The primary-ever Movie Pageant at Hollywood Park closed its debut version on October 12, 2025, after a sold-out week of screenings, panels, and premieres that introduced a surge of power to Inglewood’s inventive scene. Hosted on the cutting-edge Cinépolis Luxurious Cinemas contained in the Hollywood Park leisure advanced, the competition screened over 100 movies of all genres—every making its Los Angeles theatrical premiere.
Pageant Director and Co-Founder Greg Ptacek mirrored, “We got down to create a competition that was as various as Los Angeles itself, and we did precisely that. Each screening, each Q&A felt alive with discovery.”
Audiences have been handled to a sweeping lineup that included the emotional Opening Night time Movie “Changing into Vera,” a social-justice twist on the Hollywood dream story. “That movie was our heart-opener,” mentioned Ptacek. “It reminded us that artwork and activism can stroll hand in hand—and nonetheless make you cry, snort, and cheer in a single sitting.”
Pageant Director and Co- founder Greg Ptacek, Pageant Co-Founder Henry Priest attend Movie Pageant at Hollywood Park OPENING NIGHT at Cinepolis Luxurious Cinemas, Los Angeles, CA, October 7, 2025
Tales ignite new horizons
Co-founder Henry Priest echoed the sentiment: “We wished to create a competition that felt inclusive with out being performative. The filmmakers trusted us with their tales, and the group confirmed up for them in full pressure.”
Panels tackling matters from AI in filmmaking to immersive storytelling drew standing-room-only crowds. “Persons are hungry to speak about the place cinema is headed,” Priest added. “It’s not nearly new instruments—it’s about new voices, new methods to attach.”
One of the crucial talked-about highlights was the MENA Movie Collection, showcasing filmmakers from the Center East and North Africa. “The MENA screenings have been electrical,” mentioned Ptacek. “For a lot of of those administrators, it was their first U.S. theatrical premiere—they usually have been greeted with standing ovations.”
Unleash daring visions
Director of Programming Carolyn Schroeder described the viewers response as “past expectations.” She continued, “Our mission was to focus on fearless cinema—tales made by artists who don’t look forward to permission. Seeing these voices elevated on a significant display, with that sort of viewers assist, was unforgettable.”
The competition’s mix of art-house integrity and Hollywood polish struck the precise stability. “We leaned into danger, not protected bets,” Ptacek mentioned. “A few of these movies could by no means hit mainstream theaters—however that’s precisely why they matter.”
Priest referred to as the debut “a testomony to what can occur when movie lovers, not gatekeepers, run the present.”
Ignite new connections
Attendees praised the competition’s power and intimacy, with one native filmmaker calling it “essentially the most human movie occasion L.A. has seen in years.”
“It felt like Silver Lake within the 2000s—uncooked, open, inventive,” Ptacek mentioned, referencing his roots co-founding the Silver Lake Movie Pageant. “Besides now, we’re doing it on a worldwide stage at Hollywood Park.”
Because the lights dimmed on closing night time, Ptacek summed it up: “We crossed the end line collectively. This wasn’t only a competition launch—it was proof that various, unbiased cinema nonetheless has the ability to maneuver individuals, change minds, and redefine what Hollywood may be.”
Uncover what’s subsequent
The Movie Pageant at Hollywood Park ended its first version not simply as an occasion, however as a motion—one which guarantees to continue to grow, difficult, and galvanizing Los Angeles and past.
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