Wayne Newton scheduled to attend start of film festival

The red carpet unrolls tonight as the Vegas Independent Film Festival, after Wednesday's kickoff party, begins four days of features, shorts, documentaries and music videos.

Tonight's festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. at The Orleans' Century 18 multiplex, 4500 W. Tropicana Ave., with the Las Vegas premiere of the thriller "40 West." Longtime Las Vegas headliner Wayne Newton, who plays a villainous featured role, is scheduled to attend. A block of shorts -- including the thriller "Blackstone," which stars adult performer turned actress Sasha Grey ("The Girlfriend Experience") and "Pay Your Respects," a dark comedy ode to "Pulp Fiction's" Quentin Tarantino -- will follow at 8 p.m., with the official after-party at 10 p.m. at The Venetian's Tao, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South; celebrity guests are expected to join festivalgoers there.

On Friday, the action shifts to the Arts District's theatre7, 1406 S. Third St., for the 7 p.m. Las Vegas premiere of "Hollywood to Dollywood," a documentary that follows two North Carolina twins on a pilgrimage to meet their idol, Dolly Parton -- in an RV dubbed Jolene; the screening also includes the world premiere of Talin Malekian's short "Venus vs. Mars." An after-party at Piranha (4633 Paradise Road) caps the evening.

Saturday's theatre7 screenings begin at 1 p.m. with a block of shorts; the Las Vegas premiere of the feature "Somewhere West" is scheduled for 7 p.m., followed by a party at the Arts Factory's Bar + Bistro, 107 E. Charleston Blvd.

The festival returns to the Century Orleans on Sunday for red-carpet world premieres of the Las Vegas-based short "The Adventures of Loop & Rhett" at 12:30 p.m. and the locally filmed feature "Bubblegum & Broken Fingers" at 3 p.m. A filmmaker send-off party wraps the festival at McMullan's Irish Pub, 4650 W. Tropicana Ave.

Tickets to most festival screenings are $7; tickets to Orleans screenings are $10, but Review-Journal readers are eligible for a $3 discount by using the discount code ccling when ordering tickets at www.vegasiff.com.

Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.