Celebration of Film arrives
The inaugural Malibu Celebration of Film, a noncompetitive showcase of film festival-winning entries, will screen 11 features, eight documentaries and 13 shorts this week from Wednesday through Sunday. The screenings will take place at indoor and outdoor sites at Pepperdine University, Malibu Pier and Malibu Bluffs Park.
Longtime Malibu resident Robert Altman will receive MCOF’s Malibu Courage Award, and his “A Prairie Home Companion” launches the festival with at an outdoor screening at Calamigos Ranch, which includes a question-and-answer session with the director. Closing the annual event is the world premiere of Brian Gillogly’s “Accidental Icon: The Real Gidget Story,” a documentary about Kathy Zuckerman’s 1950s Malibu surfing experience and its transformation into an enduring Hollywood movie/TV franchise. A star-studded question-and-answer session with the director, cast and Zuckerman will follow the screening.
A black-tie tribute gala for Altman is set for Saturday at Lilly Lawrence’s palatial Kashan castle. Among the confirmed 150 guests are Lindsay Lohan, Virginia Madsen, Robert Downey Jr., Malcolm McDowell, Elliot Gould, John C. Reilly and Rene Auberjenois.
MCOF will also include panels, special guest speakers and an educational outreach program, “FilmsCool,” co-chaired by Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. There will also be screenings of features and shorts that the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation honored for their insights into science and technology.
On Saturday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Pepperdine, there will be a reading of “Face Value” about movie legend/inventor Hedy Lamarr that will feature Sherilyn Fenn, Michael O’Keefe, Bruce Davidson, Roma Downey and Russell Lyons, and will be directed by Douglas Day Stewart.
More information about the festival can be obtained at www.mcof.org
La Paz Development Agreement draft EIR made public
The draft environmental impact report on the city’s development agreement with the owner of a 15-acre property in the Civic Center area for the construction of a City Hall and 112,000 square feet of commercial development was made available for public review last Thursday. Comments can be issued to the city until Nov. 13 at 5 p.m.
The DEIR can be accessed at the city’s Web site at www.ci.malibu.ca.us. Printed copies can also be reviewed at City Hall, located at 23815 Stuart Ranch Road, and Malibu Library, located at 23519 Civic Center Way. CD copies of the document may be purchased for $3 from the city.
According to the city’s Web site, the proposed project on the property known as La Paz Ranch calls for the development of 112,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space, a 20,000-square-foot City Hall and 609 parking spaces. There is an alternative for a reduced commercial project if the property owner does not build the City Hall.
City receives grant to clean Paradise Cove Beach
The State Water Resources Control Board last month unanimously approved a $927,000 Clean Beach Initiative grant for the city of Malibu to build a water treatment facility at Paradise Cove. Granville “Bow” Bowman, Malibu’s special projects engineer, told The Malibu Times earlier this year after the city had applied for the grant that the money would be used to build a water treatment facility that will curb the polluted water and debris coming from Ramirez Canyon. A smaller version of such a facility already exists at Paradise Cove.
The water treatment plant will collect water traveling from Ramirez Canyon and remove debris, oil and grease from it. UV rays will then be used to disinfect the water before it enters the ocean.
Disaster relief bins placed throughout city
Bins full of emergency supplies have been placed in various places in Malibu. The bins contain food, water, blankets and first-aid supplies. They have been placed at HOWS Trancas Market, Malibu High School, Point Dume Marine Science Elementary, Webster Elementary and Malibu City Hall. Another bin will eventually be placed at Las Flores Creek Park.
-Jonathan Friedman