The Los Angeles International Film Exposition, also called Filmex, was an annual Los Angeles
film festival held in the 1970s and early 1980s. It was the predecessor of the
American Film Institute's Los Angeles International
Film Festival. After the final Filmex festival in 1983, the founders/organizers of the festival devoted their attentions to developing a new nonprofit cultural organization, the
American Cinematheque,[1] which they created to be a permanent year-round film festival in Los Angeles.
Filmex Timeline
1971
The First Los Angeles International Film Exposition, a.k.a. Filmex, debuts on November 4, at
Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Gary Essert is Director, and Gary Abrahams, Associate Director, for the 11-day event.
Filmex '75 moves to the Plitt Theatres in
Century City.
The 14-day Festival opens with the premiere of Funny Lady and the Filmex Society Benefit Ball.
Rosalind Russell and LA Mayor
Tom Bradley opened the event. Those in attendance at the Plitt Century Plaza Theater premiere that evening included
Roddy McDowall and
Henry Winkler.
Barbra Streisand did not attend the event. When Rosalind Russell exited the theater that night with her husband, she was heard to proclaim, "Well, that was fun, wasn't it!" She clearly disliked the movie, but was too much of a lady to say so.
Peter Bonerz of The Bob Newhart Show was also present at the event. Yellow roses were in place on all tables during the post-screening dinner. Opening night attendees were given a copy of the "Funny Lady" soundtrack, which was the debut release from Arista Records. It was stamped with "For Promotion Only" in gold type.
Irene Dunne had a tribute on March 23, hosted by Roddy McDowall. The evening included a screening of her 1939 movie Love Affair.[4]
Twenty-five nations participate in the Festival, and all five nominees for Best Foreign Language Film are shown.
The official festival poster features a scene from "The War of the Worlds" showing Los Angeles City Hall about to be destroyed by a Martian spacecraft.
Alfred Hitchcock drives up in a
Universal tour bus for the premiere of his Family Plot on Opening Night. At the gala ball at the
Century Plaza Hotel following the screening, Hitchcock gives a speech in which he decries a line attributed to him that "actors are cattle." That evening, Hitchcock said, "What I probably said was, 'Actors should be treated like cattle.'";[5] He was feted by several celebrities before his speech, including James Stewart. Those who attended were given a clear plastic paperweight with Hitchcock's famous caricature on one side and the Family Plot poster on the other.
A Tribute to Cuban Cinema is held, which generates controversy.
A Cowboy Film Marathon is held, screening 48 films. George Stevens, Jr. speaks after a showing of his father's film
Shane.
On December 18, 1976, Filmex holds the world premiere for Barbra Streisand's
A Star Is Born at the
Fox Village Theater in
Westwood Village. The stars, including Streisand, are in attendance with a post-event party at Dillons, at the time a new disco in the Westwood area.
Ryan O'Neal,
Peter Bogdanovich,
Marisa Berenson,
Alan Carr,
Chevy Chase and
Funny Girl composer
Jule Styne are among the guests. The theme was "A Night in White," with many of the guests garbed in white attire. Streisand, dressed in all black, entered the screening just before the lights went down protected by a "V" of guards who protected her path to her seat at the front of the theater. Gossip columnist Rona Barrett and her husband were in attendance in the back left of the theater. After the screening, guests walked several blocks in a roped off area to Dillons disco in Westwood. The top floor of Dillons was restricted to Streisand and her party. Tina Turner was turned away from gaining access, along with several other guests. Celebrity photographer Alan Light, then a teenager, took several photos of attendees in the lobby of the Westwood Village while standing on a table near the entrance. He and his mother were somehow able to gain access later in the evening to Streisand's upper level restricted area of Dillons.
Eraserhead premieres at midnight on March 19. This was the uncut version, and much of this edit was lost when David Lynch recut the film in response to feedback from this first version.[8]
AFI debuts a special section called AFI Critics Choice.
Filmex announces that in its first seven years, 48 films were acquired for distribution after Festival exposure.
The festival's theme is animation, with several screenings of animated films featured
In keeping with the overall salute to animation, the first known retrospective of animated television commercials (1948-1978) is the first of four special screenings compiled by James Hall, shorts and documentary selection committee member since 1975; with film and advertising industry artists attending a post-screening reception sponsored by Advertising Age magazine.
A retrospective of films from the University of Southern California's Division of Cinema on the 50th anniversary of the country's first film school was compiled by shorts and documentary selection committees member James Hall; a post-screening reception was sponsored by producer and USC graduate Gary Kurtz[9]
The first theatrical retrospective of political television commercials was compiled by documentary and shorts selection committees member James Hall, featuring 30 years of presidential and local TV ads
The Mighty Movie Marathon
1981
Filmex '81, the 10th anniversary, is held at nine different locations around
Hollywood in Los Angeles.
A Special Section called "Treasures from AFI" is presented.
The "Scared To Death" 50-hour Horror Film Marathon is held.
The first theatrical retrospective of classic television commercials was compiled by documentary and shorts committees member James Hall for a screening at the Fairfax Theatre. From this program, Hall created three TV "specials" for NBC-TV ("Television's Greatest Commercials" 1982-1983).
The founders/organizers of Filmex announce the creation of a new organization called The
American Cinematheque with the declared aim that it will eventually build on the work of Filmex and provide year-round film programming of classic and new films from around the world.
Filmex founders/organizers Gary Essert and Gary Abrahams start the long haul to develop the
American Cinematheque into a full-time organization that will maintain the Filmex spirit and philosophy and present films in the context of a year-round festival.
The
American Cinematheque presents its first program in Los Angeles with the declared aim that it will continue the work of Filmex in the context of year-round film programming of classic and new films from around the world.