{"id":470681,"date":"2026-09-21T07:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T07:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/470681\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T07:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T07:36:09","slug":"highland-park-independent-film-festival-brings-five-days-of-cinema-and-community-to-northeast-l-a-coloradoboulevard-net","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/470681\/","title":{"rendered":"Highland Park Independent Film Festival Brings Five Days of Cinema and Community to Northeast L.A. \u2039 ColoradoBoulevard.net"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Highland Park Independent Film Festival (Photo \u2013 HPIFF)<\/p>\n

The 13th annual Highland Park Independent Film Festival will bring five days of independent cinema, filmmaker conversations and community events to Northeast Los Angeles from September 30 through October 4, 2026.<\/p>\n

By Rena Kurlander<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s festival, themed \u201cRoots to Reels: A Celebration of Cinema\u2019s Transformative Power,\u201d will feature 12 programs at the historic Garibaldina Society. The lineup includes international and world premieres, a mini-horror festival, two feature films and free screenings for the local community.<\/p>\n

Festivities begin Wednesday, September 30, with a Filmmaker Meet and Greet Red Carpet. The kickoff event will welcome filmmakers, sponsors, media and festival staff. Canap\u00e9s will be provided by Highland Park restaurant Checker Hall.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s programming will open with a networking panel led by director Kenneth Castillo. The day will continue with \u201cMosaic in Motion Reels,\u201d an animation shorts program; \u201cCinema Unbound,\u201d a collection of experimental and unconventional films; and \u201cReel Laughs,\u201d a comedy program featuring \u201cTaming, or Life in a Not-So-Modern Age,\u201d directed by actor Desean K. Terry of \u201cThe Morning Show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s events will spotlight emerging and international filmmakers. \u201cNew Roots\u201d will highlight new voices, while \u201cGlobal Frames\u201d will feature international shorts from Portugal, Brazil, Mexico and other countries. The \u201cDrama on Fig\u201d program will include \u201cTake Me Home,\u201d directed by Fabian Martin and featuring actress Laura Patalano, known for \u201cThis Fool\u201d and \u201cGente-fied.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friday will conclude with \u201cFig After Dark,\u201d a mini-horror festival featuring a selection of short films.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s programming will begin with a panel led by Emmy Award-winning producer, director and cinematographer Bruce Dickson. The day\u2019s featured film will be the narrative feature \u201cTrauma 4 Life,\u201d written and directed by Roy Berkely.<\/p>\n

The film follows Trina, a woman who vlogs about post-traumatic stress disorder under the name \u201cTrauma.\u201d After witnessing a murder while working as a street-based sex worker, Trina and her sister become involved in a dangerous revenge mission against their abusers. HPIFF will present the film free of admission to the community.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s additional programs will include \u201cRoots and Memories,\u201d a documentary shorts program; \u201cBeyond the Arroyo,\u201d a collection of mind-bending shorts; and \u201cRooted in Drama.\u201d The lineup will feature \u201chi Mom\u201d by SM Goldberger, \u201cComets\u201d by Amy Roy and the world premieres of \u201cFronds, Fractals\u201d and \u201cBe My Baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s closing feature, \u201cLight Memories \/ Eco de Luz,\u201d will screen at 2 p.m. The award-winning documentary from Ecuadorian director Misha Vallejo and producer May Fe follows Vallejo as he uses his grandfather\u2019s camera to recreate a family album and explore family secrets, identity and intergenerational trauma. The film will also be presented free of admission.<\/p>\n

The festival will conclude Sunday evening with the \u201cRoots to Reels Awards Gala.\u201d The red carpet will run from 7 to 8:00 pm, followed by awards, dinner and a mixer from 8:00 to 10:00 pm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are filmmakers putting on a festival for our fellow filmmakers,\u201d said Marita De La Torre, the festival\u2019s founder. \u201cWe pride ourselves on focusing on diverse programming in our lineup. Our festival highlights films that challenge societal norms and celebrate underrepresented voices, cultural relevance and social impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Highland Park Independent Film Festival is the first and only festival of its kind in Highland Park. The grassroots organization provides screening forums, professional networking and mentoring opportunities for emerging and established filmmakers through its annual festival, Community Film Series and filmmaking mentorship program for local youth.<\/p>\n

The Community Film Series presents screenings and events designed to build community through film, including this year\u2019s Movie Trivia Night series. For the past 13 years, the mentorship program has provided film education and enrichment to students at Franklin High School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Highland Park Independent Film Festival (Photo \u2013 HPIFF) The 13th annual Highland Park Independent Film Festival will bring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-470681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}