panel of those in the film world. The location is perhaps more conducive for entertainment than others festivals from around the world, and the Strip and surrounding desert will no doubt help those watching the films on show conjure ideas that will keep Las Vegas’s film legacy going strong. So, with Las Vegas’s firm connection to the world of film combined with the opportunities for filmmakers to get involved, the Las Vegas Film Festival 2018 looks to be a formative week of cinema.