Haven't been able to make it over to Westwood to catch the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival? Don't worry, there's still time. The fest still has a full schedule of screenings and events through Sunday night. But here are a few tidbits for doc-lovers of what's gone down so far...

READ

LAFF BLOG: The Ambulante Film Festival — Filmmaking Without Borders
This June 24th LAFF panel focused on the Ambulante Film Festival, a documentary film festival founded by Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Pablo Cruz in an attempt to expand the limited opportunities to see non-fiction in their native country of Mexico. The panel was moderated by Los Angeles Times’s Reed Johnson, and featured Ambulante founders Diego Luna and Pablo Cruz, in addition to several filmmakers involved with the fest. Says Misty Oka on the blog: 

Luna also sees the Ambulante Film Festival as having a purpose greater than simply sharing movies with rural audiences; he believes that documentaries are a tool for change and a good way for a country to find its personality and voice – an important task for nations such as Mexico which are still struggling to carve out their own distinct identity in the world. Five years after its initial run, the Ambulante Film Festival is sharing personal stories, spreading a love of film and maybe, just maybe creating change.

Read the rest of the story here. 

indieWire Coverage
Brian Brooks covers the collision of Michael Jackson's death, the Public Enemies premiere and LAFF events. In his piece, he spotlights the Bananas!* situation and gets into more detail about the Ambulante panel.  

Bananas!* In Depth
Over on All These Wonderful Things, AJ Schnack goes in depth on Fredrik Gertten's Bananas!*, with several pieces that explain the background and chart the course of events that led to LAFF removing the film from the Documentary Competition and showing it as a special Case Study. 

WATCH

Red Carpet Coverage
For the glam side of non-fiction, check out these videos of LAFF's red carpet coverage of the documentaries Branson and It Might Get Loud.


LISTEN

Do Lunch
This podcast features the Filmmaker Lunch Talk with No Impact Man's Laura Gabbert and Justin Stein. The conversation was moderated by Los Angeles Times entertainment reporter, John Horn.