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Malibu Celebration of Film Kicks off with Worldwide Festival Winners 

A new and unique entry, the Malibu Celebration of Film (MCOF) joins the world of film festivals this year from Wednesday, Oct. 4, to Sunday, Oct. 8.

MCOF is the only festival to feature festival winners from around the world in a noncompetitive showcase just prior to the start of the Academy’s nominating process. The inaugural festival will screen 20 award-winning feature films and documentaries plus 13 award-winning shorts. The festival will also honor Malibu filmmaker, Robert Altman, with its Malibu Courage Award.

The festival is supported by the City of Malibu and Pepperdine University as well as the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Screenings will be held at a number of famed Malibu alfresco landmarks, including the Malibu Pier, the Bluffs Park, and Pepperdine’s Alumni Park, as well as Smothers Theatre and Elkins Auditorium on the Pepperdine campus.

On Friday, Oct. 6, the Pepperdine Alumni Association will host a free screening of Al Gore's environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth, and a book signing with Pepperdine professor of humanities Michael Gose, author of Getting Reel: A Social Science Perspective on Film. The event will begin at 8 p.m. on Alumni Park.

Also launching that week will be the festival’s Educational Outreach Program for young filmmakers called FILMS”COOL”, cochaired by Academy Award-nominated actors, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. The program will showcase short films made by local Southern California filmmakers in both high school and college divisions as selected by Malibu film industry judges.

Learn more about the Malibu Festival of Film. Learn more about the Oct. 6 screening and book signing.