Coachella Valley Premiere – One Time Screening Special Guest:  Joseph Levy – Director / Writer / Producer / Editor SPINNING PLATES is a documentary about three extraordinary restaurants and the incredible people who make them what they are.  A cutting-edge restaurant named the seventh-best in the world whose chef must battle a life-threatening obstacle to pursue his passion.  A 150-year-old family […]

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening Special Guests - Director, Brent Huff & Model, Hoyt Richards CHASING BEAUTY provides a rare glimpse into the intriguing and complex world of modeling.  Behind the glossy covers of Vogue and Glamour lie the rarely talked about, uncensored stories of what models endure and sacrifice to become a top model.  […]

West Coast Premiere Stanley Tucci stars as a man who surprises his former mistress (Alice Eve), claiming to have left his wife. Before too long, a dark history between the two has come into focus.    "This film is an emotional see-saw... I am in awe of it." – Film.com "LaBute hasn't made something this unforgettable […]

One of the legendary Borscht Belt hotels during its heyday, Kutsher's was family-owned and operated for over 100 years.  Exploring the full Dirty Dancing-era Catskills experience— and how it changed American pop culture in the comedy, sports and vacation industries— this award-winning documentary captures a last glimpse of a lost world as it disappears before […]

COACHELLA VALLEY PREMIERE FILMMAKER GUESTS JOSHUA CALDWELL, (WRITER/DIRECTOR) TRAVIS OBERLANDER, (PRODUCER) Simone, a young Parisian on her way to Singapore to get engaged, is forced to spend the night in Los Angeles when her connecting flight is canceled.  After contacting her old friend Juliette, the two head out for a night of fun with some of […]

SPECIAL GUEST WRITER/DIRECTOR, GEORGE GIOVANIS  Coachella Valley Premiere Fatally ill Garvey thinks he has figured out how to die alone. But when his beloved wife Evelyn goes missing on their anniversary he must live to save her.  Jane Seymour, Malcolm McDowell, and Keith Carradine star in this character-driven romance about the love & loss of […]

Tickets ($8 students, $15 adults) available now at Camelot's Box Office or on-line at http://highstrung.eventbrite.com MEET THE FILMMAKERS! One Time Screening in the Coachella Valley Director/Writer - MICHAEL DAMIAN Writer/Producer - JANEEN DAMIAN and select CAST MEMBERS including KEENAN KAMPA  Ruby Adams is a dancer from the Midwest on scholarship, living her first day in New York […]

WEST COAST PREMIERE Good Fortune: Three Men, Three Generations, One Fight MORGENTHAU tells the story of one American family whose careers reveal new perspectives on the social and political shifts in the twentieth century. From fighting for international action against the genocide of Armenians, through the efforts to rescue Jews during the Holocaust despite political […]

THE FRONTIER WEST COAST PREMIERE Laine, (Jocelin Donahue), a young woman on the run from the law, turns up at The Frontier, a dust-caked motel on the outskirts of Phoenix. With deep bruises on her neck and blood on her hands she’s looking for a place to clean up and maybe lie low for a […]

EMPTY SPACE Southern California Premiere   “Tom, an overweight young man, takes refuge at his grandmother's cabin in rural Protection, IL, in an attempt to bury the years of being bullied and feeling rejected.  While in town, he meets a precocious blind girl named Lilly, who shows him how to be accepted and loved.  Tender, […]

 “Movie fans know the work of Harold and Lillian Michelson, even if they don’t recognize the names.  Working largely uncredited in the Hollywood system, storyboard artist Harold and film researcher Lillian left an indelible mark on classics by Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski and many more.  Through an engaging mix […]

  Join us for an EXCLUSIVE Q&A screening of Midnight Return: The Story of Billy Hayes and Turkey at Camelot Theaters! After his ingenious escape from a Turkish prison in 1975, Billy Hayes arrived home to a hero’s welcome, instant celebrity and within a week had a book and movie deal for his story. From the moment […]

For years, Sonia Warshawski (91) has been an inspirational public speaker at schools and prisons, where her stories of surviving the Holocaust as a teenager have inspired countless people. When Sonia is served an eviction notice for her iconic tailor shop, she's confronted with an agonizing decision: either open up a new shop, or relocate. […]

COACHELLA VALLEY PREMIERE   A heartfelt father-son comedy about a struggling playwright who is forced to move in with his joke-telling dad in a New Jersey retirement community and learns, as his father often says, "life's going to happen, whether you smile or not.". Cast:  Jemaine Clement, Elliott Gould, Ingrid Michaelson, Bebe Neuworth & Annie […]

Guests: Ryan Ochoa, Marc Fusco and Steve Weinberger   Eli, an outcast teen, played by Ochoa, who dreams of becoming an artist, connects with his isolated grandfather Samuel, a dry cleaner portrayed by Linden,  for the first time.  Eli uncovers his grandfather's surprising past, when he makes his grandpa the subject of an animated art […]

