Women Texas Film Festival presented by Studio Movie Grill today announced the official selections for the third year of the critically-acclaimed Dallas-based film festival which focuses solely on the work of female filmmakers. Screening exclusively at Studio Movie Grill’s Spring Valley location in Dallas (13933 N. Central Expy.) on August 15-19, WTxFF will present the World Premiere of Amanda Kramer’s mind-bending film, PARIS WINDOW as their Opening Night selection, with Jenn Wexler’s SXSW hit, THE RANGER serving as the Closing Night selection. This year’s edition of WTxFF will showcase 10 feature-length films, and 25 short films.
PARIS WINDOW
WTxFF Founder and Artistic Director Justina Walford said, “As the Women Texas Film Festival continues to grow and establish itself here in the city of Dallas, as well as within the national film festival community, we remain very aware, respectful, and enthusiastic as to why WTxFF was created. Giving female filmmakers a forum to present their stories and their projects, as well as a yearly touchstone to meet and touch base with other female creatives and prominent women in Dallas will always be a strong undercurrent driving this festival and motivating our wonderful board and sponsors, filmmakers and film fans. But this year’s programming demonstrates the success of our mission in that – just three years in – our overall programing continues to get stronger, and the bar keeps getting set higher with each passing year. We don’t program what’s typical, we don’t make selections generated from the matter-of-fact, we find women that have executed a vision – sometimes challenging, sometimes complicated, most always unusual or rare in one way or the other. As the only full-fledged film festival in Texas focusing solely on the work of women behind the camera, we take seriously the responsibility to not settle, but rather to find films that push us forward.”
Opening Night will be highlighted by the first World Premiere screening of a feature film at WTxFF on Wednesday, August 15, as the female-focused film festival continues to grow in influence and stature both in the city of Dallas, as well as nationally. WTxFF will present the debut of Amanda Kramer’s PARIS WINDOW, which follows the unusual relationship between a brother and sister influenced by infomercials who turn on each other as the sister begins dating a man who he believes looks exactly like him. PARIS WINDOW blends the single set claustrophobia of Polanski’s REPULSION with the doppelgänger obsession of Dostoyevsky’s The Double and the hallucinatory paranoia of Cronenberg’s VIDEODROME.
THE RANGER
Jenn Wexler’s THE RANGER will serve as the Closing Night selection on Saturday, August 18, as Walford continues to put an emphasis on the truly fine work female filmmakers do when it comes to genre films. An ode to the 80s slasher, the film stars Chloe Levine (“The Defenders”) as a punk girl with some unresolved issues in her past that may point the way to survival, as her fellow punks run afoul of a park ranger with some deadly methods in dealing with those that break the rules.
BLACK HOLLER
Also on the “We Love the 80s” track, is Jason Berg’s BLACK HOLLER. Co-written by Heidi Ervin, Rachel Ward Heggen, and Berg, the horror/comedy captures the 80s “campers in peril” horror subgenre with its comically horrific story of a young black girl who will need to confront her troubled past if she hopes to save herself and maybe a couple of her fellow campers along the way. Jenna Laurenzo’s LEZ BOMB employs a star-studded cast in its multigenerational comedy about a young woman being derailed time and time again as she tries to introduce her new girlfriend to the family at Thanksgiving. Little does Lauren know, the eccentric cast of characters have their own stirring surprises as well. The film stars Academy Award Winner Cloris Leachman, Academy Nominated Bruce Dern, Emmy Award Winner Kevin Kane, Steve Guttenberg, Kevin Pollack, and Brandon Michael Hall.
LEZ BOMB
Once again, WTxFF demonstrates the film festival’s willingness to wade into a highly charged political conversation, and embrace emotionally powerful subjects with its documentaries. Ashley York and Sally Rubin’s HILLBILLY takes a real look at the iconic American “hillbilly,” and that infamous stereotype. Filmed in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, the film is a timely and urgent exploration of how we see and think about poverty and rural identity in contemporary America, offering a call for dialogue during this divisive time in U.S. history. Michelle Memran’s THE REST I MAKE UP profiles playwright Maria Irene Fornes. The film documents what happens as Fornes, who had stopped writing due to dementia, develops a friendship with the filmmaker to explore her remembered past.
