 Annually at every festival, Silver Lake Film Festival has paid tribute to the founding forces of cinema — fitting, since the Edendale neighborhood, between Silver Lake and Echo Park, is where the first Hollywood studios took root.Among those whose work has been spotlighted are Antonio Moreno, Clara Bow, Baby Peggy, Fatty Arbuckle, and Sessue Hayakawa.The Festival also looks to the present and future, bestowing its Spirit of Silver Lake Award for career achievement in independent cinema on such notables as actors John C. Reilly, Laura Dern, Mark Ruffalo, and Julie Delpy, and filmmakers Allison Anders, Charles Burnett, Kenneth Anger, Rob Nilsson, Curtis Harrington and Penelope Spheeris

For the first four years, the Festival was based at the historic Vista Theatre at the corner of Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards—the longest-running freestanding theater in Southern California—and included additional venues in neighboring theaters.