Film Festival at Hollywood Park Celebrating cinema, creativity and diverse perspective
FILM FESTIVAL AT HOLLYWOOD PARK ANNOUNCES FULL LINEUP
Showcasing 100+ Films of All Genres Making Their Los Angeles Premieres Monday, Oct. 6 to Sunday, Oct. 12
Highlights Include A Special Tribute To Filmmaker Charles Burnett, Sidebar To The Life and Work of Proto-Feminist Edna O’Brien, Latinx and Middle Eastern North Africa Film Series, L.A. Filmmakers Showcase, and more
Director Harry Locke IV’s Horror-Thriller ‘Kaishaku’ Announced As Centerpiece
Best Picture Prizes To Include Academy 1-Week Qualifying Run
LOS ANGELES (Sept. 2, 2025) – Film Festival at Hollywood Park – Los Angeles’ newest film festival at L.A.’s biggest entertainment complex – announces its inaugural slate with a diverse lineup of features and documentaries screening at Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas at Hollywood Park. The Festival will screen 117 films representing 30 countries, including more than 100 Los Angeles premieres, 46 features and 71 shorts, and with 51% of all films across the 2025 Festival directed by women.
The festival’s Opening Night Film screening on Tuesday, October 7, will be announced at a later date. A special showcase of local Los Angeles area filmmakers will preview the official in-competition festival lineup on Monday, October 6.
Tickets are now available at https://hollywoodparkfilmfest.com/schedule/
A unique prize offered to the festival’s Best Picture award-winning feature and short films is a one-week, Academy qualifying run at Cinepolis Cinemas in Hollywood Park. (An “Academy qualifying run” refers to a mandatory one-week theatrical release for a film to be eligible for Academy Award consideration) “As a film festival in Los Angeles, we couldn’t think of a better prize,” says Festival Director Greg Ptacek.
Festival organizers are among the original organizers of two other celebrated Los Angeles film festivals, Silver Lake Film Festival (2000 to 2007) and DTLA Film Festival (2008 to 2024). All three film festivals have been produced by a 501(c)(3), IRS-tax-exempt charitable nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting diversity in cinema in the Film Capital of the World.
The event marks the first and only film festival at the sprawling Hollywood Park, a 300-acre live, work and play destination and the largest urban mixed-use development under construction in the Western U.S. Its centerpiece is SoFi Stadium, a state-of-the-art venue and the NFL’s largest stadium, which is home to both the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. Under the same roof canopy is the intimate YouTube Theater performance venue and American Airlines Plaza, all just steps away from Lake Park, stylish residences and the forthcoming Hollywood Park Studios.
“We’re honored to have been selected by Hollywood Park and Cinépolis to host our festival – an event that reflects the diversity of Los Angeles itself,” says festival co-founder Henry Priest. “We plan to grow with Hollywood Park over the next decade to become Greater Los Angeles’ premier film festival.”
Among the festival’s highlights are the selection of Harry Locke IV’s horror-drama, “Kaishaku,” as the Festival Centerpiece Film, and the documentary “Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story” as the Closing Night Film.
In “Kaishaku” a woman in financial distress reluctantly becomes a “spotter” for her friend’s suicide, entangling her in the supernatural. “Blue Road,” directed by Sinead O’Shea is the first full-length documentary about Edna O’Brien, the proto-feminist, multi-hyphenate artist and best-selling novelist in the 1960s and 1970s whose salon was the toast of London’s Mod Era. The documentary will be preceded by a rare screening of “Girl With Green Eyes,” a feature based on O’Brien’s erotic novel banned in her native Ireland, about a young woman coming of age with an older man.
