Cinevegas
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CineVegas is a film festival held annually in Las Vegas, typically in the early to mid summer. Dennis Hopper and Greenspun Media Group, along with Trevor Groth are the creative forces behind the festival.
Started in 1999 by an enthusiastic group of film/art lovers, independent filmmakers, and movie industry veterans, the CineVegas festival was originally held at Bally's and Paris. It now operates at The Palms, in the Brendan Theaters.
CineVegas combines world premiere films and celebrity tributes against the background of Vegas nightlife. CineVegas also highlights up and coming filmmakers, as well as masters of the craft, and has attracted the likes of Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn, Dustin Hoffman, and David Lynch.
Trevor Groth, also a senior programmer with the Sundance Film Festival, was brought on as Director of Programming in 2002. Under Groth’s guidance, the quality of original programming and new filmmakers that participated in the festival took a turn to a much higher caliber.
The 2006 festival saw the presentation of the "Half-Life Award" to Christina Ricci and Laurence Fishburne, rather than the usual "Lifetime Achievement Award" that is typically given to filmmakers near the end of their careers. Carl Colpaert took the Grand Jury Award for his surreal film G.I.Jesus.
CineVegas has established itself as one of the hottest and fastest growing film festivals in the world, with recent profiles in the New York Times and TIME Magazine and a mention as one of the top 5 small fests to visit by Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper. CineVegas combines the glamour and energy of world premiere films and unique independent cinema with celebrity honorees and panel discussions of renowned filmmakers, writers and talent. At night, CineVegas hosts nine nights of distinctive parties, from the hottest nightclubs to bowling alleys, rooftops and shark reefs. CineVegas has hosted the world premieres of such films as “George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead,” “Spun,” “Bubba Ho-tep,” and “Artie Lange’s Beer League,” as well as advance screenings of high profile and independent films, shorts and documentaries such as “Hustle & Flow”, "Whale Rider,” "Riding Giants,” "The Aristocrats," and "Napoleon Dynamite."
