Becoming Vera to Open Inaugural Film Festival at Hollywood Park
Sergio Vizuete’s Becoming Vera will serve as the Opening Night film for the inaugural Film Festival at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles, produced by a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting diversity in cinema. The festival, running Oct. 6-12, launches a new platform for independent filmmakers following the organizers’ previous successes with the Silver Lake Film Festival (2000–2007) and DTLA Film Festival (2008–2024).
Becoming Vera, which premiered earlier this year at the Miami International Film Festival, has received highly favorable early coverage and currently holds a 100% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have praised the film’s emotional clarity and standout lead performance. The AU Review described it as “a quiet, reflective drama that finds its comforting centre in the performance of Raquel Lebish as the titular Vera,” while Sunshine State Cineplex observed that “there are enough moments of bliss that the movie ultimately works.” IMDb reviewers called the film “moving and inspiring,” highlighting Lebish’s portrayal as “subtle, honest, and deeply affecting.”
The drama follows 18-year-old prodigy pianist Vera, who, after aging out of foster care in Miami, discovers her musical voice while working in a local studio. Lebish, an 18-year-old actress, singer and dancer of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Filipino heritage, makes her feature lead debut after appearances in It Needs Eyes and Parable. She is joined by Gabriel Diehl (Family Portrait, Thirdary, Becoming Vera), Mikaela Monet (El Sueño de Ayer / Mambo Dreams), Nicolas Pozo (Becoming Vera), Brandon Williams (Ugly Betty, Law & Order, The Big C), and Phillip Andre Botello (The Art of Self-Defense, Pledge, Funny People).
“We are honored to open our festival with Becoming Vera,” says Festival Director Greg Ptacek. “It is a film that embodies the artistry and perspective we aim to elevate.” Vizuete added, “In the film, Vera’s journey is one of reclaiming power through creativity. To have Becoming Vera as Opening Night Film selection at a festival dedicated to diversity feels deeply meaningful.”
Previously, the festival announced its main slate of 50+ narrative and documentary feature-length films all making their Los Angeles theatrical premieres, including Harry Locke IV’s horror-drama Kaishaku (Centerpiece) with Stefanie Estes, Alyshia Ochse, Rob Kirkland and Robbie Allen, Animals In War with Sean Penn, Room To Move with Amy Schumer, Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story with Jessie Buckley and Gabriel Byrne, Gallagher with Robin Riker, Howie Mandel, Jimmy Kimmel and Carrot Top, Ugly Little Monkeys with Linda Ronstadt and produced by Edward James Olmos, and Once Within A Time , produced by Steven Soderbergh. A special sidebar focused on Oscar-recipient Charles Burnett will include screenings of two films in his oeuvre – The Annihilation of Fish with James Earl Jones and Lynne Redgrave and The Glass Shield with Ice Cube, Lori Petty, Michael Boatman and Richard Anderson (which hasn’t screened in Los Angeles since its release in 1995).
Also being announced is the festival’s Closing Night Film – Clint Eastwood: A Life in Film. Making its U.S. film festival premiere screening, the film features an extended interview with and an intimate portrait of Living Legend Clint Eastwood, shot on location at his ranch in Carmel, Calif. The screening marks only the second time the film has been shown in a theater in the U.S.
Complete list of Features at 2025 Film Festival at Hollywood Park available HERE
The festival is being presented by Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas US and Hollywood Park with additional sponsorship from Hyatt Regal Los Angeles International Airport, 101Keys Digital Marketing and Schein. Post-Production.
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Festival trailer: https://youtu.be/21fTHHa-jnA?
About Film Festival at Hollywood Park
Film Festival at Hollywood Park is produced by a 501(c)(3), IRS-tax-exempt charitable media-arts nonprofit organization. Our mission is to showcase the works of filmmakers from groups traditionally underrepresented by Hollywood, including women, people of color, the LGBTQI+ communities, persons with disabilities and the economically disenfranchised. We exist to promote diversity in cinema. Located in Hollywood Park, the new entertainment hub in the Film Capital of the World, the festival strives to reflect in its programming choices the unique cultural and ethnic diversity of Los Angeles and its myriad communities. Since it was established in 2000, our organization has screened more than 2,000 films of all genres, making it one of the largest independent film events in Los Angeles.
For media inquiries, interviews, or ticket information, please contact:
Nadine Jolson
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Hollywood Park
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