There’s a new movement touching the worlds of both the fashion and film industries, and it started right here in La Jolla. The La Jolla Fashion Film Fest (LJFFF) — the first fashion film fest in the United States — is in its second year, and will bring professionals, filmmakers and fashionistas from all over the world to the Museum of Contemporary Art La Jolla on July 29 and 30. The event will offer exclusive screenings and debuts, industry-led panels and VIP parties at venues including Barfly, 909 Prospect St., and the Sky Room of La Valencia, 1132 Prospect St. Directors from England, Spain, Peru, Japan, Canada, New York, Los Angeles and Brazil have confirmed attendance, and many more are scheduled but not yet confirmed. Although the event is one-of-a-kind, event founder and organizer Fred Sweet said “any good idea attracts other people.” Another fashion film festival has popped up in New York, so in order to keep the La Jolla festival growing, “We have to stay on our game,” he said. Sweet, the CEO of San Diego Model Management, scoured more than 4,000 films submitted for this year’s festival, and only the best of the best will be shown — about 40 films. Last year’s highlights included the special appearances of many directors, actors and actresses who appeared in the films, as well as the fashion designers who created the wardrobes and the outfits worn in the films. “The audience was engrossed by the sights and sounds of a new worldwide art movement,” said Sweet. “The sensuality, drama and glamour all being played out for the first time on the silver screen.” This year’s line-up boasts a few well-known names: Dior’s eight-minute “Lady Noire,” directed by Olivier Dahan and starring Academy Award-winner Marion Cotillard, will be a highlight, as well as an Armani film starring Megan Fox. Actress Anna Easteden from Finland will be the festival presenter. She acted alongside Don Johnson (of “Miami Vice”) in the NBC pilot “A Mann’s World” (written and directed by Michael Patrick King, director of “Sex and the City”) and her other notable credits include “Two and a Half Men,” “Bones,” “Days of Our Lives,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and a Japanese remake of the Oscar-winning “Sideways.” “Anna’s extensive experience with film festivals combined with her successful acting career made her a natural choice for us,” Sweet said. There will be two free seminars as part of LJFFF, one featuring fashion personality Robin Kay, who is the president of the Fashion Design Council of Canada and founder and director of LG Toronto Fashion Week. The other seminar will feature the creators of a San Diego-based online fashion community called Mahal Style, which has nearly 50,000 Facebook followers. Topics of the forums will include film implementation on the Internet and fashion marketing on Facebook. Nicole Quiroz, editor of Mahal Style, said she stumbled upon an article about LJFFF on www.signonsandiego.com, and thought “fashion and film is such a perfect marriage of beauty and art.” “I knew we had to be part of this festival,” she said. “That niche, it hasn’t been touched on and has so much room to grow. It had the potential be huge.” For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.ljfff.com.
