In 2023, the American Cinematheque created the “Friend of the Fest” film festival, a series of programs tied to film-related podcasts. Among the highlights of that first year were a live recording of IndieWire’s “Filmmaker Toolkit” with Oliver Stone in discussion following a screening of “JFK,” Marc Maron of “WTF” introducing Sidney Lumet’s “Dog Day Afternoon,” and Josh Olson and Joe Dante of “The Movies That Made Me” introducing Martin Scorsese‘s “The King of Comedy.”
“Toolkit,” “WTF,” and “The Movies That Made Me” will all be back at the Cinematheque this August for the third edition of “Friend of the Fest,” which will feature 27 podcasts and events at the Aero Theatre and Los Feliz 3 from August 21-27. The festival kicks off with another live recording of IndieWire’s “Filmmaker Toolkit,” with director Mario Van Peebles appearing live in person to screen and discuss his feature debut, “New Jack City.”
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It’s one of three live recordings that will take place at this year’s fest. On August 21, the same night Van Peebles will present “New Jack City” at the Los Feliz 3, the Aero will host a screening of “Vampire’s Kiss” followed by a live recording of the “Visitations” podcast with hosts/SpectreVision co-founders Daniel Noah and Elijah Wood joined by filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (better known as Radio Silence). Greg Proops will record a live episode of “The Greg Proops Film Club” on the 26th, following a screening of “The Producers.”
Maron will be back to present Robert Altman’s “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” while Dante and Olson have picked the cult classic “Vanishing Point” for their screening this year. Other highlights include a 4K restoration of Altman’s “Popeye” presented by the hosts of Perf Damage, three programs from The Ringer (“The Big Picture,” “House of R,” and “The Midnight Boys”), and a screening of “UHF” hosted by “Office Hours Live” podcasters Tim Heidecker, DJ Douggpound, and Vic Berger.
Cinematheque programmer Cindy Flores points out that while several festival favorites from previous years are back, this year’s fest also includes 15 new podcasts including “Tea Time,” who will be hosting a double feature of the “Sister Act” movies, “The Dana Gould Hour,” with Gould introducing “Carnival of Souls,” and “The Screenwriting Life,” whose hosts Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna will present “Up.” And there are plenty more where those came from.
“A fun thing about the podcasts that present at ‘Friend of the Fest’ is that they are not all directly film-focused, which opens up a variety of film appreciation,” Flores said. “We are excited to bring these passionate listening audiences out to the theater to celebrate their favorite shows together with the shared movie-going experience.”
“Friend of the Fest 2025” runs at the American Cinematheque from August 21-27. Tickets are now available at the Cinematheque’s website.
