In 2023, the American Cinematheque created the “Pal of the Fest” movie pageant, a sequence of packages tied to film-related podcasts. Among the many highlights of that first 12 months have been a stay recording of IndieWire’s “Filmmaker Toolkit” with Oliver Stone in dialogue following a screening of “JFK,” Marc Maron of “WTF” introducing Sidney Lumet’s “Canine Day Afternoon,” and Josh Olson and Joe Dante of “The Motion pictures That Made Me” introducing Martin Scorsese‘s “The King of Comedy.”
“Toolkit,” “WTF,” and “The Motion pictures That Made Me” will all be again on the Cinematheque this August for the third version of “Pal of the Fest,” which can characteristic 27 podcasts and occasions on the Aero Theatre and Los Feliz 3 from August 21-27. The pageant kicks off with one other stay recording of IndieWire’s “Filmmaker Toolkit,” with director Mario Van Peebles showing stay in individual to display screen and talk about his characteristic debut, “New Jack Metropolis.”
It’s considered one of three stay recordings that may happen at this 12 months’s fest. On August 21, the identical evening Van Peebles will current “New Jack Metropolis” on the Los Feliz 3, the Aero will host a screening of “Vampire’s Kiss” adopted by a stay recording of the “Visitations” podcast with hosts/SpectreVision co-founders Daniel Noah and Elijah Wooden joined by filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (higher generally known as Radio Silence). Greg Proops will report a stay episode of “The Greg Proops Movie Membership” on the twenty sixth, following a screening of “The Producers.”
Maron shall be again to current Robert Altman’s “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” whereas Dante and Olson have picked the cult basic “Vanishing Level” for his or her screening this 12 months. Different highlights embrace a 4K restoration of Altman’s “Popeye” offered by the hosts of Perf Injury, three packages from The Ringer (“The Large Image,” “Home of R,” and “The Midnight Boys”), and a screening of “UHF” hosted by “Workplace Hours Reside” podcasters Tim Heidecker, DJ Douggpound, and Vic Berger.
Cinematheque programmer Cindy Flores factors out that whereas a number of pageant favorites from earlier years are again, this 12 months’s fest additionally consists of 15 new podcasts together with “Tea Time,” who shall be internet hosting a double characteristic of the “Sister Act” films, “The Dana Gould Hour,” with Gould introducing “Carnival of Souls,” and “The Screenwriting Life,” whose hosts Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna will current “Up.” And there are loads extra the place these got here from.
“A enjoyable factor in regards to the podcasts that current at ‘Pal of the Fest’ is that they aren’t all straight film-focused, which opens up quite a lot of movie appreciation,” Flores mentioned. “We’re excited to carry these passionate listening audiences out to the theater to rejoice their favourite reveals along with the shared movie-going expertise.”
“Pal of the Fest 2025” runs on the American Cinematheque from August 21-27. Tickets at the moment are obtainable on the Cinematheque’s web site.