Let’s face facts: not all is well in the arts. The tanking economy is going to pose some significant funding challenges in 2009, and the arts communities caught a glimpse of the dark side with Texas Ballet Theater’s struggles this year. But at the risk of stating sounding too Pollyanna, 2008 was a actually a great year for local art. Let’s take a minute to look back at some of 2008’s highlights.
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The Lone Star Independent Film Festival wrapped up last night with a screening of the just-about-finished Teen-A-Go-Go, a documentary about Fort Worth’s teen rock scene in the 1960s directed by Melissa Kirkendall.
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The Lone Star International Film Festival announced the 2008 award winners with Igor Volshin’s Nirvana named as recipient of the Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature Competition. The Special Jury Prize went to Tom Quinn’s The New Year Parade.

Eric Bricker’s Visual Acoustics - The Modernism of Julius Shulman took
the Documentary Grand Jury Prize. Andrei Zvyagintsev’s The Banishment was named Best Foreign Language film. The Shorts Jury Prize went to Clay Liford’s My Mom Smokes Weed. Special Jury prize went to Alex Beh’s Sugar.

The awards ceremony also featured the presentation of the Lone Star Rising Star Award to
Melonie Diaz. LSIFF’s Life Achievement Award to Sidney Lumet. Due to illness, Lumet was unable to attend the ceremony to personally accept the award or attend the LSIFF screenings of his classic films, 12 Angry Men and Network as part of their salute to his work.

The Lone Star Commitment to Texas Award went to Tom Copeland, recognizing his career spanning more than twenty years working with the Texas Film Commission.

Everyone knows Jack Keroauc’s On The Road. This book brought a band of bohemians known as the Beat Generation out of the shadows and into the spotlight. It also changed Kerouac’s life as it established him as voice and public persona of the Beats, a role he neither wanted nor was able to fill.
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Whatever expectations you might have going into a vampire movie, you at the very least expect it to be scary. In that regard, Let The Right One In doesn’t live up to expectations. However, that doesn’t mean that this Swedish film from director Tomas Alfredson isn’t without splatter, immolation, ritual killings, dismemberment and acid to the face. But other than those details, this Swedish import about a 12-year-old misfit named Oskar has a crush on the 12-year-old vampire-next-door, Eli, is the sweetest little vampire movie you’ll ever see.
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If you are looking for a movie to make you feel a little better about living in a country where unemployment is rising, 401(k) balances are falling and the economy is swirling the bowl, then Wendy and Lucy is not your movie. But if you’ve ever wondered about the story behind a lost dog poster put up on a utility pole, then this story might be. I defy you to watch this movie and not go home and hug your dog.

The latest film from Kelly Reichardt is a minimalist film about a young woman named Wendy (Michelle Williams), who is driving from Indiana to Alaska in the hopes of a summer of lucrative work in a fish cannery and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, which come to a head when Wendy and Lucy become separated. Williams is already getting buzz as a possible Oscar nominee for this role, and justifiably so.

The sad message behind the film is that it is all too easy for people to slip between the cracks in our society. When you are sitting in the audience with a car in the parking lot that can take you back to your house, it might be easy to feel that you will never find yourself on the edge like Wendy. But this film tries to show that security can be an ephemeral thing. And the sad moral to the story is that it is easier for a lost dog to find a home than it is for a lost person.

OK, I intend this to be a thoughtful reflection on a what I thought was an awesome kickoff to the second annual Lone Star Independent Film Festival. But I’ve got to get something out of the way first: I met Van Cliburn. I’ve even got the photo to prove it. (Thanks, PeteW.)
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Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from local filmmaker and chef James Johnston, previewing the shorts program at this year’s Lone Star International Film Festival. This post is copied (with permission) in its entirety from his blog, Otay Compruda.

It’s back. Regardless of what went down last year, Alec and Dennis proved to me beyond any doubt that they were going to bring a great festival in year two. As you look at the schedule of films and events you can see that they delivered. I’m proud that my hometown is able to support such a culturally significant event. Film is art and deserves to be heralded the same as any painting at The Modern.

There is a great line up but I’m going to concentrate on short films because features already get plenty of attention from regular media. So here are my recommendations for short film watching. You should definitely make it a point to watch some short films. Sometimes the true artistry of filmmaking stands out more when one is limited by time. Plus, this is where you find the stalwarts of future film stardom. There are lots of great shorts playing, some I haven’t seen, but these below are my favorites (follow the links for screening info).

Glory At Sea: I’m honestly not quite sure how to put into words my adoration for this film. Glory at Sea is a true epic. I literally mean that. Even though it’s under 30 minutes it is a magnum opus of the likes I’ve rarely seen. It is hands down one of my all time favorite films. Do yourself a favor and see it now, on the big screen, no matter what.

