I haven't attended any of our local film festivals. They probably wouldn't draw quite the names you list from your LA experiences, DR ChasSmith, but they still often get some pretty good folks as guests. Another retirement project now that I'm watching films more regularly.
That one experience was kind of unique in who they were able to get. It was something called Sherwood Oaks Experimental College and they either had the space themselves or rented these rooms above Hollywood Blvd. - I think it was in the block between Cahuenga and Ivar - and once a week we'd sit there in a small classroom or in the larger room with a projector and portable screen, and the guests were wonderful. We watched 16mm prints, and I remember James Stewart brought his own print of
Rear Window for them to run.
(This was in the days before Hitch's Paramount films came out of hiding, so you'd only get to see them at things like film festivals. At the county art museum, Hitchcock brought his own 35mm print of Rear Window, etc. etc.)
I took a few photos of these people -- all too few -- and I should scan them. It's amazing to reflect back on all of that, and how we took those opportunities completely for granted then.
