Fort Worth Film Festival - Abraham Alexander poses with fellow Academy Award nominees at the 97th Annual Awards Ceremony.
Source:The Lone Star Film Festival has announced its kick-off to this year’s week-long film-lover’s extravaganza, as well as the full line-up of movies on view. The seven-day festival, organized in partnership with the Fort Worth Film Commission, will run from October 30 through November 5.
This year’s opening night selection will be Train Dreams, giving festival-goers a sneak peek of “Netflix’s highly anticipated feature film starring Joel Edgerton. The special screening will take place on Thursday, October 30, at 7:00 pm at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.”
It will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Texas-based writer and director Clint Bentley. Train Dreams will be released in select theatres on November 7 and on Netflix on November 21.
“Based on the acclaimed novella by Denis Johnson, Train Dreams is a moving portrait of Robert Grainier (Edgerton), a man whose life unfolds amid the sweeping transformation of early 20th-century America,” the festival says.
“Orphaned young, Robert comes of age in the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest, laboring on the nation’s expanding railroads.” He marries Gladys (played by Academy Award-nominee Felicity Jones) and starts a family. Then “an unexpected turn sets him on a journey through beauty, hardship, and resilience, as he finds new meaning in the forests he once helped to fell.”
Train Dreams was directed by Academy Award nominee Clint Bentley. The film’s screenplay was co-written by Bentley and fellow Academy Award nominee Greg Kwedar.
Bentley and Kwedar, both Texas natives, attended last year’s Lone Star Film Festival with their film Sing Sing. That film was nominated for three Academy Awards last year, including Best Adapted Screenplay.
Its song, Like a Bird, sung by Fort Worth native Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada was also nominated for an Academy Award. Alexander will be awarded alongside actor Sam Elliot at this year’s Film Gala to be held on November 7 at Bowie House.
They say Train Dreams is an ode to a vanishing way of life. It captures the spirit of a bygone era and the people who built the bridge to a future. One they could scarcely imagine. The movie’s cast also includes Academy Award nominees William H. Macy and Kerry Condon.
“It means a lot to our festival to recognize Texas filmmakers who are making a name for themselves and producing incredible films,” said Chad Mathews, executive director of the Lone Star Film Festival.
“We’re grateful to Netflix for giving us the opportunity to celebrate Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar with this special screening.”
All aboard. The full line-up of films can be found here. Most will be screened at one of three locations ― The Modern Art Museum, Fort Works Art, or Movie Tavern.
Individual tickets for the Opening Night screening are available here. The after party will be epic, hosted immediately following the screening of Train Dreams at Hotel Dryce. All-Access Passes are on sale now, granting entry to all festival screenings, Film Talks, and networking events throughout the seven-day festival.
Fort Worth is fast becoming a go-to destination for filming, as the city has set itself apart with creative industries, trained film crews, and epic investments, including Taylor Sheridan planting a new 27,000 square foot production campus at Alliance.
Fort Worth is growing to love the film industry, especially when it gets featured as an extra in series like Landman, which are filmed here.