  COACHELLA VALLEY PREMIERE Filmmaker Guests:  Julia Butler, Writer/Director Elaine Partnow, Lead Actress  SLIPAWAY is a touching and thought-provoking film, shot on a vintage sailboat in the middle of the ocean.   A spiritual journey of compassion, redemption and unconditional friendship between two solitary souls at opposite ends of life.  It has traveled the world, […]

PLEASE NOTE:  The starting time for this film ONLY is 9:30 AM.  Doors will unlock at 9:00.   Few if any living playwrights have been as successful for as long as Terrence McNally. Nearing his ninth decade his body of work includes:  Master Class, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Ragtime, Full Monty, The Ritz, Corpus Christi, […]

Filmmaker Guests:  Justin Foia, Director/Writer and Timothy Foia, Writer “A bachelor’s beautiful, isolated home becomes a hostile prison when his troubled brother returns from military duty in Afghanistan, forcing them to unearth their violent past before another dark secret is buried.”  … Shoreline Entertainment Writer|Director: Justin Foia Writer|Producer: Timothy Foia Genre: Action|Thriller Running Time: 100 minutes Distributor: […]

Guest - Dr. Drake Stutesman* Narrated by Jodie Foster, Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché is a documentary about the first female filmmaker, exploring the heights of fame and financial success she achieved before she was shut out from the very industry she helped create. Guy-Blaché started her career as a secretary to Léon […]

February 1, 2020 – U.S. – 87 min – Documentary. For over 30 years, Marion Stokes obsessively and privately recorded American television news twenty-four hours a day. A civil rights-era Communist radical who became fabulously wealthy and reclusive later in life, her obsession started with the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979—at the dawn of the twenty-four hour news cycle. It ended on December 14, 2012 as the Sandy Hook massacre played on television while Marion passed away. In between, Marion filled 70,000 VHS tapes, capturing revolutions, wars, triumphs, catastrophes, bloopers, talk shows and commercials that show us how television shaped the world of today and in the process tell us who we were.

On SA, June 13 Desert Film Society members will receive a link to view this film orig scheduled for May 2.   A video introduction will feature Melissa Dollman and Devin Orgeron.  

One-time screening on Nov 20, 2021. Camelot's doors unlock at 9:30 AM. Film begins promptly at 10:00 AM. Tkts are free to 2021 DFS members. Non-members pay $10 at the door. Please check with us for latest health & safety policies. Masks & Proof of Vaccination are mandatory.

Mar 5, 2022 Covid Guidelines: Photo ID, Proof of full vaccination including booster shot, No food or beverages in the screening room . Seating is socially distanced so please allow a two-seat buffer between parties and do not sit directly behind anyone. Free to DFS members. Guests pay $12 cash at the door. Movie begins promptly at 10:00 AM. Doors unlock at 9:40.

July 23 - BOULEVARD! A HOLLYWOOD STORY (documentary) - Jeffrey Schwarz, Director, Producer, Editor in attendance. When Gloria Swanson, the iconic star of Sunset Boulevard, saw an opportunity to parlay her silent film glory into a new phase of her career, she began to envision a musical stage adaptation of her most famous film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9dYyg5VcvA Special Guest:  Rebecca Halpern, Director & Writer   In the 2000s, chef Charlie Trotter was the toast of Chicago, his eponymous restaurant one of the world's top fine-dining destinations.  A gastronomic revolutionary and a culinary bad-boy, Trotter paved the way for the likes of Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay, yet his tempestuous, competitive nature […]

January 21, 2023 ::: Playing Through is a feature-length fictional film honoring the life and legacy of Ann Gregory, a pioneering female athlete and civil rights advocate. 

Sept 2, 2023 ::: RADICAL WOLFE Based on Michael Lewis' "Vanity Fair" profile of the New Journalism pioneer, author of THE RIGHT STUFF and BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES.

OCT 21, 2023 ::: I CAN'T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE - THE JIMMY MCHUGH STORY : showing with MOTHER VALLEY. FILMMAKER GUESTS.

Nov. 18 ::: A portrait of legendary casting director Bonnie Timmermann who discovered Sean Penn, Brian Cox and many others. An homage to the craft of acting.

Apr 6 2024 ::: STARRING JERRY AS HIMSELF - A family documents how their immigrant father Jerry, a recently divorced and retired Florida man, was recruited by the Chinese police to be an undercover agent.

June 1, 2024 ::: The life and times of an American icon, from his formative years in Brooklyn through his career as a preeminent cultural voice. featuring never before seen footage of Norman Mailer and interviews with his family

July 20, 2024 ::: A 74-year-old man carrying a traumatic secret befriends an isolated teenager in an emotional story of multigenerational healing.

August 17, 2024 ::: In this supernatural epic slapstick action-comedy, a drunken applejack salesman is thrust into the frigid wilderness and has to trap his way out to survive. Will he go from Zero to Hero, become North America’s greatest fur trapper, and defeat HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS?

October 19, 2024 ::: Inspired by his childhood idol movie star Sally Kirkland, 20-something Zach upends his small town life, moves to Hollywood, and becomes her assistant. Overflowing with Hollywood shenanigans!