Hopeful Expectations: The 2021 Lone Star Film Festival

Ethan Hawke.
Richard Linklater.
Channing Godfrey Peoples.
Krys Boyd.
Michael Martin Murphey.

These are just a few of the outstanding artists and personalities who will participate in the 15th annual Lone Star Film Festival and Gala this November 11 through 14 in downtown Fort Worth.

The festival’s centerpiece event, billed as a “vintage Western” gala, will be held on Saturday, November 13, at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. KERA’s Krys Boyd will host a Q&A with Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater. The Oscar-nominated pair will discuss their numerous collaborations over the years, including Boyhood and the Before film trilogy.

The event will also honor Fort Worth native Channing Godfrey Peoples for her direction of the critically acclaimed Miss Juneteenth. Michael Martin Murphy, a Ball Hall favorite, will be honored for his work in film scoring.

Further guaranteeing that guests have an epically good time, the gala will also feature an open bar, dinner by Café Modern by Wolfgang Puck, and a lively after-party featuring DJ Vinyl Ranch.

Photo courtesy of the Lone Star Film Society

While gala tickets are sold separately (and function as the major fundraiser for the non-profit), the rest of this year’s festival is dedicated to film buffs who want to enjoy a relaxed, communal, and unique movie experience. Badge holders for this year’s fest will enjoy unlimited screenings at both the Modern Art Museum and the Downtown Cowtown theater, along with VIP Lounge access where drinks and Q&A sessions with filmmakers will be held. Individual tickets for specific films will also be available.

“After not hosting a single in-person event last year,” says the festival’s Director Chad Mathews, “it’s exciting to be reopening with a varied yet compact line-up of films. More than ever, the movies that have come out of the last twenty months of this pandemic reflect timely themes coupled with hopeful expectations, and this year’s film festival is the perfect setting to experience them all. I can’t wait to share these films in auditoriums with live moviegoers and filmmakers, where movies on the screen turn into conversations in the lobby.”

photo credit: Manny Pandya

The Lone Star Film Festival continues to diversify its programming. Working in collaboration with the festival, the Denton Black Film Festival is curating a block of short films by black artists for Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, another block of short films will feature the work of high school filmmakers. The festival will also include over twenty feature-length films from a host of independent filmmakers, as well as Q&A panels with those creators. Attendees can also see Sony Pictures Classic’s new documentary Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (a recent audience winner at SXSW), in addition to the studio’s feature film Jockey, written and directed by Clint Bentley.

The festival is an important event for the city, as Fort Worth has hosted an increasing number of major film and television productions in the last few years, including 12 Mighty Orphans, Miss Juneteenth, and Y:1883 (the prequel to the Paramount Network series Yellowstone). The Lone Star Film Society has been central in helping Fort Worth build its creative class and encourages film production, tourism, and art appreciation. Indeed, 12 Mighty Orphans was partially conceived at the society’s film festival, as the film’s director Ty Roberts first connected with producers Michael and Angelique DeLuca at the event.

As part of its mission, the LSFS also runs several film education programs in order to spark Fort Worth teens’ interest and technical expertise in cinematic storytelling, creating a new and vibrant generation of filmmakers. In addition, the society hosts public screenings, networking events, professional workshops, and film discussions year-round.