Justina Walford

Women Texas Film Festival wraps a bow around it after 5 years

By John Wildman 5 years ago

Walford said, “From the beginning of WTxFF, I said that we would only do the film festival as long as we saw a need for it. While there is still much work to be done to give a platform to the work of women directors, producers, writers, editors, directors of photography, and composers, we have seen much headway made during the past five years. Our goal was to show the range of the female storyteller, and to celebrate great and distinctive work in every genre, every style. WTxFF sought to achieve a place where the notion of gender behind the camera could take a backseat to the grit, emotion, and vision projected on the screen. And in a lot of ways, we saw that increasingly happen at our film festival.”

Chris Butler Movie Posters: CHRISTMAS SHOPPING IDEAS FOR MOVIE FANS WHO HAVE SEEN IT ALL

By John Wildman 5 years ago

It’s my “fault” for the most part since I must have A LOT of visual stimulus all of the time. Oftentimes, our guests ask me where I got one poster or image versus another, and since I’m all Golden Rule about this shit, I thought it would be great to promote some artists that I truly think are the best – so much so that Idle Wild Manor (which is what we call our home) serves as an art gallery for their work.

Brian Elliot and David Feagan’s AGE OF BRYCE leads honors at Texas’ Billy the Kid Film Festival 2020 announces award winners

By John Wildman 5 years ago

Vasquez and DiGiorgio said, “We took on the challenge to do a virtual presentation and the combination of our Billy the Kid Film Festival with Justina Walford and the Women Texas Film Festival actually confirmed that we were on the right track in creating this film festival just two years ago. It was clear – even in the virtual space – how special and unique Texas film is and how much our local Hico and Hill Country community enjoys and supports the work of those filmmakers. The fact that we could also make a dedicated effort to support and put forward the work of some wonderful women filmmakers and talent also made for a wonderful weekend.”

Chris Zuhdi’s MEXICAN MOON Highlighted part of Hico’s Billy the Kid Film Festival teams with Dallas’ Women Texas Film Festival for fest highlighting Texas productions and women filmmakers November 6-7

By John Wildman 5 years ago

Vasquez and DiGiorgio said, “We launched the Billy the Kid Film Festival last year because the thought of combining the unique personality of Hico with our love of film was a winner no matter how we looked at it. However, our audiences’ and our filmmakers’ safety is first and foremost, and this virtual presentation will also give us an opportunity to share these films statewide and hopefully introduce them to even more film fans.”

FAR EAST DEEP SOUTH, TAHARA, A WHORE LIKE ME lead Women Texas Film Festival’s Filmmaker Awards for 2020’s Virtual Edition

By John Wildman 6 years ago

Women Texas Film Festival Founder and Festival Director Justina Walford said, “The virtual presentation somehow added to the immediacy of the moment with our screenings and Q&As and it was thrilling to not just experience each film without distractions but to also hear from so many filmmakers and actors and documentary subjects from all around the world right in our living rooms. And the films that our jury selected for these awards all shared the fact that they touched and inspired our judges to such an extent that they needed to be honored.”

Women Texas Film Festival’s Justina Walford sees a benefit in film festivals going virtual that is very real

By Justina Walford 6 years ago

What I love about these films is that there are women of all ages watching these who have always settled for a protagonist kind of like them. And that is the great challenge for most of us women as we grew up with male protagonists, white female protagonsts, cis-hetero protagonists forcing us to fit our color, our identity, our queerness into those mainstream places. Nothing makes me feel better than hearing someone say, “Finally, I see me on that screen.”

Olivia Peace’s TAHARA Opens Women Texas Film Festival announces slate of films for virtual fest August 13-16 with an emphasis on LGBTQIA+ and provocative docs

By John Wildman 6 years ago

Walford added, “We love being part of the international movement to showcase female filmmakers and we know we must continue our efforts with even more force so that we change the filmmaking industry in hiring an equitable gender ratio. Our goal has always been to show the range of the female storyteller, and the depths to which women can take us via their work in film- whether it be emotional, visual, introspective, startling, shocking, and horrific.

Justina Walford with team: Dallas and North Texas Film Festival Directors and Programmers Name their Top Films of 2019

By John Wildman 6 years ago

The heads of prominent Dallas and North Texas Film Festivals announced their selections for the Top Ten Films of 2019 during WFAA’s Midday at 8 news broadcast today with Olivia Wilde’s BOOKSMART, Bong Joon Ho’s PARASITE, and Quentin Tarantino’s’ ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD taking the top three spots among films released in 2019.

Ty Roberts THE IRON ORCHARD: The Hico, Texas-based Billy the Kid Film Festival announces it will ride into town and debut on November 1-2

By John Wildman 6 years ago

The Billy the Kid Film Festival today officially announced the film lineup for the first edition of the film festival, taking place in Hico, Texas, on November 1-2. Celebrating independent film, international cinema, and filmmakers with an independent spirit to match the fest’s namesake, the Billy the Kid Film Festival will present films from around the world, films that have a distinctly Texas-flavor to them, and films that will engage, entertain, and surprise audiences.

Mindy Bledsoe’s THE IN-BETWEEN led awards at Women Texas Film Festival 2019 announces Filmmaker Awards after big year for the fest

By John Wildman 7 years ago

Women Texas Film Festival Founder and Artistic Director Justina Walford said, “I am in love with this jury. Each juror added wisdom and gravitas, but most importantly used their love of filmmakers to be the focus of their decisions. As always, we want to not simply screen films envisioned and created by women, but to push forward the risk takers. And this group of films and the filmmakers that created them earned the right to be singled out via these awards.”