Opening Night of the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival is just one week away and I'm becoming more excited each day as I peruse the lineup. Here's another in a series of promising titles.

My typical festival schedule is filled with narrative features, i.e., works of fiction. Although I'm certainly not averse to seeing documentaries -- at some festivals all of my Top Picks have turned out to be docs -- it's the narrative which generally defines what an indie is for me. The best bets are, of course, those selected by the festivals as part of their Narrative Feature competitions. I always try to see as many of these films as possible.


Here is one film at this year's Los Angeles Film Festival which is not only in the Narrative Competition but is also a World Premiere.

In Dear Lemon Lima, an Alaskan teen reconnects with her native heritage as she prepares to enter her school's Snowstorm Survivor competition. Writer/director Suzi Yoonessi adapted the film from her 2007 short of the same name. This is her first feature. Melissa Leo stars along with a mostly teenage cast including Savanah Wiltfong, Shayne Topp, Beth Grant, Elaine Hendrix, Meaghan Jette Martin, Vanessa Marano, Zane Huett, and Eleanor Hutchins. This promises to be a coming-of-age story with a lot of heart.

Dear Lemon Lima first popped onto my radar when I noticed Melissa Leo's name among the cast members. One of my favorite actors, and someone who I believe is among the most talented of her generation (and certainly the most prolific), Ms. Leo has never failed to impress me. Her performance as a haggard but hopeful immigrant mother in Black Irish was one of my favorite performances of the past five years. She wowed me in The Cake Eaters and in her Oscar-nominated role as yet another achingly determined mother in Frozen River. Just two months ago her performance in True Adolescents was one of my highlights of the SXSW Film Festival, a film which I chose as one of my Top Picks. It's hard to believe she has completed over 50 features in the last 25 years. If an actor can have the Midas Touch, all hail Queen Melissa.

Dear Lemon Lima is featured in the Narrative Competition section -- there will be two screenings:

Saturday, June 20th
7:15pm
Mann Festival Theatre

Tuesday, June 23rd
4:30pm
Landmark 8

Tickets are still available for both at the festival site.