Festival to Aid Palisades Fire Recovery, Pay Homage to Historic Hollywood Club “the Uplifters”
PACIFIC PALISADES, CA, UNITED STATES, October 7, 2026 — Big Beach Reads and Uplifters Ranch Films announce that the first annual Uplifters Film Festival will be held in Rustic Canyon, Pacific Palisades Feb.18 – Feb. 24, 2027 at the Rustic Canyon Recreation Center, site of the historic Uplifters Ranch. Founded as a revival of the historic Hollywood club “the Uplifters,” the Uplifters Film Festival continues the club’s tradition: to provide a place for filmmakers and storytellers to showcase their work, network, and learn from one another against the backdrop of nature. The festival plans to contribute to the continuing recovery of the Pacific Palisades community two years after the devastating Palisades Fire, and, in addition to Rustic Canyon Recreational Center, will host screenings at venues located in the Palisades.
The film festival will invite approximately 10 full-length feature films to screen “In Competition.” 10 additional films from up-and-coming and first-time filmmakers will screen in the “Rising Voices” section. In addition, the festival will host special screenings of recent films, short films, and documentaries, and will hold a screenwriting competition for un-produced feature and episodic scripts.
“Uplifters Ranch Films is extremely excited to revive the historic Uplifters Club in the form of a film festival. Uplifters Ranch’s history is unique in that the Uplifters Club put an emphasis upon the importance of nature to the filmmaking process; for decades, the Uplifters Club simultaneously nurtured cinematic arts and the act of conservation. This made it an early pioneer in Hollywood’s efforts to aid environmentalism. Like most of Rustic Canyon’s residents, I was displaced by the Palisades Fire, and it feels like an ideal time to establish a festival celebrating the community, nature, and film,” says Halle Arbaugh, Uplifters Film Festival’s Director of Programming and Founder of Uplifters Ranch Films.