Cinematical

The film section - rather formally known as the Film Discovery Program - of this year's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival has a remarkably full slate, including the screenings of 23 films (six world premieres among them), discussions with big Hollywood cheeses and, best of all, a celebration of the 10th anniversary of a little picture called Swingers. The latter will feature a reunion of the film's stars: Jon Favreau (who also wrote the movie), Vince Vaughn, and Ron Livingston, and the trio will participate in a moderated discussion on the film. Happily for those of us who can't jet off to see the event in person, the entire Festival is organized by HBO, so there's a darn good chance the Swingers reunion will show up on TV sooner or later.

On the non-Swingers front, the Program will offer a series of "fireside chats" with studio executives involved with independent comedy, including the presidents of Picturehouse and Miramax, as well as executive vice-presidents (whatever that means) from Fox, HBO Films, and New Line. In addition, there's a new, demented-but-cool sounding event in which "industry executives will meet filmmakers in 12-minute, speed dating-type meetings." Assuming the goal is here is networking rather than actually meeting ones beloved, it sounds like a great opportunity for indie filmmakers to get some facetime with people who are usually hidden behind a whole lot of doors.

This year's Festival takes place in Aspen (as always) from March 8-12.