Newport Beach Film Festival

For filmmaker John Keitel, the Boom Boom Room was more than a gay hangout: It was a place of community, and the battle to save it is personal. The second screening of Keitel?s ?Saving the Boom,? a 2008 film documentary about efforts to keep the iconic gay bar ? and the gay community in Laguna Beach ? alive, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Edwards Island 4 cinema during the 2009 Newport Beach Film Festival. The film premiered last summer at Outfest, a popular gay and lesbian film festival in Los Angeles.

Two sets of Laguna Beach filmmakers are focusing on humanitarian concerns in documentaries set to debut at next week's Newport Beach Film Festival. "Lakota: Voices in the 21st Century" is a collection of interviews from Native Americans who tell their stories of life on a reservation. "Tsunami Diaries" documents a group of surfers who in 2004 traveled to Indonesia to give aid to villagers whose homes were destroyed by the massive tsunami. After 22 years of making commercials for major corporations, Robert Celecia and Amanda Strolin were inspired to make a documentary upon hearing a radio interview with Lakota Indian Basil Bravehart.

Suzie Harrison Laguna Beach resident Jimbeau Andrews knows waves well, as a young lifeguard in town and surfer and now as a producer with his company, Aloha Films. Lately he has been riding the wave of success with his award-winning documentary "Nihi." The film will be shown Saturday at the Newport Beach Film Festival. "Nihi" is a documentary about surfing legend and waterman, Titus Nihi Kinimaka, "A tale of a modern Hawaiian Warrior." It depicts his life on the water and his respect for the ocean.

Laguna filmmaker Cyrus Sutton?s latest film, ?Under the Sun,? premiered at South Coast Cinemas in September, in collaboration with West Coast Record and Ubiquity Records. The film?s debut in Laguna Beach was fitting for the filmmaker, who says he rode his best waves at Thalia Street Beach while splitting his time between Laguna and Seal Beach as a youngster. The 16 mm feature documentary about surf culture won ?Best Action Sports Film? at the Newport Beach Film Festival in April and ?

Amid a year that will be remembered mostly for upheaval and downturn, many Laguna Beach folks reminded us that there is still a lot to be thankful for, and beyond that, there is hope for the future. The following Best of 2009 events were those that helped us tuck our own grievances aside and reach out to those in greater need, brought the community together to bring positive change, and focused on what’s important — each other. And some served only to help us escape reality and forget our troubles for a short while, and will be remembered as nothing more than a really good time.

New IMAX film to screen April 25 MacGillivray Freeman Films’ newest offering, “Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk 3D,” will be screened to the public as part of the Newport Beach Film Festival at 4, 5:30, 7 and 8:30 p.m. April 25 at the Edwards Irvine Spectrum IMAX Theatre, 65 Fortune Drive. Tickets are $11, and must be purchased online at www.newportbeachfilmfest.comor at the Fashion Island Edwards Island Cinemas. On Earth Day, $1 for every ticket sold will be used to construct wells at African schools that are in need of fresh water; the donation will be matched by the Ryans Well Foundation.

Artist, filmmaker and El Morro resident Ron Pastucha is filming a documentary, "The End of Summer: Last Days of El Morro," and looking for past and present residents of El Morro Village at Crystal Cove to share their accounts of living in the soon-to-be-disbanded coastal community. The residents are in the process of leaving the trailer park, which is located on state park land. "One day I looked around and realized I was living in a setting that is it's own character, a kind of 'back lot' that tells a story," Pastucha said.

`It's the whole lifestyle here. You didn't have to be a millionaire to live by the beach,' says the director of a film about the residential village.A producer and a director trade thoughts about their storyboard inside trailer No. 180. (That's an address, not a Hollywood dressing room.) They step onto a porch and look down the hillside, discussing ways to raise money for their film. "Look at the view," said Ron Pastucha, quickly transitioning into nostalgia mode. "It's the whole lifestyle here.

Local filmmakers at Newport festival Laguna native and film director Nathan Apffel will having a screening of his film, ?Lost Prophets ? Search for the Collective,? at 2:25 p.m. Wednesday at the Newport Beach Film Festival. The film, which premiered in Laguna last year, explores the lives of eight surfers ? including locals Kolohe Andino, Hans Hagen and Mike Parsons. Narrated by Tom Morey, inventor of the boogie board, the documentary takes viewers on a global adventure as their stories unfold while riding some of the best waves documented in the past decade.

Suzie Harrison Rehabilitated sea lions aren't the only things to be released by the Pacific Marine Mammal Center these days. A film, chronicling two sea lions from rescue to healthy status will be released at the Newport Beach Film Festival on Saturday. "Channel Islands Adventure," by Rio Films, delves into the sea lions' world, capturing their personality, nature and the social relationships they share with each other. Producer and director Alan De Herrera has a close relationship with the Laguna Beach center, which is the largest marine mammal rescue center on the West Coast.

