Reporting on film festivals
Studio Movie Grill (“SMG”) made a surprise announcement this past week that Big Thought’s Lisa Schmidt would be the recipient of their 2018 Opening Hearts & Minds Award on June 14. The news was revealed following one of Big Thought’s special screenings of A WRINKLE IN TIME facilitated by Schmidt for underserved schools, hosted and sponsored by Studio Movie Grlll.
The Bentonville Film Festival (BFF) returns to Bentonville, Arkansas May 1-6, 2018, and has announced two featured titles: its Opening Night Selection is the world premiere of Elissa Down’s THE HONOR LIST, from Lionsgate’s Studio L, and the festival will present a Centerpiece Screening of Lea Thompson’s THE YEAR OF SPECTACULAR MEN. BFF will team with the founding sponsor for the World Premiere of Tracey Aivaz’s short film THE BOX, commissioned by Walmart to celebrate the art of storytelling.
The 2018 San Luis Obispo Film Festival announced the winners of their jury and audience awards during closing night events held over consecutive evenings, Saturday, March 17, and Sunday, March 18, at San Luis Obispo’s legendary Fremont Theatre. Leading the way for the jury awards were Harris Doran’s BEAUTY MARK (Best Narrative Feature) and Moon Chang-Yong and Jeon Jin’s BECOMING WHO I WAS (Best Documentary Feature). Audience Award winners were topped by Peter Luisi’s STREAKER (Flitzer), chosen as Best Narrative Feature, Julie Simone’s FIDDLIN’ winning audience favor as Best Documentary Feature, and Mark Hayes’s documentary SKID ROW MARATHON taking the Best of Fest award.
EarthxFilm presented by EarthX (formerly Earth Day Texas) today announced the full slate of films and VR presentations for the environmentally focused film festival’s 2nd edition at Fair Park and theaters throughout Dallas, Texas on April 13-22. Following a “Kick-Off” week of special screenings and events from April 13-18, Louie Psyihoyos’s THE GAME CHANGERS will be the official Opening Night selection for a Gala Presentation on Thursday, April 19, at the Wyly Theatre in the Dallas Arts District.
On Saturday, March 10, aGLIFF hosted a boisterous filmmakers brunch at Austin’s The Iron Bear bar to celebrate LGBTQ+ films and filmmakers at SXSW and utilized the occasion to formally announce the festival has changed its name from the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival to the All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Film Festival, as aGLIFF looks to their 31st edition in September of this year (September 6-9).
The Dallas Comedy House today announced its full lineup for this year’s Dallas Comedy Festival (March 27-31), led by former SNL comedienne Sasheer Zamata and the award-winning Chicago Improv/Sketch group 3Peat. Featuring 26 comedians and 45 improvisation, sketch, and comedy teams, the Dallas Comedy Festival continues to grow, as the fest has added a second location for performances (Independent Bar & Kitchen at 2712 Main Street) in addition to the Dallas Comedy House (3025 Main Street) to truly make Deep Ellum the city and state-wide comedy hub for what promises to be a hilariously exciting four-day festival.
The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (March 13-18) has announced that film legend and 70’s cinema icon Pam Grier will be this year’s King Vidor Award honoree, and award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker Robin Swicord will be this year’s Spotlight Award honoree.
The 2018 Oxford Film Festival’s 15th Anniversary edition lived up to the build up anniversary years always have for fests, and that sense of fun and excitement translated to the final red carpet of the fest prior to the filmmaker awards celebration at the Powerhouse in Oxford.
EarthxFilm presented by EarthX (formerly Earth Day Texas) today announced the details for their 2018 Online Short Film Competition for students, ages 12 to 21, offering a total of $12,000 in prize money for the winning filmmakers. Also announced was a year-round effort to STRIKE OUT STRAWS starting with EarthxFilm’s own event (April 13-22) and continuing with an educational awareness campaign through local area schools and businesses. The goal is to replace, remove, and/or prevent the use of at least one million single use plastic straws in North Texas in 2018.
EarthxFilm presented by EarthX (formerly Earth Day Texas) today announced the details for their 2018 Online Short Film Competition for students, ages 12 to 21, offering a total of $12,000 in prize money for the winning filmmakers. Also announced was a year-round effort to STRIKE OUT STRAWS starting with EarthxFilm’s own event (April 13-22) and continuing with an educational awareness campaign through local area schools and businesses. The goal is to replace, remove, and/or prevent the use of at least one million single use plastic straws in North Texas in 2018.
