By: Virginia Schneider
Mammoth Lakes, CA (The Hollywood Times) 03/02-05/2023 – Loads of cold and snow could not damper the spirits of film festival revelers sipping from oxygen bars and partying at fetes in the getaway mountain village. Panels such as Her Voice, a cocktail mixer hosted by Alexandra Chando, explored the work of female filmmakers and celebrated groundbreaking women who give back. A celebrity charity bowling tournament brought competitors together rallying for a good cause. And each night gala events hosted by the Mammoth Film Festival brought everyone to their feet dancing.
Numerous documentaries received their premiere courtesy of MMF. American Badass: A Michael Madsen Retrospective, interviews dozens of film legends like Quentin Tarantino, John Travolta, and Virginia Madsen as they discuss the magic of actor, writer, director Michael Madsen. Medal-laden Olympic athletes showed up on the Red Carpet for the documentary Citizen Athlete, in which individual athletes’ stories reveal the challenging physical rigors and the mental toughness required in training to become an Olympic athlete. Some of the noteworthy documentaries short-listed were Without Water, Momentum, Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West and many more.
The Last Bell, For Sonya, Hysterical, Jungle, A Rosary and a Diamond Ring, Panorama, Lucas Needs an Agent, The Many Worlds of George Goodman and The Traveler were among the numerous short films premiering at Mammoth Film Festival. The festival has long championed short films as an important cinematic component to the art of filmmaking and welcomed many short films this year.
On the Red Carpet, filmmaker Joel David Moore (Some Other Woman), gave advice to future filmmakers: to “…take some chances…make the movies that are in your head…don’t try to do too much yourself…put the right people around you to make the best film possible…”
