As the film industry booms across Fort Worth, movie fans are rolling out the red carpet and lighting up the silver screen for the return of the city’s prime indie scene experience.
Lone Star Film Festival returns Oct. 30 and runs through Nov. 5 with more than 85 short and feature film screenings at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and Movie Tavern in the Cultural District. Five featured filmmakers are based in or native to Fort Worth.
The festival returns at a time when movies and TV are hot topics in the city, in large part because of Taylor Sheridan. The hometown talent is constructing a 450,000-square-foot production studio in Alliance and filming a spy series in some Fort Worth neighborhoods.
The film industry has generated more than 30,000 local jobs, according to the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership.
For Chad Mathews, executive director of Lone Star Film Society, the growing interest in film adds to the “buzz” for the festival, but organizers haven’t seen a direct impact just yet.
“I hope that excitement leads to people wanting to go check out the films at the festival, it’s kind of a natural progression,” Mathews said. “Local filmmaking is so much more tangible than it was 10 years ago.”
Founded in 2007, the festival is a joint effort between the society and the Fort Worth Film Commission aimed at giving filmmakers and producers opportunities to network while spotlighting their passion projects.
In addition to the screenings, some directors, producers and actors will make themselves available for question-and-answer sessions and workshops at the nearby Fort Works Art gallery.
If you go:
What: 19th annual Lone Star Film Festival
When: Oct. 30-Nov. 5; find the complete schedule here.
Screenings: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell St.; Movie Tavern, 2872 Crockett St.
Admission: $10 per screening; $175 movie-only pass; $300 all-access pass
The films include animation, documentary, drama, dark comedy and more. Roughly 30% of this year’s lineup are from Texas filmmakers, Mathews said. “There’s something for everyone, and that’s the beauty of it,” he said.
This year’s festival kicks off with a screening of Fort Worth-born filmmaker Greg Kwedar’s new movie “Train Dreams.”
Kwedar, who is now based in Austin, gained national acclaim last year with his film “Sing Sing,” which earned three Academy Award nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song and Best Actor. That movie was featured in last year’s Lone Star Film Festival.
Other work showing at the Modern from Fort Worth filmmakers include:
Nicholas Michael Buck’s “Storage Fees,” which follows a young man who finds temporary shelter in a storage unit as he mourns the death of his mother. The film screens at 11:45 a.m. Oct. 30.
Nathan Price’s “Dave is Indecisive,” which tells the story of Dave as he navigates the struggles of online dating while dealing with the voices in his head. The film screens at 2:15 p.m. Oct. 30.
Dominique Anderson’s short documentary “Bailando Culture” that follows Fort Worth ballet folklórico dancer Claudia Tiffany Rodriguez as she works to preserve her heritage. The film screens at 5 p.m. Nov. 1.
Ella Hestand and Charity Robinson’s “The Roditi Rule,” which explores how former TCU men’s tennis players David Roditi and Devin Bowen coach the next generation of the university’s sports team. The short film screens at 4 p.m. Nov. 3.
Lone Star Film Festival concludes its 19th year with a Nov. 7 gala at Bowie House. Organizers will honor Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actor Sam Elliott and Oscar-nominated musician Abraham Alexander for their contributions to entertainment.
Mathews hopes attendees — both longtime fans and newcomers — walk away from the festival with a deeper understanding of the “blood, sweat and tears” that indie filmmakers go through to make their projects a reality.
“When you go to a film festival you walk away with an appreciation that inspires more art, more creativity,” he said. “It may incentivize someone to take a chance and write a script or go back to that painting or pottery they stopped doing a few years back. It’s really just a creative community.”
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
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