Rose McGowan eyes Oscar for directorial debut

Actress Rose McGowan hopes to win an Oscar by launching a week-long movie festival that will feature her directorial debut.

The "Charmed" star stepped behind the camera for a short film called "Dawn", which was received with critical acclaim after its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Now McGowan is hoping to win gold at next year's Academy Awards, but to qualify for the prizegiving, the film must be publicly exhibited for paid admission in Los Angeles for three consecutive days.

So, the actress-director has decided to take it one step further by turning the three required days into a week-long Dawn Festival at the Downtown Independent movie theatre, reports contactmusic.com.

Each night, "Dawn" will be played with a film hand-picked by McGowan.

It will have a running theme of "iconic performances by actresses" with films including "Thelma & Louise", "Rosemary's Baby", "Sixteen Candles", and "The Silence of the Lambs".

Special celebrity guests will also be in attendance during the seven-night festival, which kicks off Sep 19.

Set in US of the 1960s, McGowan's film tells the coming-of-age story of teenager Dawn, who lives a sheltered existence until she meets a mysterious gas station attendant who innocently flirts with her.