Lake Travis Film Festival

Lake Travis Film Festival wraps 3rd edition with filmmaker awards

By John Wildman 3 years ago

The Third Lake Travis Film Festival announced its filmmaker awards during brunch at Bee Cave’s famous Star Hill Ranch (15000 Hamilton Pool Rd) as LTFF wrapped up another celebratory weekend packed with film fans and filmmakers converging on the Lake Travis areas of Bee Cave and Lakeway for four days of screenings, panels, parties, and events that the film festival has become noted for. Laura Lehmus’s Sweet Disaster took the jury prize for Best Narrative Feature Film and Gulya Mirzoeva’s Katia and Rimma won the Best Documentary Feature Film award.

Nino Memanishvili’s I HAVE NO WINGS: Lake Travis FF 2021 Interview

By John Wildman 5 years ago

In the interview, which also includes producer Ketevan Nozadze, we talk about the approach to the film and in this case a particular person chosen as the film’s subject to build a film around. We also discuss the conflict of emotions as a filmmaker to resist the urge to “assist” the subject when they are struggling with money or aid or other kinds of help, as that could damage the integrity of the film itself. We also talk about the parallels between that conflict and the dynamic between producer and director, in terms of knowing when and when not to “intervene”.

Kaye Cleave and James Daggett CATHERINE’S KINDERGARTEN’s — Lake Travis FF 2021 Interview: personal tragedies without it being a therapy session

By John Wildman 5 years ago

In the interview, we talk about the measures both directors took (in concert and separately) to make sure they were making a film and not “filming a therapy session”. They also discuss what it took to figure out what the film was actually about over the course of the filming and editing process. James also discusses a documentary that he keeps coming back to because it still mesmerizes him to this day.

Kat Albert’s Lake Travis Film Festival rolls out the red carpert for 2021 Filmmakers: Lisa Belcher, Hellin Kay, Chantelle James, Olivia Nash, Joel Mendez-Zarate, Lincoln Edwards, and more!

By John Wildman 5 years ago

Kat Albert’s Lake Travis Film Festival has A LOT of ambitions. And founded and directed by a woman who is a filmmaker herself, those ambitions have an eye toward what filmmakers want and hope for in a film festival. And one of those things is getting attention for themselves and their films. Therefore, in its second year, LTFF literally rolled out the red carpet. In fact, while Lake Travis is adjacent to Austin, this was the first red carpet that city has seen since the pandemic had shut things down as far as in-person tests were concerned last year. And Austin has got a couple other film festivals that people pay attention to from what we hear.

Alex Gavin ‘s THE TURN OF THE SCREW: Lake Travis FF 2021 Interview: the challenges of making a horror film for people who don’t like horror

By John Wildman 5 years ago

In the interview, we talk about making horror movies for people that don’t like horror. We also talk about “using the space” cinematically – in this case shooting a film on a stage (or making us think we are on a stage) and making it interesting, if not frightening, as well as utilizing the sound design to also enhance those efforts. We also discuss the work of Greer Phillips to pull off a performance that had so many challenges to make it all work on so many levels.

Ilir Pristine’s FLORRIE interview at Lake Travis FF 2021 — talks about not spoon feeding audiences and the crime of shooting a black & white film

By John Wildman 5 years ago

In the interview, we talked about trusting the audience and not spoon feeding them plot points and character beats and allowing them to “solve the puzzle”. We also talk about editors saving our lives. And there is the inevitable discussion about the blowback he got for shooting in black and white (Spoiler: One distributor told him to “Go to hell.” And hung up on him.)

Sevgi Hirschäuser’s Toprak leads 2021 Lake Travis Film Festival awards and wraps up gangbusters 2nd edition

By John Wildman 5 years ago

Lake Travis Film Festival Founder and Executive Director, Kat Albert, said, “We didn’t go into the second year with huge expectations, but we were blown away by the sheer numbers of the audiences and attending filmmakers. Obviously, people missed the connection of seeing films together and the magic of meeting the people behind the curtains.”

Laura Galt, Malibu Taetz, Duncan Putney, Melissa Kirkendall’s : Lake Travis Film Fest 2021 Interview: Shorts #2 – Five shorts directors find what connects us all when we make short films

By John Wildman 5 years ago

This is quite the group of films and filmmakers (from the Lake Travis Film festival) to wrangle into one interview space (four narrative, 0ne narrative/doc hybrid, and one documentary), but it highlights the vast range that short films can demonstrate both as entertainment, in style, ambition, approach…everything really. In the interview, we talked about the question that is always my go-to with shorts filmmakers, and that is “Why did you make a short film, let alone this one?”. We also talk about the discipline that goes into making shorts, due to time constraints, including learning to cut things that we love, but need to lose for the good of the film overall.

Lake Travis Film Fest 2021 Interview: SHORTS #1 women directors talk financing and harmonious sets

By John Wildman 5 years ago

The three shorts screened as part of the 2021 Lake Travis Film Festival and in the interview, we talk about (as I frequently ask shorts filmmakers) why they are bothering making a short film. (Spoiler: we talk about “proof of concept” a lot.) We also talk about the challenges filmmaking-wise specific to being a woman and how to get financing is routinely a bigger hurdle than the actual movie making. They also talk about the value of picking their crew members wisely to foster a supportive set filled with collaborators who point to them as the leader of the project.