I didn’t see much sin in “Sin City,” but I did see a whole lot of “Cine.” Eager filmmakers, journalists and volunteers flocked to the hellish dessert oasis; in record attendance, to be apart of The 10th Annual CineVegas Film Festival at the Palms Casino Hotel in Las Vegas. Although the venue was marketed to a crowd of “sinners” via lustful advertisements, such as a print reenactment of Mrs. Robinson’s seductive leg, ironically, the festival was heavily inhabited by “saints”, who attended in order to promote several charities.

I arrived at the festival on June 14th, just in time for happy-hour at the CineVegas Headquarters in the Conde Nast Lounge, a private area that was set up for guests and associates of CineVegas, which included a pool table, open bar, ping-pong table and plenty of other entertainment, including a Mariachi Band. Not surprisingly, one of “seven deadly sins,” namely, gluttony, was ever so present throughout the 10-day festival. Assorted cheese platters attracted more of a line than the premieres, and the top shelf booze was flowing like wine; providing the perfect opportunity for me to catch up with filmmakers presenting their work at the Jackpot Premiere (world premieres in competition).

Many of the filmmakers at CineVegas were presenting their first film, so it is not unusual that the majority would be shooting on digital. It’s more affordable and easier to work with in post production. However, Brian Udovich, the producer of noir-thriller South of Heaven respects the quality of film. “We choose 35mm Kodak/Panavision film,” said Udovich. “There were no post effects or hand-held shots. Instead, we used a Fisher Dolly. We shot it old-school style at a Hollywood soundstage in Jacksonville, Florida.”

I later spoke with Rolf Belgum, The Grand Jury prize winner of the Jackpot Premieres, who presented his film She Unfolds by Day. Belgum’s feature blends fiction and documentary with nature-style narratives. “We are used to seeing only one of the topics or fiction with documentary tied into one, but I wanted to tie all three in together since we usually only see nature in the establishing shot of a film.” Belgum, who wore many hats on this feature, juggling the roles of producer, writer, cinematographer and editor, joked that his budget was “extremely affordable,” and added, “let’s just say that this was a five-year project and if you factored in my hourly wage, it is a 600-million dollar film.”