The 'Gritty Utopia' That is Downtown L.A.
Ed Fuentes
Downtown Los Angeles-based filmmakers Shaheen Seth and Sarah Adina Smith.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The balance between aspiration and making a living can be a tough one, as can the balance between work and relationship. Filmmaker Sarah Adina Smith and her husband, cinematographer Shaheen Seth, are daring to do all of them as they balance marriage, ongoing commercial work and film projects.
They are among the many filmmakers who will be screening their work this week at the Zero Film Festival, which runs until Sunday at the Downtown Independent theater. Smith and Seth have also been Downtown residents for the last 4 years. When I was living on the west side of LA, I don't think we knew any of our neighbors. Here you see familiar, friendly faces every time you walk the dog or run an errand," says Smith. "It's like our gritty little Utopia."
That Utopia can inspire, and, according to Smith, can "slap you back to reality" when the summer streets smells are harsh. It also offers the chance to look out the window and see film crews at work. "We have a game where we try to spot the AD (assistant director) on the set from our window," Seth says.
"We first came downtown looking for office space because our business was ready to graduate from what we call our 'laptops and pj's' phase," says Smith, recalling days of working on a west side couch and then commuting once they found their first space in the Spring Arts Tower. "Before long, we realized that we wanted to live closer to our work and stop donating our life to traffic."
The next step is just steps away. Smith's 12-minute "The Sirens" will premiere this Saturday, down the street from the Hellman building, where they live and work.
"I am a huge fan of the Downtown Independent Theater and I wanted to premiere my film there," says Smith. "I love their rooftop space and I wanted to have The Chapin Sisters be able to perform a concert up there after the screening."
Abigail and Lily Chapin, along with April Eckfeld, star in Smith's short, a small, small project that became a larger project than planned. "It's really important to push forward to production at a certain point," says Smith, "because a lot of the story gets worked out on set and then again in the editing room."
The Zero Film Festival is a non-profit platform for self-financed filmmakers, and opened last night with a rooftop party and outdoor screenings at The Standard Downtown L.A.
It moves to the Downtown Independent until Sunday's Award night on December 6th.
Saturday is a full afternoon of shorts, before the evening screening of "The Sirens" that will lead Saturday's closing night, highlighted by a performance by The Chapin Sisters. Then it moves into the night with more music and film.
For a full schedule of screenings: Zero Film Festival
Maher on December 03, 2009, at 08:19PM – #1
Aspiration amidst the maelstrom. Yes, most of us know of it, presently and in years gone by. To try and make a difference and the world remains yet indifferent. Here is what San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mark Morford has to say:
"Stop thinking this is all there is…. Realize that for every ongoing war and religious outrage and environmental devastation and bogus Iraq attack plan, there are a thousand counter-balancing acts of staggering generosity and humanity and art and beauty happening all over the world, right now, on a breathtaking scale, from flowerbox to cathedral…. Resist the temptation to drown in fatalism, to shake your head and sigh and just throw in the karmic towel…. Realize that this is the perfect moment to change the energy of the world, to step right up and crank your personal volume; right when it all seems dark and bitter and offensive and acrimonious and conflicted and bilious… there’s your opening. Remember magic. And finally, believe you are part of a groundswell, a resistance, a seemingly small but actually very, very large impending karmic overhaul, a great shift, the beginning of something important and potent and unstoppable."
THE story of L.A. in this new first decade, ending decade of a new millennium rather, has been Downtown Los Angeles. Despite all of the continuous crap emanating from Hollywood, the city has really, finally found itself.
What next? Crank it up, people. All for Downtown and Downtown for all.
Bert Green on December 03, 2009, at 11:26PM – #2
Maher, thank you for sharing that excellent sentiment. I am personally grateful and very proud to have been a part of the renewal of Downtown Los Angeles over the past 7 years. Of all the places I have lived and things I have seen, this time and place is one of the most inspiring and transformational.
Congrats and good luck to Sarah and Shaheen.
mimulos on December 04, 2009, at 09:35AM – #3
Good luck to Sarah and Shaheen.
Too bad the renewal of downtown brought bars w/doormen and 12 dollar drinks.
Jay on December 07, 2009, at 04:50PM – #4
Downtown's "renewal" will eventually and successfully bulldoze the poor.
The $ 12 cocktail and snotty, polyester-clad doormen are only the start of things.