Al Pacino to Serve as Lead Juror for Lee Strasberg Film Festival- Film News in Brief
Al Pacino is returning to the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute as the lead juror for the Lee Strasberg Film Festival (LSFF) this November.
Pacino, who studied method acting under Strasberg, will lead a jury of actors and filmmakers, evaluating independent films and performances for the 10th edition of the festival. Also serving on the jury are Henri Esteve, Hayley Orrantia, Wade Allain-Marcus, Hyejin “Grace” Park and Brittany Alexia Young.
Festival Director David Lee Strasberg, whose family has shared a decades-long relationship with Pacino said, “My mom and dad [Lee and Anna Strasberg] believed that bringing artists together into a collaborative creative community was extremely important. This year’s jury reflects my parents’ vision with an extraordinary range of voices—from icons like Al [Pacino] who have given so much support to our community, to talented working alumni actors, to bold independent filmmakers who are just beginning to make their marks on modern filmmaking.”
The 10th Lee Strasberg Film Festival will take place Nov. 13-15 at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in Los Angeles and will end with an awards ceremony at the Marilyn Monroe Theatre. The LSFF will recognize categories such as Best Short Film and Best Screenplay, and several acting honors will also be awarded.
Vashon Film Institute, the non-profit organization dedicated to fostering independent filmmaking in the Pacific Northwest, announced the lineup for its fifth annual Vashon Island Film Festival.
VIFF 2026 will run Aug. 13–16 at the Vashon Theatre. Eight features and 17 shorts from the current festival circuit will screen, alongside three special presentations, seven Local Spotlights and the local shorts competition shortCUTZ.
This year’s feature competition will screen five narrative and three documentary films. The features are Rich Newey and Annika Marks’ “Adult Children,” Mickey Keating’s “Crooks,” Myrsini Aristidou’s “Hold On to Me,” Rodrigue Jean’s “Labrador — Autopsy of Silence,” Marie-Elsa Sgualdo and Nadine Lamari’s “Silent Rebellion,” Adam and Zack Khalil’s “Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild], Felipe Bustos Sierra’s “Everybody to Kenmure Street” and J.J. Gerber’s “The Life We Leave.”
The narrative shorts in competition include Ilke Paddenburg’s “A Shot at Art,” Anna Baumgarten’s “Balloon Animals,” Willa Niava and Kristelle Laroche’s “Jazz Infernal,” Ben S. Hyland’s “The Man That I Wave At,” Abby Pierce and Tiny Cruz’s “So, Boom” and Pranav Bhasin’s “We Were Here.”
The documentary shorts in competition include Arielle Knight’s “The Boys and the Bees,” Taliesin Black-Brown’s “Listen,” Liza Mandelup’s “Luigi,” Ashley Brandon’s “Panther Pat” and Livia Albeck-Ripka and Víctor Tadashi Suárez’s “Still Standing.”
The animated shorts in competition include Kate Renshaw-Lewis’ “Busy Bodies,” Celia Alcina Matesanz, Fuxuan Deng, Pontheera Nimmanakiat, Ané Quintana, and Hongru Su’s “The Famous Last Show,” Anna Ginsburg and Miranda Latimer’s “Hag,” Boris Boidron, Lucile Brunet, and Lauren Félines’ “Les Vieux,” Stephen P. Neary’s “Living with a Visionary” and Daniel Neiden and Edward Jordon’s “Whale 52 – Suite for Man, Boy, and Whale.”
VIFF will screen three special presentations, including Matt Johnson’s narrative feature “Tony,” Ben McKenzie’s documentary feature “Everyone is Lying to You for Money” and episode one of Chris Smith’s documentary series “Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult.”
Three feature and four short Local Spotlights will screen at the festival. The features include Craig Downing and Matt Isaac’s “Dad Genes,” Andrew Franks and Peter Hilgendorf’s “Radioheart: The Drive and Times of DJ Kevin Cole” and Katherine Dudas, Olivia Blue, Madison Lawlor, and Decker Sadowski’s “Theater is Dead.” The shorts include Chiara Motley and Rachel Noll James’ “36 Questions,” Donald Saunderson’s “Long Time, No See,” Isabel Pask and Sam Paley’s “Scout’s Honor” and Anjini Taneja Azhar’s “Who Are You, Nanu?”
The local shorts competition shortCUTZ, in partnership with C’Mon Barber, will screen films shot entirely on Vashon Island or by present and former residents. Submissions are open until Friday, July 24. Official selections will compete for the Mickey’s Chair Award, selected by the audience.