Quick Feet, Soft Hands: Paul Harril is a prodigious talent. His last short film, the Sundance winner Gina, an Actress, Age 29 was a wonderful film and he follows it up with an even more accomplished outing this time. Quick Feet, Soft Hands is an intense relationship drama that focuses in on the rarely seen realities of not only a couple living paycheck to paycheck but also the crumbling dreams of a life-long pursuit. It propounds the question “When is it time to give up and is there ever actually a time?” It’s the simplicity that counts, no overwrought triteness in the presentation here. Paul proves himself to be a maven of efficiency in his storytelling by giving us masterful set ups of lighting, composition, and action that speak when the characters don’t. As you can probably guess, I loved it.

My Mom Smokes Weed: Okay, full disclosure here, Clay is one of my best friends. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t fully recommend this awesome and funny film. The title is quite exact. A young man, visiting his aging mother has to take her on an errand to obtain the titular substance. As you can guess, it doesn’t go off without a hitch. What’s so great about My Mom Smokes Weed is that it very maturely moves beyond the obvious slapstick comedy and renders a surprisingly emotional commentary about leaving a place for your mom in your life even when you’ve grown up into adulthood.

Woman In Burka: A hilarious look at the sometimes unglamorous life of an Indian actress being typecast as Arab in a post 9/11 entertainment industry. Even though the film is laugh out load funny at times with lots of deliciously irreverent humor it also has an emotional honesty that I love.

Spider: This is just a really amazing, humorous, action packed little film. It has an amazing twist ending that’s both hilarious and horrifying. Highly enjoyable.

Scaredy Cat: A very personal, highly affecting essay documentary Scaredy Cat accomplishes an amazing feat by trying to understand both the victim and the criminal. Told in an immensely creative and engaging way this short represents truly inspired documentary making that breaks from the insipid conventions of reality TV.

Doxology: Don’t let the word experimental scare you. This is a really fun film full of artistic special effects that will have you wondering “How did they do that?” The scene where he dances with a car is worth the price of admission alone.

When The Light’s Red: Another great personal documentary that has the filmmaker facing those people we all see begging at intersections. What could easily be overwrought bleeding heart material is rendered with a light hand.

The Smallest River in Almirante: This is one of those films often called a gem. Indeed it is. I really loved this one a lot. It’s a beautiful and lyrical film reminiscent of the the things I love about Malick films.

Stars and Suns: A supremely well crafted film. Beautifully shot with great use of special effects that instead of distracting, actually add to the emotional journey of the characters.

Small Apartment: Like the three characters - a young man, his girlfriend and his father - living in the space described by the title, this film can get a little uncomfortable. It’s in the best way possible though. By being brutally honest about the lust and love left in a broken older man this film transcends it’s awkward subject matter.

I know I said I’d be talking shorts but there are two features I do want to point out. Let The Right One In doesn’t need any help from me because it’s been widely heralded but I’ll just join the course by saying it is a mesmerizing film that takes the notion of romanticizing vampires and turns it on it’s head. A definite must see.

If you want to see a film that truly embodies the grit and gusto of independent filmmaking then you have to watch The New Year Parade. The storyline might seem familiar but I promise you won’t see a film that handles it’s melancholy subject the way this one does. I love the softly turning mechanisms of The New Year Parade and how it balances it’s subtle storytelling with completely engaging insights into a little known Philadelphia subculture.

Today begins the second annual Fort Worth International Film Festival and with that in mind, I have one thing to say to you, Fort Worth

Go, or I will send this Swedish vampire to your house to bite you.

How’s that for a sales pitch?

Admittedly, we at West and Clear are homers about this. We love us some Fort Worth and this is another great opportunity to show the out-of-towners that we have more to offer the world than Cowtown. The best thing you can do in that regard is to actually get up and go to a screening. Do it out of civic pride if you must, but you’ll probably find out that you will have some fun.
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Teen-A-Go-Go, a fun little film by Mark Nobles and Melissa Kirkendall about Fort Worth’s teen rock-n-roll scene in the 1960s, will have a free screening on Nov. 16 during the upcoming Lone Star International Film Festival.

The screening begins at 5 p.m. at the Norris Conference Center (the old AMC Sundance Theater) at 304 Houston St. A Q&A with filmmakers follows along with a battle of the bands at 7 p.m. featuring live performances of the music in the film by the musicians in the film
Johnny Nitzinger & the Barons, The Elite, Larry & The Blue Notes, The Mods and The Excels and guest emcee Bobby Wygant. Admission is free but you must reserve your spot by calling 817.501.1003 or 817.504.1373 or using the ticketing system on the Lone Star Film Fest website.