A unique Culver City happening, the fourth annual Backlot Film Festival, begins a 4-day run this afternoon at the Vets Auditorium.

This is the first year Backlot has been staged in the autumn.

Not coincidentally, the opening film, to be screened  at 2 o’clock,  1940’s “Strike Up the Band,” stars Mickey Rooney, who will be honored with Backlot’s most prestigious award. (See the Opening Day schedule below.)

This evening, the film “Toot Blues” will mark its West Coast premiere at 8 o’clock. The Box Office will be open from 11.a.m. today. For ticket information, call 424.672.0220, or 310.384.1009. Tickets also may be purchased online at www.backlotfilmfestival.com

“Toot Blues,” say reviewers, digs deep into your heart, opening your eyes and ears to seminal musical traditions that long have been overlooked by the mainstream.
 
Chris Johnstone is a director, film editor and writer, and “Toot Blues” is his second feature film, after 1993's well-regarded micro-indie “Buffalo Jump.”  He finds directing a feature every 15 years to be a “good pace” because “I'm working as fast as I can.” 

Prior to “Toot Blues,” he directed and edited the “Drink House to Church House” DVD and CD collection for Music Maker. In his spare time he is an online editor for television in Los Angeles.

Anna Ferrarie, Mrs. Johnstone,  is a camera assistant living in Los Angeles.  She has worked on films and television shows such as “Nip/Tuck,” “Big Love,” “Definitely, Maybe,” “Flight Plan,” “House,” and “Grey's Anatomy.”  “Toot Blues” is her first film as cinematographer.  A New Jersey native, she and husband  maintain an actual shanty on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Founded and operated by Ross Hawkins, a hometown boy who is a longtime film historian, the Backlot swings the spotlight onto one of the most magical names in Hollywood in the last century.

Never mind that you don’t have to be gone long from the stage to be regarded as last century.

Mr. Rooney turned 89 years old on Sept. 23, and he may be the first actor in the history of Hollywood to celebrate 80 live, working years in the industry.

Schedule– Wednesday

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12 noon

Pitchfest
Producers of uncompleted projects, documentaries, feature films, etc. can pitch their projects to potential producers, distributors and/or investors
Each pitch will last no more than 30 minutes.
 
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2 p.m.

Strike Up The Band (1940)
Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. Directed by Busby Berkeley and produced by Arthur Freed — 3 Stooges comedy
 
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4 p.m.

Unchosen Companion – 48 minutes
Documentary by Barry Gaines
The story of stage and screenwriter Louis Garfinkle's (“The Deer Hunter”) twenty-seven -year battle with Parkinson's Disease. Producer will be on hand for Q&A after the film.
 
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5.30 p.m.

88 Keys to Heartbreak – 35 minutes
Fiction short -written and directed by Nishit Mohan Singh.
Mohan Sinha, a talented musician involved in a car accident, wakes up from a coma after 14 years.
 

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7 p.m.

Bloomingdale's Film Initative
Young Filmmakers Program

The Love Game
Directed by Andrew Hunt, award-winning writer/director and animator – A board game about dating literally comes to life for two twenty-something Manhattanites.
My Adventures In Ladies Undergarments – 4th Floor
Directed by Antonio Campos. While shopping with his mother at Bloomingdale's, a six- year-old boy finds his first love, a lingerie mannequin.

Recession Special
Written and directed by Emily Abt, recently selected as one of Variety Magazine's top ten directors to watch. Ella and Liz are best friends with nothing in common except for their unemployment. When they decide to throw a party, they realize that ending their financial difficulties may come with a certain amount of compromise.

Tall Enough
Written and directed by Barry Jenkins; A day-in-the-life piece where a young couple explore their relationship on a quiet Sunday.

Tea for Three
Directed by Amy Redford and written by Hall Powell. Over tea, the past and the present collide with the relentless questioning of a six-year-old.
 

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7.30 p.m.

The Harry Hastings Method
A student film produced by Culver City High School student Duncan Ballantine and directed by Josh Blake. Featuring Jesse Pilchen and Curt Mortensen. A young cat burglar who is also a would-be-writer repeatedly breaks into the home of screenwriter Harry Hastings and learns the true meaning of “The Harry Hastings Method.” Adapted from a short story by Warner Law.
 
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8 p.m.

Toot Blues
West Coast premiere of a documentary by Chris Johnstone and Anna Ferrarie. Fifteen years ago, a penniless musicology student, Tim Duffy began the Music Maker Relief Foundation, dedicated to recording and promoting traditional Southern musicians while helping to improve their standard of living. The film was made possible with generous donations from Martin Scorsese, Paul Allen and The Blues Music Foundation Q&A with the producers.

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10 p.m.

Short Films

Inventing Kin
Directed by Fro Rojas – Winner of 2008 Backlot Film Festival for Best Short Fiction Film “Pencil Fighting” Produced by Fro Rojas, Debbie Margolis, Paula Jimenez, JC Nunez. A young woman reconnects with her father after twelve years of not seeing him. With Nikki Borges, Marc Macaulay, Melvin Lima and George Smith.

Birth Control
A trio of short films exploring how a young married couple deal with her pregnancy.
Breakfast With The Wifey, Drive Thru and Toast
Produced by Jonathan Dane, who also stars, and co-starring Monica Allgeier, Jorge Luis Pallo, Bo Barrett and Jennifer Marsalla.

Old Dogs
Written and directed by Jonathan Fahn. Produced by Jonathan and Tom Fahn, with John Saxon, Larry Gelman and Phil Lamaar. Three guys in their seventies regain their vitality when they mistakenly pick up a bag of cocaine and are caught between the cops and the mob.
 
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11 p.m.

Death Calls
Feature film – fiction – Produced by Ken Del Conte and Dr. Thomas Washita, Directed by Ken Del Conte
A love story with lots of action on the Mexican border.