Pacino, who studied method acting under Strasberg, will lead a jury of actors and filmmakers, evaluating independent films and performances for the 10th edition of the festival. Also serving on the jury are Henri Esteve, Hayley Orrantia, Wade Allain-Marcus, Hyejin “Grace” Park and Brittany Alexia Young.
Festival Director David Lee Strasberg, whose family has shared a decades-long relationship with Pacino said, “My mom and dad [Lee and Anna Strasberg] believed that bringing artists together into a collaborative creative community was extremely important. This year’s jury reflects my parents’ vision with an extraordinary range of voices—from icons like Al [Pacino] who have given so much support to our community, to talented working alumni actors, to bold independent filmmakers who are just beginning to make their marks on modern filmmaking.”
The 10th Lee Strasberg Film Festival will take place Nov. 13-15 at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in Los Angeles and will end with an awards ceremony at the Marilyn Monroe Theatre. The LSFF will recognize categories such as Best Short Film and Best Screenplay, and several acting honors will also be awarded.
Vashon Film Institute, the non-profit organization dedicated to fostering independent filmmaking in the Pacific Northwest, announced the lineup for its fifth annual Vashon Island Film Festival.
VIFF 2026 will run Aug. 13–16 at the Vashon Theatre. Eight features and 17 shorts from the current festival circuit will screen, alongside three special presentations, seven Local Spotlights and the local shorts competition shortCUTZ.
This year’s feature competition will screen five narrative and three documentary films. The features are Rich Newey and Annika Marks’ “Adult Children,” Mickey Keating’s “Crooks,” Myrsini Aristidou’s “Hold On to Me,” Rodrigue Jean’s “Labrador — Autopsy of Silence,” Marie-Elsa Sgualdo and Nadine Lamari’s “Silent Rebellion,” Adam and Zack Khalil’s “Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild], Felipe Bustos Sierra’s “Everybody to Kenmure Street” and J.J. Gerber’s “The Life We Leave.”
The narrative shorts in competition include Ilke Paddenburg’s “A Shot at Art,” Anna Baumgarten’s “Balloon Animals,” Willa Niava and Kristelle Laroche’s “Jazz Infernal,” Ben S. Hyland’s “The Man That I Wave At,” Abby Pierce and Tiny Cruz’s “So, Boom” and Pranav Bhasin’s “We Were Here.”
The documentary shorts in competition include Arielle Knight’s “The Boys and the Bees,” Taliesin Black-Brown’s “Listen,” Liza Mandelup’s “Luigi,” Ashley Brandon’s “Panther Pat” and Livia Albeck-Ripka and Víctor Tadashi Suárez’s “Still Standing.”
The animated shorts in competition include Kate Renshaw-Lewis’ “Busy Bodies,” Celia Alcina Matesanz, Fuxuan Deng, Pontheera Nimmanakiat, Ané Quintana, and Hongru Su’s “The Famous Last Show,” Anna Ginsburg and Miranda Latimer’s “Hag,” Boris Boidron, Lucile Brunet, and Lauren Félines’ “Les Vieux,” Stephen P. Neary’s “Living with a Visionary” and Daniel Neiden and Edward Jordon’s “Whale 52 – Suite for Man, Boy, and Whale.”
VIFF will screen three special presentations, including Matt Johnson’s narrative feature “Tony,” Ben McKenzie’s documentary feature “Everyone is Lying to You for Money” and episode one of Chris Smith’s documentary series “Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult.”
Three feature and four short Local Spotlights will screen at the festival. The features include Craig Downing and Matt Isaac’s “Dad Genes,” Andrew Franks and Peter Hilgendorf’s “Radioheart: The Drive and Times of DJ Kevin Cole” and Katherine Dudas, Olivia Blue, Madison Lawlor, and Decker Sadowski’s “Theater is Dead.” The shorts include Chiara Motley and Rachel Noll James’ “36 Questions,” Donald Saunderson’s “Long Time, No See,” Isabel Pask and Sam Paley’s “Scout’s Honor” and Anjini Taneja Azhar’s “Who Are You, Nanu?”
The local shorts competition shortCUTZ, in partnership with C’Mon Barber, will screen films shot entirely on Vashon Island or by present and former residents. Submissions are open until Friday, July 24. Official selections will compete for the Mickey’s Chair Award, selected by the audience.