Yes, you’re seeing that right. CineVegas Krispy Kreme donuts. Photo © Film Festival Secrets.
Eric Kohn, writing for Indiewire:
On Tuesday, the CineVegas Film Festival will begin its eleventh edition — although it has technically been 15 years since it started. After a six year hiatus, few thought the festival would ever return. Now that has changed, and a celebrated gathering that was once on the rise has the opportunity to restart its momentum.
With only three features and a single 120-seat venue, CineVegas won't immediately return to its flashy roots, but the latest edition nevertheless provides a reminder of that legacy.
For the scant couple of years I was able to enjoy it, CineVegas was one of my favorite festivals ever. If you were gambling at the Palms Casino when it was running, you might not even have noticed it was happening — though not for lack of brand placement — it’s just that the banners and signs could get lost among the other ornamentation.
For those attending, however, CineVegas was great place to meet industry vets and emerging filmmakers, and to see the weirder side of independent film. (Films like South of Heaven and Hi, My Name is Ryan stand out in my memory.) The passionate staff, the fest's reputation for playing films “too dangerous” for Sundance, and its setting — hokey smokes, the setting — made for an experience befitting its hometown.
Now it seems the folks in charge of CineVegas (Robin Greenspun, Mike Plante, and Trevor Groth) are working with the newly-minted Las Vegas Film Festival to bring CineVegas back, at least to play three features and a short film. No one seems exactly sure what future installments will look like, but the quotes from this article make it clear that everyone involved is committed to making those installments happen.
To say that the return of CineVegas makes me happy is an understatement. I’m just sorry I didn’t hear about it in time to attend its first year back.
Learn more about this year’s CineVegas event at the Las Vegas Film Festival.
10th Anniversary CineVegas signage at the Palms Casino. Photo © Film Festival Secrets.