Local filmmakers at Newport festival Laguna native and film director Nathan Apffel will having a screening of his film, ?Lost Prophets ? Search for the Collective,? at 2:25 p.m. Wednesday at the Newport Beach Film Festival. The film, which premiered in Laguna last year, explores the lives of eight surfers ? including locals Kolohe Andino, Hans Hagen and Mike Parsons. Narrated by Tom Morey, inventor of the boogie board, the documentary takes viewers on a global adventure as their stories unfold while riding some of the best waves documented in the past decade.

Amid a year that will be remembered mostly for upheaval and downturn, many Laguna Beach folks reminded us that there is still a lot to be thankful for, and beyond that, there is hope for the future. The following Best of 2009 events were those that helped us tuck our own grievances aside and reach out to those in greater need, brought the community together to bring positive change, and focused on what’s important — each other. And some served only to help us escape reality and forget our troubles for a short while, and will be remembered as nothing more than a really good time.

The first time I visited Laguna Beach was during spring break freshman year. It was 1983, and I had come west from Chicago for college. I was with my very straight, very ?SoCal? roommate and best friend from Pasadena, and we were on our way to visit his high school girlfriend at her parents? beach house. The moment we swung off the 405 onto Laguna Canyon Road in his yellow pickup, I knew I was somewhere special. It was still a two-lane road back then that skirted strawberry fields and ponds close enough to touch, and the record winter rains of that January had given way to emerald hills that swayed in the late March breeze.

For filmmaker John Keitel, the Boom Boom Room was more than a gay hangout: It was a place of community, and the battle to save it is personal. The second screening of Keitel?s ?Saving the Boom,? a 2008 film documentary about efforts to keep the iconic gay bar ? and the gay community in Laguna Beach ? alive, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Edwards Island 4 cinema during the 2009 Newport Beach Film Festival. The film premiered last summer at Outfest, a popular gay and lesbian film festival in Los Angeles.

Laguna filmmaker Cyrus Sutton?s latest film, ?Under the Sun,? premiered at South Coast Cinemas in September, in collaboration with West Coast Record and Ubiquity Records. The film?s debut in Laguna Beach was fitting for the filmmaker, who says he rode his best waves at Thalia Street Beach while splitting his time between Laguna and Seal Beach as a youngster. The 16 mm feature documentary about surf culture won ?Best Action Sports Film? at the Newport Beach Film Festival in April and ?

New IMAX film to screen April 25 MacGillivray Freeman Films’ newest offering, “Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk 3D,” will be screened to the public as part of the Newport Beach Film Festival at 4, 5:30, 7 and 8:30 p.m. April 25 at the Edwards Irvine Spectrum IMAX Theatre, 65 Fortune Drive. Tickets are $11, and must be purchased online at www.newportbeachfilmfest.comor at the Fashion Island Edwards Island Cinemas. On Earth Day, $1 for every ticket sold will be used to construct wells at African schools that are in need of fresh water; the donation will be matched by the Ryans Well Foundation.

If you partied with Timothy Leary and the Brotherhood of Eternal Love in the 1960s, documentary filmmaker William A. Kirkley would like to talk to you. A colorful piece of Laguna Beach's history — involving drugs, hippies and radical underground culture in the 1960s — is the subject of a documentary Kirkley is working on. Kirkley was the featured director at the Newport Beach Film Festival's Directors Dinner and gave the diners...

A new independent film shot in Laguna Beach by a city native is set to premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival April 25. "Boxboarders" is a comedy/mock documentary written and directed by local director Rob Hedden and is shot at numerous locales across Laguna Beach. The movie tells the story of a couple of underdog surfer teenagers who create a new sport, known as boxboarding. In the film, boxboarding entails racing refrigerator boxes which have been modified into speedy hill bombers by adding wheels.

Congregation holds New Year tree planting Congregation Kolot (formerly Congregation Kol Simcha and Congregation Kol HaNeshamah) is planning a tree planting in honor of Tu B'Sh'vat, the Jewish New Year of the Trees. Volunteers are needed to help plant California native plants at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. No experience necessary. Adults and children are welcome. The planting will be followed by a potluck picnic. The planting is set for Sunday at 9 a.m. Promptness is required because the area to be planted will only be open from 9 a.m. to noon.

Two sets of Laguna Beach filmmakers are focusing on humanitarian concerns in documentaries set to debut at next week's Newport Beach Film Festival. "Lakota: Voices in the 21st Century" is a collection of interviews from Native Americans who tell their stories of life on a reservation. "Tsunami Diaries" documents a group of surfers who in 2004 traveled to Indonesia to give aid to villagers whose homes were destroyed by the massive tsunami. After 22 years of making commercials for major corporations, Robert Celecia and Amanda Strolin were inspired to make a documentary upon hearing a radio interview with Lakota Indian Basil Bravehart.