IT CAME FROM TEXAS Film Festival returns to the Plaza Theatre in Garland for its second annual festival, celebrating films made either wholly or in part within the Lone Star State. Events kick off September 13 and continue through September 15, all taking place inside the Plaza Theatre on Garland’s recently remodeled downtown square. IT CAME FROM TEXAS is once again sponsored by the City of Garland and Garland Cultural Arts.
“As promised, we’re shifting our genre focus this year, from the horror/Sci-Fi films of last year’s fest to films celebrating and examining the tall tales of the Independent Texas Spirit that lean into the Western genre,” said Kelly Kitchens, film festival director. “There’s no better place than Texas to pay homage to one of the foundational genres of cinema, the Western and all the variations of the Western outside Cowboys and Indians. This is why we’ve chosen three Oscar-winning Texas films that are Western adjacent, if you will: TENDER MERCIES (1983), THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971) and GIANT (1956). After all, did you know that Garland is the Cowboy Hat Capital of Texas?”
Film Historian Gordon Smith
“Gordon Smith will be returning to offer his encyclopedic knowledge of films made in Texas,” she added. “We are both grateful to the City of Garland and the Garland Cultural Arts team for their continued support of this one-of-a-kind film festival.”
Smith, who is the unofficial film historian specializing in movies made in Texas, brings his deep-dive knowledge to the film festival.
“This year, IT CAME FROM TEXAS will feature a collection of films rooted in the enduring saga of the Old West that were made in the state most closely associated with it. We have at least two films that were selected for preservation by the Library of Congress National Film Registry, which selects 25 films each year for their historical, cultural, and aesthetic contributions,” Smith said.
IT CAME FROM TEXAS
The film festival is proud to include short films made in Texas by students enrolled in Garland High School’s Reel Owl Cinema (ROC) film program.
ROC’s Film Department Head Thomas Schubert said. “We’re so excited to be involved again with the City of Garland’s first film festival, and I can’t wait for audiences to get a chance to see how talented and dedicated our kids are.”
Dallas’s only interactive movie mocking comedy troupe, The Mocky Horror Picture Show (MockyHorror.com, on Facebook and Instagram @themockyhorrorpictureshow) will return to close out the fest with a live skewering of a classic Texas film. The movie comedy troupe have performed at the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff and the Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson. They will perform a brand, new “public mockery” at IT CAME FROM TEXAS of the Texas music movie ROCK BABY – ROCK IT, a fun 1957 film showcasing Texas’ versions (or the Dollar Store equivalents) of Elvis, the Everly Brothers, and more.
Mocky Horror stars
Comedians Liz Barksdale, Danny Gallagher, and Albie Robles riff on movies in the theater for a live audience with jokes, special edits and effects, and sketches inserted throughout the movie The fun doesn’t stop there. Timed prompts appear on the screen with instructions for the audience to do or say things at just the right time so you can mock the movie with them. The comedians even provide props for the audience to use during the screening.
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 13-HORTON FOOTE: THE ROAD TO HOME (2020) Director: Anne Rapp in attendance. Filmed in Wharton, TX; New York City, NY; and Hartford, CT. The documentary chronicles the creative journey of acclaimed Texas writer Horton Foote-a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and winner of two Academy Awards for screenwriting-through his own eyes and voice at the end of his life. (IMDb)
TENDER MERCIES (1983) Director: Bruce Beresford. Filmed in Palmer, Waxahachie, and Arlington, TX. Featuring an Oscar-winning screenplay by Horton Foote, Tender Mercies tells the story of a broken-down, middle-aged country singer who gets a new wife, reaches out to his long-lost daughter, and tries to put his troubled life back together. (IMDb) It stars Robert Duvall in his Best-Actor Oscar-winning performance.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 14
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971), Director: Peter Bogdanovich. Filmed in Archer City and Holliday, TX. In 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically. (IMDb) Two-time Oscar winner. stars Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd.
CHILDREN OF GIANT (2015)-Director: Hector Galan. Filmed in Marfa, TX. A documentary that unearths deeply wrought emotions in the small West Texas town of Marfa, before, during and after the month-long production of George Stevens’s 1956 feature film, GIANT. (Galan Productions).
This block includes student films from Garland High School’s ‘Reel Owl Cinema.’
GIANT (1956)-Director: George Stevens (Best Director Oscar winner). Filmed in Marfa and Valentine, TX; Charlottesville, VA; and Los Angeles, CA. This sprawling epic covers the life of a Texas cattle rancher and his family and associates. (IMDb) Stars James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
Mocky Horror Picture Show live riffing of ROCK BABY – ROCK IT (1957)-Director: Murray Douglas Sporup. Filmed in Dallas, TX. A live-riffing movie comedy show. Mocked by Liz Barksdale, Danny Gallagher and Albie Robles, this campy classic follows local Dallas teenagers as they resist attempts by shady underworld types to take over their beloved rock ‘n’ roll club. (IMDb)
This block includes student films from Garland High School’s ‘Reel Owl Cinema.’
IT CAME FROM TEXAS Film Festival
The Second Annual Fest for Films Made in Texas, presented by the City of Garland’s Cultural Arts. Texas-sized Western adjacent, Texas-made films return to the Big Screen.
Festival passes are on sale now, available online at //GarlandArts.com, or prekindle.com/event/65896-2023-it-came-from-texas-film-festival-all-access-pass-garland
Early-Bird Festival Pass: $55 (until July 31); $65 (Aug 1-31); $75 (Sept 1-Festival). Full value of individual tickets is $125. Festival Pass Perks: Limited Availability, Early admission, Commemorative Poster, and Discounts from participating businesses.
The Plaza Theatre is located at 521 W. State Street on the Downtown Square of Garland, TX.
