The 4th annual Awareness Film Festival continues today and Sunday in Santa Monica promoting greater awareness of a variety of world issues.
The festival aims to inspire the public through this engaging, entertaining and unique annual event in the film capital of the Western Hemisphere.
Many of the events are free to the public, providing an opportunity to see socially conscious films on a large screen.
The festival, which started Thursday, presents a total of 30 other features and 45 shorts from 17 countries over the four days; many are award-winning, and many others are new to the festival circuit.
Hungry for Change (free screening)
— Saturday, July 27 – 2:30 pm. Promenade Playhouse, 1404 3rd Street Promenade.
“Hungry for Change” exposes shocking secrets the diet, weight-loss and food industries don’t want you to know: deceptive strategies designed to keep you coming back for more.
Find out what’s keeping you from having the body and health you deserve and how to escape the diet trap forever.
The film features interviews with best-selling health authors and leading medical experts plus real-life transformational stories with those who know what it’s like to be sick and overweight.
Learn from those who have been there before and continue your health journey today.
Planet Ocean (free screening)
— Saturday, July 27 – 11 am. Promenade Playhouse, 1404 3rd Street Promenade.
Thanks to its astonishing photography, the film takes us on a magnificent and unprecedented journey into the heart of the least known regions of our planet.
Developing New Audiences for Film (free panel)
— Saturday, July 27 – 1 pm. Promenade Playhouse, 1404 3rd Street Promenade.
Moderated by Marc Bovee/Gemai. The panel, which is free to the public, will address the latest innovations in captioning and described video delivery technology.
The panel will also discuss the need for filmmakers to begin incorporating these innovative approaches in the future to create a more enhanced entertainment experience to the over 50 million sensory challenged Americans.
The panel will be interpreted for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Children’s Program (free for children)
— Saturday, July 27 – 1-8pm. Promenade Playhouse, 1404 3rd Street Promenade.
Ride a Wave: Live and Love It Up 1 pm
Young Voices Block 3:30 pm
Read Me Differently 4:30 pm
Youth Shorts Block 5:30 pm (free for all)
My Best Friend 6:45 pm
Young entertainer/guitarist Cameron Nino 7:45 pm (free for all)
Wings of Life (free screening)
— Sunday, July 28 – 11 am. Santa Monica Laemmle, 1332 2nd Street.
Filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg’s documentary employs macrophotography in order to show moviegoers a world they’ve likely never experienced.
The secret lives of bats, butterflies, hummingbirds, and bumblebees come to life before our eyes as Schwartzberg and his talented team highlight how the determination and interdependence of these diminutive creatures somehow keep our chaotic world in balance.
Marketing Socially Conscious Films (free panel)
— Sunday, July 28 – 3:30 pm. Promenade Playhouse, 1404 3rd Street Promenade
Featuring marketing experts and select filmmakers from the festival.
For more information on the film festival, visit awarenessfestival.org.