Another highlight of the festival’s lineup is a special tribute to filmmaker Charles Burnett, who in 2017 received an Oscar for his lifetime body of work. Burnett, who will make a special appearance, is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Award” and a special award by the New York Film Critics Circle for “Killer of Sheep” (1978), the feature film he made as a student at UCLA Film in 1974. Burnett will appear to accept the festival’s Independent Film Pioneer Award for his lifetime achievement in cinema. The program will be anchored by the screenings of Burnett’s whimsical, character-driven “The Annihilation of Fish” (1978), starring James Earl Jones and Lynne Redgrave, and “The Glass Shield,” a Los Angeles police drama inspired by true events.
Still other highlights include a series devoted to films of all genres by Latinx filmmakers from the U.S. and Latin American, and another series devoted to MENA (Middle Eastern North African) filmmakers, hailing from nations as diverse as Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar and Sudan.
“We received hundreds of entries from around the world, so hard choices had to be made in our final film selection. But our programming team is genuinely excited to present to Los Angeles audiences the best in local, regional, national and international independent film,” says Director of Programming Carolyn Schroeder. “I’m particularly proud that more than half of our films were made by women.”
In addition to the festival’s slate of feature-length fiction and nonfiction films, 70+ short films will screen in 13 different programs. The festival’s 10 in-competition shorts program are curated by Wellington Almeida, while festival co-founder Priest curated three others focused on L.A. filmmakers. The complete lineup of short films will be announced later.
The festival is being presented by Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas US and Hollywood Park with additional sponsorship from Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport, 101Keys Digital Marketing and Schein. Post-Production.
“It takes more than a village to produce a film festival like ours. In fact, it takes serious contributions of resources from our sponsors, especially our presenting sponsors, Cinépolis and Hollywood Park, and commitments of time and creative energy from dozens of students, volunteers and working professionals. We’re humbled by this collective effort and can’t wait to do it again next year,” says Festival Director Ptacek.
Complete list of Features at 2025 Film Festival at Hollywood Park available HERE
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For more information: hollywoodparkfilmest.com
Festival trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IszbXl0877s
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About Film Festival at Hollywood Park
Film Festival at Hollywood Park is produced by a 501(c)(3), IRS-tax-exempt charitable media-arts nonprofit organization. Our mission is to showcase the works of filmmakers from groups traditionally underrepresented by Hollywood, including women, people of color, the LGBTQI+ communities, persons with disabilities and the economically disenfranchised. We exist to promote diversity in cinema. Located in Hollywood Park, the new entertainment hub in the Film Capital of the World, the festival strives to reflect in its programming choices the unique cultural and ethnic diversity of Los Angeles and its myriad communities. Since it was established in 2000, our organization has screened more than 2,000 films of all genres, making it one of the largest independent film events in Los Angeles.
About Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas
Cinépolis U.S.A. is a luxury cinema chain, a subsidiary of Mexico-based Cinépolis, known for its elevated movie-going experiences with features like oversized reclining leather seats, in-theater waiter serviceand gourmet food and beverage menus. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Cinépolis U.S.A. operates premium and luxury theaters in states like California, Texas, Florida and New York, offering a higher standard of comfort and service than traditional cinemas.
About Hollywood Park
Spanning nearly 300 acres, Hollywood Park is the largest urban mixed-use development under construction in the Western United States owned, being developed and operated by Los Angeles Rams Owner/Chairman E. Stanley Kroenke. Anchored by an up to 890,000-square-foot retail area and surrounded by creative office space, Hollywood Park offers new sophisticated residences, public parks, a lake, and premier entertainment venues. The mixed-use development is all linked by walkable paseos and plazas and centered around the 3.1 million square-foot SoFi Stadium, one of Los Angeles’ most striking architectural structures and YouTube Theater an intimate performance venue. Stylish residences and a modern open-office campus will complement the entertainment and retail district, creating a world-class destination for both local and international guests. Located just six miles off the coast, a short drive from LAX, Hollywood Park is an iconic global destination for millions to enjoy. For more information, please visit www.hollywoodparkca.com.
Media Contact:
Alisse Kingsley
For Film Festival at Hollywood Park
alissethemuse@aol.com; 323-841-8002