HILLBILLY
Film festival passes and tickets are on-sale now. VIP passes are $75 and allow access to all films, parties, and events, and Student passes (including access to all WTxFF parties and events) are $65. Individual tickets are $11. For more information on the Women Texas Film Festival go to WomenTxFF.org. To purchase passes or tickets to individual screenings go to: https://prekindle.com/events/womentexasfilmfestival.
THE REST I MAKE UP
The 2018 Women Texas Film Festival official selections:
Opening Night Selection
PARIS WINDOW
Director: Amanda Kramer
Country: USA, Running Time: 83 minutes
Set entirely in the apartment of adult siblings Julian and Sunny, PARIS WINDOW follows the damaging effects of a series of hypnosis infomercials on the socially and emotionally stunted pair. With creeping intensity, the delusional and codependent brother and sister turn on each other as Julian believes something is afoul when Sunny begins dating a man who looks exactly like him.
Q&A with Amanda Kramer and Noel David Taylor to follow
Community Partner: Oak Cliff Film Festival
Closing Night Selection
THE RANGER
Director: Jenn Wexler
Country: USA, Running Time: 77 minutes
Teen punks, on the run from the cops and hiding out in the woods, come up against the local authority – an unhinged park ranger with an axe to grind.
Preceded by:
INAPPETENCE
Director: Katarzyna Babicz
Country: Poland, Running Time: 7 minutes
Under the influence of a weight loss substance, a young girl experiences delusions. Her body begins to change.
Community Partner: Cinestate/Fangoria, Bacon Samurai
ALASKA IS A DRAG
Director: Shaz Bennett
Country: USA, Running Time: 88 minutes
This is a fish out of water story — literally. Everyone who slices fish all day daydreams – his are just glamtastic. He’s had to learn to fight to survive. And his boss who is also an amateur boxer takes note. When a new kid offers to be his sparring partner, he and his twin are forced to confront the real reason they’re stuck in fish guts. Starring Martin L Washington Jr with appearances by Margaret Cho and Jason Scott Lee.
Community Partner: AGLIFF
BLACK HOLLER
Director: Jason Berg; Writers: Heidi Ervin, Rachel Ward Heggen, Jason Berg
Country: USA, Running Time: 93 minutes
Street-smart Laquita Johnson has high hopes for a fresh start at her new school, but those hopes are halted when the dean forces her on a field trip with the cheese-loving, dim-witted students of “Archepology 101” led by the daffy Professor Thompson. On the bus, each 80s student archetype is in attendance, but once the group makes it to the haunted woods of Black Holler, roll call becomes impossible! The campers were warned that the woods were dangerous, but they were all too busy hooking up, drinking beer and eating cheese to get the message. With her classmates disappearing left and right and with everyone seemingly oblivious to the dangers around them, Laquita has to confront her troubled past in order to fulfill her destiny, escape the horrors of Black Holler, and save some of the students along the way.
Preceded by:
ALL SMILES
Director: Samantha McDanel
Country: USA, Running Time: 7 minutes
A dental assistant is afraid that a patient might bite off her finger.
Q&A with Heidi Ervin and Samantha McDanel to follow
Community Partners: Bacon Samurai, Dallas Comedy House
HILLBILLY
Directors: Ashley York, Sally Rubin
Country: USA, Running Time: 87 minutes
HILLIBLLY goes on a personal and political journey into the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, exploring the role of media representation in the creation of the iconic American “hillbilly,” and examining the social, cultural and political underpinnings of this infamous stereotype. Filmed in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, the film uncovers an unexpected set of artists, poets, activists, queer musicians, “Affrilachian” poets and intersectional feminists — all unexpected voices emerging from this historically misunderstood region.
Q&A with filmmaker (TBD) to follow
Community Partner: Dallas Video Fest/Docufest
LEZ BOMB
Director: Jenna Laurenzo
Country: USA, Running Time: 90 minutes
LEZ BOMB is a multigenerational comedy of errors featuring a young woman (Lauren) who comes home for the holidays with some life-changing news. Little does Lauren know, the eccentric cast of characters have their own stirring surprises as well. The result is a hilarious turn of events forcing the family to come together in a ceremonious series of coincidences. As it turns out, there is no good time to drop the Lez Bomb. Starring Academy Award Winner Cloris Leachman, Academy Nominated Bruce Dern, Emmy Award Winner Kevin Kane, and an ensemble cast that includes Steve Guttenberg, Kevin Pollack, Brandon Michael Hall, and brought to you by the producer of There’s Something about Mary and Dumb and Dumber, Bobby Farelly.
