Fledgling film festivals are a dime a dozen, but Hill Country Film Festival Director Chad Mathews may be onto something when he says the best film festivals use their location well. Fredericksburg is already one of Texas’ most charming small towns, a major destination for weekend travelers and shoppers, as well as campers and hikers eager to experience the massive granite dome Enchanted Rock north of town.
With a state-of-the-art venue in the Stagecoach Theater, and several high-quality films, Mathews has a great base to build on for future festivals (this is only
the HCFF’s second year).
The two-and-a-half day festival began on Thursday night; I drove up Friday morning to catch the first film panel, featuring five Texas filmmakers and educators. The discussion included plenty of guerrilla filmmaking stories, of filming sans permits, and asking forgiveness rather than permission. Some advised aspiring filmmakers to just start shooting, but as UT lecturer Kat Candler adeptly pointed out that when on a budget, you’ll save a lot more in production costs if your script is tight, so spend time working on that. A local from Fredericksburg asked about his town as a possible location for films. Frankly, I don’t understand why it hasn’t been used more often; Smithville, a city half the size of Fredericksburg, has done a bang-up job of luring productions. Fredericksburg could do the same, I reckon. And while it may involve contracting with the state of Texas, Chet Garner (host of the PBS program “The Daytripper”) remarked that “the first Western that uses Enchanted Rock in some way...is going to drop people’s jaws.”
From the Hampton Inn it was off to the Stagecoach Theater, a still-new facility on the southern edge of town. I’ve always wanted to visit the theater, but never had the time, so it was great to get an inside view of the facilities. The concession stand was standard movie-theater fare, but the decor inside the Stagecoach is western-style homey, with plenty of old movie posters and photos on the walls.
The 11:00 screening featured nine short films, led by the Austin-based documentary “Ghost Mall.” Nathan Duncan’s film about the decline of Highland Mall featured beautiful images, and some wistful narration about past good times, but no real look at why mall culture has left the building.
Ronny Cox’s appearance in a ridiculously bad sci-fi short had many in the audience murmuring, “Is that Ronny Cox?” But then the mood lightened with the quite literal “30 Second Romantic Comedy” that had the audience in stitches at its audacity. http://30films.com/
The other highlights of the shorts program included the UK short “All the Way Up,” about a man on his way to an affair, but stuck in a lift with the bellboy. Two very good performances made this one a standout. Perhaps the most controversial inclusion on the program was “Animal Control.” This nearly wordless short featured several graphic scenes of taxidermy and animal surgery, but was nonetheless a strangely moving story about a lonely man that learns to surround himself with life instead of death.
There was pleasant discussion in the lobby with locals and visitors alike. Jack Swanzy, a retired physician living in Fredericksburg, said he's loved movies all his life. He remembered seeing "Gone With the Wind" on the big screen as a young man. He was volunteering at the festival, and excited to see emerging talent on the big screen.
The afternoon brought the Texas premiere of the UK comedy “The Drummond Will.” Two brothers argue their way into deep trouble after their father passes away in a small rural village, leaving behind a sack of unclaimed money. Dry British humor piles on as the body count in the village rises, and they find themselves having to invent wilder and wilder stories to explain their actions. Brit thesp Johnathan Hansler gives a terrific supporting performance as a nosy constable; he reminds me a little of John Cleese, when he was younger.
The San Antonio-produced drama “Cooper” also screened late in the afternoon on Friday. In the film, a stray dog helps a father heal after his terrible loss. There’s a romantic subplot in the film that made me a little uncomfortable at first, because I really didn’t feel it was appropriate. But ultimately, the movie succeeds with its inspirational tale, as we learn that Cooper is no ordinary pup. Incidentally, I was impressed with the dog’s “performance,” and also with the simple fact that anyone would be willing to challenge W.C. Fields’ old edict about never working with animals or children. San Antonio director Robin Nations made it happen.
Following that, it was back home to San Antonio, though I was sorry to miss what looks to be a terrific documentary about Austin's music scene, "Echotone," Friday evening. There’s another full day of screenings on Saturday, and some fun evening soirees lined up. More information about the Hill Country Film Fest is online at http://www.hillcountryff.com.
--Nathan Cone
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