The Music Center and Dublab Select 71 Films as Top Submissions From A QUIET SCENE: L.A.

The Music Center and non-profit radio station dublab announced today the 71 "Best Films" and "Official Selections" awardees of A Quiet Scene: L.A., a free film competition and screening initiative that was launched in January 2021. Over a five-week period, the public was invited to submit a short original film that is an authentic reflection of Los Angeles during current times, scored to one of the seven tracks featured on the Luminous EP composed by pioneering ambient music artists and brothers Roger and Brian Eno; the album was released by Deutsche Grammophon as a follow-up to Mixing Colours, their lauded debut album as a duo. The top selected films will be shown publicly on the large LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza in an immersive sound environment at The Music Center from March 20-April 18, 2021. In addition to the outdoor exhibition, the films will also be featured for viewing on The Music Center Offstage, the performing arts center's virtual platform. For the first 72 hours, global audiences will be able to view these selected films via a continuous live camera feed from the plaza. The livestream will be available to watch at musiccenter.org and on dublab.com from noon on Saturday, March 20, 2021, through noon on Tuesday, March 23, 2021.

To increase engagement and access to this community project, the public is invited once again to participate in A Quiet Scene: L.A. by voting on a fan favorite film from March 20-April 11, 2021, by viewing the gallery of "Best" and "Official" selections on The Music Center Offstage. Fans will be able to select their top film, per music track featured on the Luminous EP. The public's selected films will be recognized as a fan favorite in the viewing gallery.

Please visit musiccenter.org/aquietscenela for the complete list of awardees. The seven selected "Best Films" are:

• Eastmont Intermediate Middle School in Montebello for "Marble"

• Julia Lee and Tyler Lorita of Glendale for "Manganese"

• Megan Lee of Hacienda Heights for "Malachite"

• Daniel Obzejta of Los Angeles for "Pewter"

• Donald Parungao of Los Angeles for "Vermillion"

• Joe Perry of Los Angeles for "Violet"

• Sam Pokress of Los Angeles for "Moss"

"We had hoped that A Quiet Scene: L.A. would serve as a record of time and expression, and the film submissions captured that essence. We learned through the eyes of participants that Los Angeles is more than a place or landmark but a sense of home, belonging, connection and community," said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center. "All who contributed their films to this program inspired us with their vision and their trust to share their stories with the public. We hope Angelenos will once again join us and vote for their favorite film to continue this conversation of who we are and what we represent as one people."

"A Quiet Scene: L.A. gives the community the opportunity to express and process the feelings and situations we Angelenos have experienced in the past year. Among other things, the pandemic brought a time for reflection that this project hopes to capture and reflect back to the community as a way to bring understanding and self-expression," added Alejandro Cohen, director at dublab.

Film submissions were judged based on interpretation of "a quiet scene", interpretation of Los Angeles, reflection of current times, creativity and originality of the work, and best use of a single Luminous track, including "Moss"; "Violet"; "Manganese"; "Vermillion"; "Marble"; "Pewter"; or "Malachite." A panel of judges, representing The Music Center and dublab, plus Garson Yu, founder/creative director of yU+Co; Michael John Garces, artistic director of Cornerstone Theater Company; and musician and community advocate Dexter Story, reviewed more than 400 submissions to A Quiet Scene: L.A. before determining the awardees.

To expand community participation in A Quiet Scene: L.A., The Music Center and dublab partnered with Outfest, Visual Communications and Latino Film Institute (LFI), three Los Angeles-based film organizations, for their film festival expertise and deep commitment to supporting under-represented voices. More than 26 individual and collaborative-student films from LFI's Youth Cinema Project were submitted to A Quiet Scene: L.A. The majority of students, ages 13-15 years old, in LFI's program attend Title I schools in underserved communities and used A Quiet Scene: L.A. as one of their film project assignments. The students enjoyed the competition aspect of the initiative and were motivated by the opportunity for their work to be shown at The Music Center. The film submission by the 8th grade class at Eastmont Intermediate in Montebello was named a "Best Film" awardee. The group's film depicts what the students experienced during the "Safer at Home" public directive.

Continuing to engage Angeleno youth with creative activities, The Music Center is extending the film competition by partnering with artworxL.A.; through a series of online workshops, their students will use A Quiet Scene: L.A. to learn about various approaches to combining sound and imagery, culminating in their own short film projects inspired by the creative process of Mixing Colours.

A Quiet Scene: L.A. provides an L.A. perspective to the highly successful 2020 public audio-visual competition-A Quiet Scene-created by Deutsche Grammophon and the Eno brothers in 2020 in support of their Mixing Colours album by highlighting short scenes shot by people from their newly found confined spaces at home in the first wave of the global pandemic. The Music Center exhibited more than 100 short film finalists and winning entries from A Quiet Scene on its LED screens from January 22, 2021, through February 21, 2021, providing the first public screening and sound installation of the original audio-visual project in a safe outdoor location.

To post a comment, you must register and login.