Red Bull Music Festival Los Angeles (RBMF LA) explores how music intersects with film, gaming, photography and more. Today, another round of programming for the 2019 installment of the festival has been unveiled. Event additions include the Center Channel film series initial programming, the addition of a Producers Roundtable featuring a discussion between some of the key names shaping the city's hip hop sound, and new headliners for the festival's very special Valentine's Day event, Heartbeats. Tickets for all new events go on sale today at 12pm PST via www.redbullmusic.com/los-angeles.
Los Angeles is home to some of hip-hop's most innovative sounds and Sounwave, Mixedbyali and Tae Beast are the architects behind some of the city's most original beats, including some of Top Dawg Entertainment's biggest names (Kendrick Lamar, SZA, ScHoolboy Q). The trio will come together for the Producers Roundtable to discuss their process and what's next for the scene. The festival has also announced the new headliners for the special Valentine's Day event Heartbeats. Co-headlined by rap powerhouses Trina and CupcakKe with support from Junglepussy and more, the evening will take place at a historic bank vault in Downtown Los Angeles and will see the performers bring their self-affirming and unapologetically raunchy takes on love and romance.
Center Channel is an ambitious film series exploring the most compelling intersections of sound and film. It will offer a vibrant and versatile community space in the historic Ukrainian Culture Center on the border of Hollywood and, in collaboration with the Red Bull Music team, is co-curated by Charlie Sextro (NEXT FEST), filmmaker Alima Lee and EXP TV's Marcus Herring, Tom Fitzgerald and Taylor Rowley.
The series will open with Beyond and Back: A Punk Rock Homecoming--a daytime homage to the legacy of this historic venue by staging an all day marathon of classic California punk rock documentaries, narrative films, and compilations so that the legions of American punks can once again return to the stage at UCC. Opening night will feature a screening of the iconic film Selena, followed by a Q&A with cast members Edward James Olmos and Jacob Vargas, a DJ set by Chulita Vinyl Club and performances of Selena's greatest hits by a live band.
Film screenings at Center Channel include the Los Angeles premiere of The Mountain, starring Jeff Goldblum and directed by Rick Alverson with a score by Robert Donne. The film is about an introverted young man hired as a photographer after the death of his mother to document a doctor's increasingly controversial lobotomy procedure. Director Alex Ross Perry's Her Smell will also screen at the festival in advance of its March theatrical release. Starring Elisabeth Moss, the film is about a self-destructive punk rocker struggling with sobriety while trying to recapture the creative inspiration that led her band to success. Q&A's with the filmmakers will follow both screenings.
Center Channel will also celebrate the LGBTQ creative community with the 35th Anniversary of Wigstock featuring a Q&A with founder and drag icon Lady Bunny. The evening will include a screening of Wigstock: The Movie, rare archival footage and outrageous shorts featuring the young starlet, RuPaul. Heatstroke: The Adult Soundtracks of Man Parrish will take a look at highly influential performer and producer Man Parrish and will feature a Q&A with Parrish discussing his life as an openly gay man in 1970s and 80s NYC and how it lead him to create futuristic grooves that rocked Bronx hip hop parties, underground gay discos, and create the pulsating, hypnotic dancefloor tracks for several adult gay films in the 1980s.
For the first time, Red Bull Music Festival will also work directly with the City of Los Angeles as part of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs' Compose LA platform. Compose LA showcases the city's leading contemporary music spaces, innovative musical composers and thought-leaders from California. The RBMF LA event will feature composer Bapari, filmmaker Alima Lee and Patrisse Cullors--artist, organizer, and co-founder of Black Lives Matter--collaborating on a new film score that will be informed by the conversation at the event.
Look for additional Center Channel programming in the coming weeks.
Previously announced Red Bull Music Festival Los Angeles events include the launch of Swedish pop-royalty Robyn's North American tour, taking place over two nights at the historic Hollywood Palladium; composer Woody Jackson's reimagining of his score for Rockstar Games's Red Dead Redemption 2 with a full ensemble performance and featuring a unique auditory installation; and acclaimed photographer Gunner Stahl will DJ and feature special guest performances by high profile faces from his work.
The festival is also working with the Los Angeles-based multi-talented collective Illegal Civilization on Illegal Civ Movie Motel--a day-long event at the iconic '50s-era Pink Motel featuring a crew of IC musical affiliates including Tierra Whack, Tommy Genesis, Show Me The Body and more, a mini-skate park, late night film screenings, a community swap meet and more.
RBMF LA will kick off with a new original piece helmed by Latinx singer-songwriter San Cha, whose show will be based around the telenovela programs of her childhood, and will feature artists across a range of LA's artistic disciplines.
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