Q&A with Jenna Laurenzo to follow
Community Partner: AGLIFF, Women in Film Dallas
PAST IMPERFECT
Director: Nathalie Teirlinck
Country: Belgium, Running Time: 110 minutes
When Alice’s ex-boyfriend dies in a car accident, she’s unexpectedly confronted with her six-year-old son, whom she had abandoned at birth. His presence not only threatens her routine existence as a luxury escort but also exposes strongly suppressed emotions. Doubt strikes again. Will she be able to be a mother this time? Starring Evelyne Brochu (Orphan Black).
RICH KIDS
Director: Laura Somers
Country: USA, Running Time: 97 minutes
A group of troubled teens from a low-income community break into “Los Ricos,” the local mansion with a border fence, and spend the day pretending to be rich in order to forget their difficult lives. RICH KIDS is a film that sympathetically views the modern day and ongoing challenges of economic disparities, gentrification, displacement and evictions faced through the lens of Latino and Afro-Latino American youth. At its heart, RICH KIDS is about a young man’s transformation from the person he thinks he’s supposed to be into the person he really is, as he comes to terms with the realities and consequences of living in a community ravaged by the wealth gap and income inequality.
Q&A with Laura Somers and David Saldaña to follow
THE REST I MAKE UP
Director: Michelle Memran
Countries: USA/Cuba, Running Time: 79 minutes
Maria Irene Fornes is “America’s Great Unknown Playwright.” When she stops writing due to dementia, a friendship with a young writer reignites her visionary creative spirit, triggering a film collaboration that picks up where the pen left off.
Community Partner: Unity of Dallas
WHEN JEFF TRIED TO SAVE THE WORLD
Director: Kendall Goldberg
Country: USA, Running time: 93 minutes
When the manager of an old-school bowling alley discovers the owner’s plans to sell, saving Winky’s World means pulling himself out of the gutter, too. An endearing film about fighting for what you love starring Jon Heder (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE).
SHORTS PROGRAMS
SHORTS PROGRAM #1: HA HA BRUNCH
(TRT: 74 min)
Q&A with filmmakers (TBA) to follow
Community Partner: Women in Film Dallas, Dallas Comedy House
BITCH’S TIT
Director: Sarah Grodsky
Country: USA, Running Time: 7 minutes
Work. Music. Milestones. Shelby and Mo do everything together.
CIVIC DUTY
Director: Sarah Adams
Country: USA, Running Time: 11 minutes
Still working the local beat of her hometown newspaper, Kate Sutherland is married, pregnant and really bored. All is unfortunately routine as she’s assigned to cover the last trial of Judge Budd, who’s presided over the town’s matters since before Katie was born. Katie just wants to count the minutes ‘til she can get a Diet Coke and go take a nap, but while she tries to stay as uninvolved as possible, the trial and the town have another plan for her.
FOXY TROT
Director: Lisa Donato
Country: USA, Running Time: 15 minutes
A married couple unexpectedly faces their relationship issues when they take ballroom dance lessons in a very heteronormative class.
MIXED SIGNALS
Director: Tracie Laymon
Country: USA, Running Time: 7 minutes
A man and a woman misunderstand each other.
PANIC ATTACK!
Director: Eileen O’Meara
Country: USA, Running Time: 3 minutes
You know the nagging thoughts that start with “did I leave the coffee on?” and turn in to “am I pregnant with a devil-baby?” This hand-drawn animation explores anxiety, obsession and one woman’s slippery hold on reality.
SCATTERED
Director: Ellie Harvie
Country: Canada, Running Time: 10 minutes
Two women venture into the woods to scatter their friend’s ashes and fumble for a way to say good bye.
SLEEPOVER
Director: Susan Busa
Country: USA, Running Time: 5 minutes
When a middle-aged woman spends the entire night with her lover for the first time, she gets to know him in the most unexpected way, after he falls asleep.
THE DOOR
Director: Nathan Guerra
Country: USA, Running Time: 6 minutes
Two women face off against what could quite possibly be the end of the world…or not.
THE FINAL SHOW
Director: Dana Nachman
Country: USA, Running Time: 10 minutes
A woman who has lived a long life full of love and loss has to decide, based on all that she has learned, who to take along to eternity.
