“I think it’s important for the community but also the world to see people of color in all genres, especially love stories,” director Gina Prince-Blythewood has said. We couldn’t agree more. That’s one of the reasons we are thrilled to announce that at this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival, we will be celebrating the 15^th anniversary of Bythewood’s classic ode to romance on the court, Love & Basketball, with a free screening on Saturday, June 13, 8:00 pm at FIGat7th. The film stars Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps as friends whose lifelong relationship tracks their obsession with basketball as it blooms into something deeper. The best part? Following the film, Prince-Bythewood will reunite with her cast for a Q&A including Sanaa Lathan, Regina Hall, Kyla Pratt, Glenndon Chatman, Gabrielle Union, Dennis Haysbert, Debi Morgan and Alfre Woodard.

Here are five other ways to enjoy this year’s great Festival freebies.

Bust out your dancing shoes.
On Friday, June 12 at 8:00 pm at FIGat7th, we are presenting a free screening of Jon M. Chu’s latest cinematic dance adventure, The LXD: The Uprising Begins. The director (and Project Involve Fellow!) will be on hand.

Bring the little ones.
Movie lovers of all ages will love this screening of the iconic Who Framed Roger Rabbit, In 1988, Director Bob Zemeckis pulled off something no one dreamed possible: he packed a period detective yarn about the changing landscape of Los Angeles with a energetic, slapstick story about where reality begins and ends.

– Friday, June 12 at 8:00 pm at Union Station

Follow the journey of youth making a difference.
Join us for the World Premiere of American DREAMers, a film that follows six youth who walked 3,000 miles across America’s heartland, from San Francisco to Washington D.C., risking their freedom by publically exposing their own undocumented status to fight for the DREAM Act and immigrant rights.

– Tuesday, June 16, 8:00 pm at La Plaza de Cultura Y Artes

Revisit a historic moment in race relations.
Thirty-five years before Barack Obama rose to victory to become America’s first African-American President, a young Angeleno named Tom Bradley to become the first black mayor elected in a city with an overwhelmingly white majority. Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and The Politics of Race chronicles that fascinating chapter in history. This World Premiere screening will be followed by a panel discussion on police and citizen relations moderated by Patt Morrisson of the LA Times with director Lyn Goldfarb, producer Alison Sotomayor and actor Andre Royo (The Wire).

– Sunday, June 14, 1:30 pm at Regal Cinemas L.A.

Get a fresh perspective on a life-or-death issue.
Through found footage from social media, 911 calls and police file material, HBO’s Requiem for the Dead puts a human face on some of the estimated 8,000 individuals who died by gun violence in America from March to June 2014. This World Premiere screening will be followed by a panel discussion on gun safety.

– Wednesday, June 17, 5:30 pm at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live.

For more info on the full Festival line-up and other newly announced events, including Coffee Talks, the Festival’s popular discussion series featuring some of today’s most interesting film figures discussing their craft with their peers, go to the LA Film Fest website.

Pamela Miller / Website & Grants Manager