Reporting on film festivals
The heads of prominent Dallas and North Texas Film Festivals announced their selections for the Top Ten Films of 2017 during WFAA’s Midday at 8 news broadcast today with Edgar Wright’s BABY DRIVER, Jordan Peele’s GET OUT, and Guillermo del Toro’s THE SHAPE OF WATER taking the top three spots among films released in 2017.
At a special preview party on Sunday, December 3, the Oxford Film Festival announced initial details of next year’s 15th Anniversary edition, including a special work-in-progress screening of Cassidy Friedman’s CIRCLES, the winners of OFF’s inaugural screenplay competition and Artist Vodka contest, as well as this year’s Magnifying Glass Fellowship recipient. The festival also announced the official selections in the feature film, short film, and music video categories produced in the state of Mississippi.
This year’s 20th Anniversary Indie Memphis film festival featured a street closure for the first time in their storied history, adding a big festival tent to expand the fest’s presence and footprint on the city. After the Opening Night red carpet featuring THOM PAIN and Rainn Wilson, and Thursday’s photo call with Mark Webber – two of indie films’s best examples of the actor’s actor, the red carpet under the tent on Friday night encouraged the attending filmmakers, as well as the notoriously photo and press-shy Memphis filmmaking regulars to allow themselves to be corralled for their moment in the fake-sun, while others still managed to dodge it (we’re looking right at you, Morgan Jon Fox).
Karl Jacob’s COLD NOVEMBER won the jury award (and a $1000 cash prize) for Best Narrative Feature, Landen Van Soest and Jeremy Levine’s FOR AKHEEM took home the jury award (and $1000 courtesy of Classic American Hardwoods) for Best Documentary Feature, and Laura Jean Hocking and Melissa Sweazy’s GOOD GRIEF received the nod (and a $1000 cash prize) as Best Hometowner Feature.
The Board of Directors for the Tallgrass Film Association (TFA) has begun a search for a new Executive Director for the organization (full job description.) Though the position has been vacant since July, the festival has just come off of a thriving fifteenth festival that showcased 182 films, hosted more 123 filmmakers and exceeded the previous year’s attendance.
The 14th Annual Tallgrass Film Festival presented by Consolidated Equities Trust (October 12-16) announced their filmmaker awards, led by Golden Strands Outstanding Feature Awards for Justin Chon’s GOOK (Narrative), and Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest’s FOR AHKEEM (Documentary), prior to their Closing Night Gala screening of Lysa Heslov’s SERVED LIKE A GIRL on Sunday, October 22 at the Orpheum Theater in Wichita, Kansas.
The whole world is now aware, in large part due to Rose’s efforts, about the rampant sexual harassment within the entertainment industry, and so in her honor, we have pulled together a panel of guests who are attending the festival with their films, for a frank conversation, because the message doesn’t stop here.
The Film Prize’s top award of $50,000 cash – judged by a mixture of audience and celebrity judges – went to EXIT STRATEGY, directed by Travis Bible. The sci-fi short focused on a young genius’s attempts to manipulate time in order to save his brother’s life.
Dallas Film Society and The Dallas International Film Festival announced today that Johnathan Brownlee was appointed CEO & President of the Dallas Film Society and Executive Director of the Dallas International Film Festival.
ed by Program Director Nasri Zacharia and Director of Operations B. Lorenzo Roaché, Hi screens films in the following categories: Animation, Documentary, Narrative, Experimental, Music Video, Webisode, and Youth Film, for some of the most enthusiastic film audiences in New York City, as well as hosting a screenplay competition for aspiring and accomplished writers both locally and around the globe.