SHORT’S PROGRAM #2: WOMEN
(TRT: 87 min)
Q&A with filmmakers (TBA) to follow
DOG YEARS
Director: Tyler Russell
Country: USA, Running Time: 5 minutes
An old dog does what he can to shelter a little girl during the darkest moments of her life.
EUDAEMONIA
Director: Julia Ngeow
Country: USA, Running Time: 15 minutes
A talkative Australian traveler and a reclusive artist form an unlikely bond after an accidental ‘break and enter’ in Brooklyn.
SEASON OF PASSAGE
Director: Catherine Cobb Ryan
Country: USA, Running Time: 14 minutes
Mother to a middle-schooler, Cate has suffered secondary infertility for years–and now finds herself pregnant again. Having long given up on her dream of having another child, she grapples with this new hope. But when Cate suffers a miscarriage, she finds herself in the shoes of countless women, silently grieving a life that will never be.
WHAT HAPPENED TO EVIE
Director: Kate Cheeseman
Country: UK, Running Time: 11 minutes
A girl’s fractured memories distort the truth of a sexual assault in this multi-layered thriller.
WILLOW
Director: Suzanne Racz
Country: USA, Running Time: 15 minutes
As young Willow’s discordant childhood unfurls, she is carried from home to home by her restless and spirited mother. Her early fixation on Bunny initially allows her to find a refuge among the chaos. As she grows and faces a life on her own, her sanctuary becomes an insulation from the outside world. When the opportunity to break free from her self- created confines presents itself, Willow reconciles a connection to her past and takes a leap, finding a place to be comfortable in her own skin.
WILLOW CREEK ROAD
Director: Francesca Mirabella
Country: USA, Running Time: 16 minutes
Big Sky Grant recipient WILLOW CREEK ROAD explores the internal world of a lonely, Montana ranch hand, Ruth. When Ruth is unexpectedly drawn into the lives of two children, she slowly assumes the role of a mother; awakening a sense of play, femininity, protection and connection. Ruth must face reality, and ultimately herself, when the kids’ mother returns home. The external character of Montana mirrors Ruth’s emotional arc throughout the course of the film.
WORK
Director: Sam Griffith
Country: USA, Running Time: 11 minutes
A young mom questions her choices and identity while raising her daughter on a farm.
SHORTS PROGRAM #3: GRIT
(TRT: 90 min)
Q&A with filmmakers (TBA) to follow
BAD THINGS
Director: Mira K. Lippold-Johnson
Country: USA, Running Time: 23 minutes
When her older sister gets suspended, an eight-year-old girl on scholarship at an elite private school starts to lose faith in the idea that hard work is all it takes to get ahead.
CONTROL
Director: Kimmy Gatewood
Country: USA, Running Time: 14 minutes
In this shockingly dark but utterly poignant comedy from Alison Becker and Kimmy Gatewood, a depressed woman contemplates ending her life, if she could just get everything in order first.
GREEN SHOES
Director: Justin Giegerich
Country: USA, Running Time: 20 minutes
In 1960s suburbia, a 14-year-old girl befriends a 47-year-old man to cope with the knowledge of her father’s affairs. The man, a WWII veteran, has developed an obsession with innocence after experiencing the horrors of the war. After being coerced into making the relationship sexual, the girl mistakes her feelings for love, and becomes obsessed with the man — who is no longer interested.
SKINNY
Directors: Arianne Martin, Natalie Dickinson
Country: USA, Running Time: 9 minutes
A mentally unstable anorexic loses her grip on recovery.
THE OTHER HAND
Director: Rachel Woods-Oshiro
Country: USA, Running Time: 13 minutes
This supernatural horror project features the reunion of two estranged women unknowingly plagued by demons inside and out. Absorbing and sinister, THE OTHER HAND exploits the innate human fear of feeling out of control, and what might be making your choices when you aren’t.
WHO DECIDES
Director: Mylissa Fitzsimmons
Country: USA, Running Time: 8 minutes
Death can no longer be denied. A sick woman and a young girl engage in a discussion about who decides when it’s your time to die.
WOMEN SHOULD
Director: Vanita Shastry
Country: USA, Running Time: 3 minutes
Featuring the powerful and derisive words of iconographic writer May Swenson, this ‘cinematic poem’ follows a woman as she attempts to go through her daily makeup routine, unaware of an ominous presence that threatens to strip away her own humanity.
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