The Billy the Kid Film Festival, based in Hico, teams up with Dallas’ Women Texas Film Festival for a virtual event Nov. 6-7. With five short film programs featuring 18 films, the collaborative cinema experience shines a spotlight on women filmmakers plus Texas-shot and produced films. BTKFF also presents a work-in-progress, Chris Zuhdi’s feature film, MEXICAN MOON., that was shot in Hico.
There is a woman is in a lead creative role in 13 of the 18 films, and 11 of the films were shot in Texas and/or from Texas filmmakers.
Festival founders and directors, Philip Vasquez and Luci DiGiorgio, and lead film programmer Justina Walford, (Artistic Director of Dallas’ Women Texas Film Festival), have continued the Billy the Kid Film Festival’s mission. Their mission: to connect audiences and film lovers with filmmakers with a Hico/Hill Country flavor, but safely, in this edition’s virtual space.
Billy the Kid Film Festival
Vasquez and DiGiorgio said, “We launched the Billy the Kid Film Festival last year because the thought of combining the unique personality of Hico with our love of film was a winner no matter how we looked at it. However, our audiences’ and our filmmakers’ safety is first and foremost, and this virtual presentation will also give us an opportunity to share these films statewide and hopefully introduce them to even more film fans.”
Tarleton State University Department of Communications Studies partners again with the film festival. This creates learning opportunities for the Tarleton students, allowing “hands on experience” in producing a major film festival.
Walford said, “Celebrating the work of both women behind the camera as well as local, Texas-based film production adds a special – and we believe – necessary emphasis to these screenings. These aren’t just great films; they also highlight the great work of female filmmakers and also remind us of what filmmakers can accomplish in this state if they receive the support to do so.”
Mexican Moon
Chris Zuhdi’s cowboy tale, MEXICAN MOON, is a prime example of the locally filmed productions that the Billy the Kid Film Festival seek to give a boost. MEXICAN MOON was filmed in part in Hico, and had a female Director of Photography. Zuhdi will participate in a special sneak peek at a scene from the film followed by a discussion about the shooting process and current status of the film.
David Feagan and Brian Elliott’s festival favorite, AGE OF BRYCE, about a12-year-old pushed to the brink of pubescent revolution by his helicopter mom, will screen. Jessica Wolfson and Jessie Auritt’s award-winning documentary THE PAINT WIZZARD, about a transgender housepainter, was the Best Short Film winner at WTxFF.
Other highlights include; Enrique Novials’ Spanish production CALAMITY JANE 1882, Georgia Krause’s EBB & FLOW; and Andrew Chen’s GHOST IN THE GUN. Lisa Belcher’s comedy JAVELINA RUN; and M.r. Fitzgerald’s THE WOLF are also featured.
Film festival passes and tickets are on-sale now. For more information on the Billy the Kid Film Festival visit billythekidfilmfestival.com.