Orson, Ant Farm at Houston Cinema Arts Fest

An exciting new event on the Texas film festival scene, the inaugural Houston Cinema Arts Festival kicks on Nov. 11th with a screening of AFS Artistic Director Richard Linklater’s ME AND ORSON WELLES, with Linklater in attendance.

The festival runs until Nov. 15th and aims to be “more than just a film festival… breaking out of the confines of the movie theater through live music and film performances, outdoor projections, interactive video installations and more.” It will definitely be helped in that endeavor with its focus on the work of the Ant Farm collective, a Houston and San Francisco-based group of radical architects, video pioneers and mordantly funny cultural commentators. Best known for its iconic land-art piece Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX, the Ant Farmers “created a body of deeply subversive work that questioned everything by posing a set of creative and comedic alternatives.” In addition to showcasing some Ant-Farm-inspired inflatable structures created by University of Houston students, the festival will present a preview of Laura Harrison and Beth Federici’s new documentary WHAT IF, WHY NOT? UNDERGROUND ADVENTURES WITH ANT FARM, a project that has the distinction of being the project that’s received the most TFPF funds in our history (two $15k grants in 2006 & 2007).

For anyone who made it to the excellent AFS Doc Tour screening of THE WINDMILL MOVIE, you’ll be intrigued to know the festival is showing a number films made by the subject of that fascinating auto/bio-pic hybrid, the late Harvard film professor Richard P. Rogers, many in collaboration with his partner Susan Meiselas.

With other special guests like Tilda Swinton & Guillermo Arriaga presenting work, it’s sure to be an incredible and unique event for Houstonians, who already enjoy some of the best museums and art culture in the country. I am compelled to point out, though, that if you can hold off on seeing ME AND ORSON WELLES until Nov. 30th, you’ll get to see Linklater and Christian McKay AND Zac Efron here in Austin. Up to you.

Popularity: 1% [?]