See also:

*More L.A. Weekly Film Coverage

Friday, April 5

Start your weekend with a laugh by heading over to the 2013 Los Angeles Comedy Shorts Film Festival at the Downtown Independent. Not only will you be able to enjoy hilarious shorts you'd normally find on sites run by festival sponsors like Break and Funny or Die, but if you're hoping to rule the ranks in new media, there will be panels throughout the event that can teach you how.

Friday's lineup of shorts start at 2:30 p.m. with three 90-minute film blocks, clumped together by theme: “Shuffle Up and Deal With It,” “Lucky Little Devils” and “Tough Luck (feat. AWTV).” Shorts featured include “Facebook With Flo (Pt. 1 & 2),” in which a woman tries to explain the phenomenon of Facebook to her 78-year-old mother over the phone, and Julia Mattison's “Put a Filter on Me (The Instagram Song),” where Mattison sings about the various filters on the popular social media app.

End the night with a Friday Night Kyoto Rooftop Garden Party at the DoubleTree by Hilton at 10 p.m., with sponsored beverages in the first hour.

Sunday, April 7

Celebrate Charlie Chaplin's 124th birthday at 2 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre with a special screening of Chaplin, the 1992 film starring Robert Downey Jr., for which he earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Covering the time from Chaplin's childhood in poverty through his days in the London music halls to his rise in Hollywood, the biopic will be preceded by a behind-the-scenes presentation by Hollywood historian Marc Wanamaker, who was charged with maintaining period authenticity on the film, with appearances by special guests TBD.

Tuesday, April 9

The 11th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (through April 14) gets under way at the ArcLight Hollywood. Opening the festival is part one of Gangs of Wasseypur, a tale of warring crime families over the span of three generations, having its Los Angeles premiere at 7 p.m. (Part two will be shown Wednesday at 8:45 p.m.) Also screening at the film festival is Salma, a documentary from Kim Longinotto, which follows the story of a girl who was kept isolated by her family starting at age 13 but snuck scraps of paper filled with her poetry to the outside world, where they ultimately found their way to a publisher. More info at www.indianfilmfestival.org.

Thursday, April 11

Fathom Events brings the art world to the silver screen with its Exhibition series, starting with Manet: Portraying Life. Hosted by art historian Tim Marlow, the film will show the Royal Academy of Arts, London, exhibition dedicated to the portraiture of Édouard Manet, including his masterpieces The Luncheon in the Grass and Music in the Tuileries, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation process. Check www.fathomevents.com for a local theater showing this event, which starts at 7:30 p.m.

See also:

*More L.A. Weekly Film Coverage

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