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11.18.09
CINEMA ARTS FESTIVAL HOUSTON:
It's a Wrap: All the best for first Cinema fest
By David Theis
The first Cinema Arts Festival Houston is in the books now, and by all accounts it was a great success. Curator Richard Herskowitz’s program was quite ambitious, especially for a start-up, but the events all ran smoothly. Most importantly, the quality of the films was very high, and good crowds turned out to see them.
Given the fact that Herskowitz wasn’t interested in programming films with “popcorn appeal,” but instead showed films that either dealt with artists or were themselves avant-garde works of fine art, you couldn’t have blamed him if he’d settled for just a couple of venues and a shorter program.
But instead, his venues ranged from film-festival friendly locales like the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Angelika Film Center and the Rice Media Center to more laid-back locations such as Warehouse Live and Discovery Green. Other locations, such as the University of Houston's Gerald R. Hines College of Architecture, were truly sui generis venues. The College of Architecture building, in particular, points to the direction that Herskowitz hopes to take the festival in future years, when he plans for screenings to take place in art galleries and even on the sides of buildings.
The list of high-profile guests was short but selective. It’s a shame that Tommy Lee Jones dropped out, but with Tilda Swinton, Guillermo Arriaga and Richard Linklater on hand, the festival did more than fine.
About Houston Cinema Arts Society and Cinema Arts Festival Houston
Houston Cinema Arts Society (HCAS) is a non-profit organization created in 2008 under the direction of a dedicated task force with the support of Houston Mayor Bill White and the leadership of Franci Crane to organize and host Cinema Arts Festival Houston, a ground-breaking and innovative film and multimedia arts festival featuring art by and about artists and celebrating the vitality and diversity of the arts in Houston and enriching the city’s film and arts community. HCAS is funded in part by grants from the Crane Foundation, City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance and the City of Houston Convention and Entertainment Facilities Department. Cinema Arts Festival Houston debuts in Houston November 11 – 15, 2009. Festival headquarters are located at the historic Alabama Theatre, 2922 South Shepherd, Houston, TX 77098. Online tickets sales began October 14 at www.cinemartsociety.org. In person tickets sales begin at Festival headquarters on October 21.
