John Wildman

Jesus del Cerro’s HAWAII leads The 2019 San Luis Obispo International Film Festival Filmmaker Awards & Record Audience and Sponsorship Growth for Second Year

“While the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival has been on an upward trajectory as far as the number of audience members have been concerned for a few years now, this year’s response was seriously off the charts,” said San Luis Obispo Film Festival Director Wendy Eidson. “There are lot of areas that one could chalk that up to, but we all know that it begins and ends with the quality of our films, and our award winners certainly exemplified a very fine year as far as that was concerned.”

FILM FESTIVAL NEWS: The Texas Theatre and Women Texas Film Festival co-present Directed By: Women Behind the Camera

WTxFF Founder and Artistic Director Justina Walford added, “We could not be more thrilled to be a part of this wonderful series. Not only does the roster of films and filmmakers include directors we have long admired and films we are fans of, but we are also very excited (in particular) to help shine a light on the horror/thriller selections – and encourage people to come to the theater for an evening of scares courtesy of women behind the camera.”

Ben Masters’ THE RIVER AND THE WALL: The Dallas-based EarthxFilms 2019 announces the slate of films set to inspire and illuminate audiences about our world next month

EarthxFilm Artistic Director David Holbrooke, said, “This year’s EarthxFilm slate clearly shows the urgency of the many crucial battles going on all over the world on the environmental landscape. However, these documentaries aren’t simply earnest attempts to advocate for a just cause but are serious, well-crafted stories that bear witness to what is happening out there on the front lines. Audiences will be motivated and inspired by the real life heroes in these movies and will come out of the theaters ready to make their own impact.”

50th Anniversary screening BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID at San Luis Obispo International Film Festival mixes classics with great docs, local talent, and (of course) SURF NIGHT and wine country for their 25th

The 25th Annual San Luis Obispo Film Festival (March 12-17) has revealed its full slate of films which will begin with the previously announced special Opening Night performance by Katharine Ross followed by a 50th Anniversary screening of the classic BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. Along with the films competing in the George Sidney Independent Films Competition, SLO is bringing back several festival favorites from years past for encore presentations. The line-up includes 147 films (23 narrative features, 38 documentary features, and 86 short films) representing 25 countries.

SHORTS AND TO THE POINT: Will Stewart’s ALL WE ARE delivers a compelling story of the yearning heart; Review from Oxford Film Festival

The beauty of Stewart’s directorial debut is the answer is “all the above” and even “all the below.” The longtime casting director doesn’t simply excel in mining multi-layered performances from John Lacy and Matthew Risch, who deliver fine performances as the two men, he also packs a visual punch with his frame composition utilizing the simplicity of the setting to allow the two characters to fill the frame with their longing for connection.