Howdywood Film Festival Kicks Off With Screening Of Boots Riley’s Film ‘I Love Boosters’
The festival continues Saturday and Sunday at Rudder Forum with speaker presentations and screenings of student short films.
The inaugural Howdywood Film Festival, presented by MSC Aggie Cinema, kicked off Friday night at Rudder Theatre with a free screening of “I Love Boosters.” A Q&A with writer/director Boots Riley followed with James R. Ball, Ph.D., director of the Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts and associate dean for industry and community engagement.
The film, which premiered at South by Southwest last week and will be in theaters later this year, is about professional shoplifters who target a fashion maven.
Riley discussed his stylistic and musical choices, his research process and his path as an artist. He fielded questions from the audience about politics and art, as well as the characters and visual elements of the film.
“This film is looking at not only who people are, but how they exist in relationship to each other,” Riley said. “What is the way they function in the world, and from that, where does our power come from?”
The festival continues Saturday and Sunday at Rudder Forum. On Saturday at noon, Brad Graeber, CEO of Powerhouse Animation Studios and a former Visualization program student, will discuss pitching animation projects to distributors.
At 6:30 p.m., Clara Chan, a computer graphics supervisor for Sony Pictures Imageworks and a former Visualization student, will make a virtual appearance to discuss her experiences in leading visual effects teams.
On Sunday at 10 a.m., a screening of films will include several by current and former students in the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts. At 1:30 p.m., a panel about the undergraduate and graduate programs in the college will feature Performance and Visual Studies faculty members Matthew Campbell, Rusty Hatchell and Stephanie Oliver.
Tickets are $25 per day. Visit tx.ag/Howdywood for complete details.
