'unmaking' Undone At Festival 'unmaking' Undone At Festival / Film About A Film Angers Producers

The Santa Monica Film Festival on Thursday night pulled from its lineup the documentary feature "The Unmaking Of," a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a fictionalized film centered on the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

The film depicted in the documentary, "Civil Unrest," was never completed, and the documentary became a story of how the project fell apart.

Sources said that Santa Monica Film Festival officials decided not to screen the documentary after requests from Michael and Seth Kastenbaum, who produced both the ill-fated "Civil Unrest" and "The Unmaking Of."

Sources said the Kastenbaums are upset that the documentary does not reflect their original vision for the project, which was supposed to be a "making of" documentary about their film, "Civil Unrest." Instead, the documentary became a project about its disintegration.

The Kastenbaums and film festival officials did not return calls seeking comment.

"The Unmaking Of" screening was canceled only hours before it was scheduled to unspool.

"Civil Unrest" began shooting shortly after the riots in Los Angeles, but quickly fell apart as the creative team and the Kastenbaums couldn't agree on the artistic vision of the project.

"Unmaking Of" director Malcolm Abbey said he wanted his documentary to screen, adding that it took him three years to complete the project.

After a four-year legal fray that began in 1993, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that both Abbey and the Kastenbaums are "permitted to cut and assemble (their) own film version from the film footage that was shot by Abbey." The ruling said neither party was entitled to an award of damages or reimbursement of costs.

Abbey screened "Unmaking" at several venues in Los Angeles, but was hoping the Santa Monica Film Festival would tweak distributor interest.

Dedicated to independent filmmaking, the Santa Monica Film Festival was founded in 1996.