Echo Park Film Center

If you could take just one photo: Echo Park Film Center

When travel guides brand Los Angeles hotspots, they often lump Echo Park together with its westward neighbor Silver Lake, an uberhip community of architectural homes and shops that earns the most street cred in alternative affluent circles. But Echo Park, the easternmost stretch of the artsy and increasingly commercial East Side, just north of downtown, continues to stand out among other Los Angeles neighborhoods for its authentic blend of grit and eccentric charm. Silent films were born here in 1909. The region provided a haven for communist supporters during McCarthyism. And it has long served as a gateway to stability for Los Angeles immigrants. Echo Park simply isn’t a sweep-it-under-the-rug type of neighborhood. You’ll see do-gooders distributing paper-bag meals to the large homeless population against a backdrop of the neighborhood park’s vibrant lotus flowers. Worn brick buildings adorned with graffiti border Sunset Boulevard, blocks away from the three-story Victorian homes of Angelino Heights. While good food isn’t tough to find, the difference between “fine dining” and the everyday plate usually just means you’ll have a place mat between your meal and the table: food here is what you make of it. Twentysomething hipsters, Latino and Chinese families, aging artists, and downtown business folk roam Sunset Boulevard, cheek to jowl. It’s a refreshing brew in contrast to Silver Lake and Los Feliz, perpetually gentrified regions to the west that are quickly becoming too trendy for their own good. But so it goes in the world of bohemia: As soon as the general public catches onto what’s cool, the area’s appeal dissipates. As young and increasingly stylish crowds flock to Echo Park, inflated rent prices, elite stores, and haughty restaurants follow close behind. Better make friends with Echo Park while you still can.

Add a Comment

Have you visited your friendly neighborhood media arts organization lately? From a funky, 60-seat “microcinema,” the nonprofit Echo Park Film Center hosts film, literary, and performance events that feel like casual private parties to which everyone is invited. Their educational component includes free filmmaking classes for teens and seniors, plus the bio-diesel powered Filmmobile that takes cinema studies out into the community—as far away as Baja. They also offer memberships, small-format equipment rental, and a lending library. Director and cofounder Paolo Davanzo opened the center in 2002 because Tinsel Town completely lacked community-accessible resources for filmmaking. Years later, he declares joyfully that “The cinematic revolution is alive and well in Los Angeles!”

Add a Comment