Coast Film & Music Festival Back for its Fourth Year
Festival to feature Five Summer Stories, Honk band to play live
By LB Indy Staff
The Fourth Annual Coast Film & Music Festival (CFMF), the signature event of 501c(3) The Coast Film Foundation, is back for its fourth year. From Nov. 9 to 13, the festival is offering a new and exciting range of shows and events that will appeal to sports- and nature lovers as well as the general public.
The CFMF online film festival will kick off Nov. 17 and continue until Nov. 27.
“We’re thrilled to announce that Coast Film & Music will once again take over the Festival of Arts site in Laguna Beach,” said Ben Warner, festival co-founder and organizer. “The venue, which is near a protected stretch of ocean as well as 22,000 acres of wilderness park, offers a fantastic indoor/outdoor setting that underscores the themes of the festival.”
Warner is also excited to announce the festival’s new name – Coast Film & Music Festival.
“We know filmgoers also love live music, and as we grow, we are committed to booking local and national acts that fit with the cultural ethos of our adventure-loving crowd.”
The five-day festival will screen about 50 films, including the cult surf classic Five Summer Stories by Laguna Beach’s own Greg MacGillivray, a documentary that is (astonishingly!) celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. The band Honk will play live with the film, as they did 50 years ago. The Emerging Filmmaker Scholarship, in partnership with Laguna Beach High School, returns for the third time while professional filmmakers will vie for the biggest, most prestigious prize: the MacGillivray Freeman Environmental Filmmaker Award. Added attractions include filmmaker and celebrity pro-athlete panels, with expanded programming featuring even more diversity of events and entertainment.
“Many films are world premieres and first-ever screenings in Southern California,” Warner said. “A highlight is always the Q&A’s with the filmmakers and athletes and changemakers in the film. Topics range from high-energy surf and snowboard adventures that push the limits to conservation challenges in natural settings worldwide.”
CFMF tickets are available on the festival website and range from all-day tickets for $50, half-day tickets for $25, $35 for the night, and up to $475 for VIP and all-weekend passes. In addition, filmgoers will enjoy a sponsor’s village, a curated art exhibit, a silent disco, food trucks, and much more.
What else is new?
“Most importantly, this year, we established the Coast Film Foundation as a 501c(3) nonprofit to enable expanded partner opportunities and offer deeper support to future filmmakers and film projects that inspire positive change,” Warner said. “To date, CFMF has donated nearly $30,000 to various charities including 1% For The Planet, Surfrider Foundation, Protect Our Winters, Laguna Canyon Foundation and others.”
The festival is dedicated to helping foster future filmmakers and promoting films with social and environmental impact with nine awards this year totaling $9,000. “We intend to build more resources with our nonprofit status to provide financial support for filmmakers and film projects and use our platform to help promote them,” Warner noted.
Also new is a student film program sponsored by GoPro for aspiring filmmakers in grades 6 – 12, offering selected young creatives an opportunity to show their work on the big screen.
CFMF has established an exciting partnership with Laguna Art Museum’s Art & Nature Festival by collaborating on an exhibit featuring the film “Five Summer Stories” and 50 years of surf history. The show will run at the museum starting November 4th through the month of March.
CFMF is deeply committed to sustainability in all its endeavors and formed a new partnership with A New Earth Project to earn the designation of “A New Earth Approved” event. CFMF will meet specific product sourcing, recycling, and work towards minimizing its impact on the planet and provide additional onsite education.
Another first to the festival is the inclusion of the ‘Follow The Light Surf Photography Grant Awards’ in memory of Larry ‘Flame’ Moore, former Surfing magazine photo editor. The awards ceremony takes place on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. and recognizes the best next-generation surf photographers worldwide.
Coast Film & Music Festival Online – November 17- 27, 2022
Approximately eight 2-hour programs will be available globally by Video on Demand for ten days, including short film blocks and feature films with recorded Q&A with directors and athletes. Tickets are $15 per program and $99 for an all-watch pass and are available on the CFMF website.
About Coast Film & Music Festival
Founded in 2019, the annual Coast Film & Music Festival showcases adventure and nonfiction films, art, live music, and panel discussions with filmmakers, environmentalists and professional activist-athletes whose breakthrough activities are celebrated through the power of film. Their inspiring stories of resilience and courage, captured as they face challenges on mountains and deserts and oceans, are curated to entertain, inform and motivate attendees to push personal boundaries and be better stewards of the planet.
More information, schedules and tickets can be found at www.coastfilmfestival.com
, the signature event of 501c(3) The Coast Film Foundation, is back for its fourth year. From Nov. 9 to 13, the festival is offering a new and exciting range of shows and events that will appeal to sports- and nature lovers as well as the general public.){kind=link}