Measure U Partner – Eastern Sierra Arts Alliance

(September 7, 2022)

Mammoth Lakes Film Festival (MLFF)

The Mammoth Lakes Film Festival will be celebrating their 9th anniversary in 2023 – mark your calendars, you do not want to miss the five-day festival!

May 24 – May 28, 2023
Mammoth Lakes
MLFF Website

Movie Maker Magazine named Mammoth Lakes Film Festival in their list of “Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” for the last 7 years in a row. They have also named the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival as one of their “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World”…yeah “the world”!

The last couple of years have been a bit of a challenge for film festivals everywhere, but MLFF did not just sit on their hands, they figured out a way to continue during the pandemic. In 2020 MLFF was one of a handful of film festivals to continue a festival during the beginning of the pandemic by holding a virtual film festival for which filmmakers were excited and grateful to participate in. In 2021, still in the throes of the pandemic, MLFF was one of the first handful of festivals to hold its festival live and in-person by placing a strict Covid protocol; requiring masks and proof of vaccination to attend the festival with a result of zero reported Covid cases.

MLFF reports that they are seeing a slow progression of our audiences coming back from the pandemic, but they are on an upward swing as we are all learning how to live with Covid. They are seeing their submission numbers rising this year as filmmakers are back making films and are now submitting to MLFF for inclusion in 2023. MLFF is excited to again bring innovative and exciting film programming that you will not see anywhere else in the world to Mammoth Lakes.

Over the past eight festivals MLFF has screened over 700 films, welcomed over 600 filmmakers from around the world to Mammoth Lakes, and filled over 14,000 seats with enthusiastic film lovers from all around the world.

MLFF has had many of their alumni go onto great success in the film industry; including:

Dan Perlman and Kevin Iso – MLFF Alum and creators of the Showtime hit Flatbush Misdemeanors. You can’t drive around Hollywood without seeing Flatbush Misdemeanors billboards all around town.
Skye Borgman and her MLFF premiere of Abducted in Plain Sight went on to become the most-watched true crime drama on Netflix in 2018.
Director Jessica Beshir was short listed for an Academy Award nomination for her MLFF 2021 Official Selection of Faya Dayio Cartel Land – was nominated for an Academy Award in the Documentary Feature Category in 2016.

Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theatre (MLRT)

MLRT has stayed committed to presenting quality performing arts throughout the pandemic time by producing quality entertainment either in person or online over the past two years.

Their online production of The Jungle Book was placed on Youtube this year and has garnered over 4,000 views from young viewers from all around the world.

During the height of the pandemic MLRT produced “No Problem” a seamless presentation in two different locations via Zoom with the playwright present for a post-show conversation along with producing other virtual productions.

MLRT also partnered with Sierra Classic Theatre two summers ago to produce the first annual Mammoth Shakespeare Festival by producing two Shakespeare productions in repertory at the Woodsite that included an educational pre-show introduction before each performance that explored the history, background, main characters and how each play relates to today’s issues. This presentation was for all ages and deeply enriched their experience of the play they saw.

MLRT also created a pop-up venue by building out an empty 4,000 sq foot office space and turned it into The Annex where the first full-production in-person post-Covid play “The Women” was produced and the Eastern Sierra Mountain Film Festival used it as the location for its screenings.

MLRT also celebrated their 10th year of having Shakespeare Kids Camp this past summer with 19 campers from ages 6-15 performing Macbeth. The kids loved performing the classic tragedy that included battle scenes, murder scenes and death scenes… what more could a kid want in theatre?

Learn More about MLRT

About Mammoth Lakes Recreation

Formed in 2014, Mammoth Lakes Recreation’s mission is to deliver cutting edge sustainable recreation, mobility, and arts & culture opportunities and infrastructure for the benefit of the community and natural environment in the Eastern Sierra. For more information, go to www.mammothlakesrecreation.org.