Cultural film festivals bloom in Houston this fall
Movies from India, Turkey, Israel, Italy and Greece headline separate events
Fall is film-festival season in the Houston area.
They range from the major and broad-based — the Houston Cinema Arts Festival (Nov. 8-12) — to the smaller and specialized: Galveston Island Film Festival & Conference (Oct. 5-7); MPAC (activism and entertainment) Film Festival (Oct. 11-13); Next International Film Festival (Oct. 24-27); and Rockport Film Festival (Nov. 1-4).
But film is also a way of exploring many of the cultures that inhabit Southeast Texas, and four festivals devoted to the cinema of a particular country or culture are also on the schedule this season. Here’s a look at what’s in store at each.
Indian Film Festival Houston
The Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival takes place in the late spring and shows films from and about the Indian subcontinent, but because its mission is so broad — including the Pacific Islands and the Middle East — it can’t drill down as deeply as this festival can. This year, the 10th edition of the Indian Film Festival Houston will be showing six entries, including two notable documentaries about little-known aspects of Indian society. “Purdah” is about a girl who bucks tradition and religious restrictions to make her dream of becoming a cricket player come true while “Shalom Bollywood: The Untold Story of Indian Cinema” looks at how India’s small and nearly invisible Jewish community played an outsized role in creating India’s film industry, which is now one of the biggest in the world. The opening-night feature is the drama “Once Again” about an aging actor who falls in love with the woman who caters his meals.
When: Thursday and Friday Where: Asia Society Texas Center, 1370 Southmore Details: $15; iffhinc.org
Houston Turkish Film Festival
The sixth edition of this festival features the U.S. premiere of “Onun Filmi” (Her First), a documentary about female filmmakers in Turkey. The directors will be on hand for an introduction and postscreening Q&A. The director of the drama “Sari Sicak” (Yellow Heat), about a farm family deep in debt, will also be here for a talk after his screening of his movie, which won several honors at last year’s Istanbul International Film Festival. Another big winner on the festival circuit is the comedy-drama “Kelebeckler” (Butterflies), about three siblings who don’t know each other coming together after their father dies.
“Ahlat Agaci” (The Wild Pear Tree), a drama about a man who returns to his native village where his father’s debts catch up to him, was a Palme d’Or nominee at the Cannes Film Festival.
Two big crowd-pleasers on the schedule are “Ayla, the Daughter of War,” Can Ulkay’s historical drama about a Turkish soldier in the Korean War who stumbles across and takes care of an injured Korean child, and “Eksi Elmalar” (Sour Apples), a comedy-drama about a father and his three daughters. When: Oct 12-14 Where: Museum of Fine Arts Houston, 1001 Bissonet, Houston
Details: $10; mfah.org
Spotlight on Israeli Cinema
Israeli films — from last year’s powerful “Foxtrot” to the Oscar-nominated “Waltz With Bashir” in 2008 — are some of the most remarkable to come out of the Middle East. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will be showing four contemporary Israeli films as part of this minifestival. The most placeappropriate is the documentary “The Museum” (Ha’mu’zeon), from director Ran Tal, which is billed as an immersive trip into Jerusalem’s storied Israel Museum. A Q&A with Tal follows the screening. Perhaps the most intriguing film on the schedule is Maysaloun Hamoud’s debut “In Between” (Bar bahar) about three young Palestinian women sharing a Tel Aviv apartment. It was nominated for best film at the Israeli Film Academy’s awards last year, won in the actress and supporting-actress categories and has been a festival favorite around the globe.
Another film dealing with Israel’s cross-cultural currents is the 2007 movie “The Band’s Visit” (Bikur ha-tizmoret) in which an Egyptian orchestra, visiting Israel for a performance, finds itself stranded in a remote town. The film is the inspiration for the Broadway musical of the same name. “Virgins” is a more personal film about a young woman who wants to leave her suffocating small town — until rumors of a local mermaid make things more interesting. It was up for a handful of awards at this year’s Israeli Film Academy awards. When: Oct. 20-21 Where: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet Details: $9; mfah.org
Umbria Italian Film Festival in Sugar Land
Coming of age is a big theme at the second annual Umbria Italian Film Festival in Sugar Land. It’s the through line in three of the five films: “Friends by Chance” (Tutto quello che vuoi) in which a teenage boy’s life is upended after he takes a job caring for an elderly man with earlystage Alzheimer’s disease (the performances from Giuliano Montaldo and Andrea Carpenzano are remarkable); “Children of the Night” (I figli della notte), a drama about two lonely boys at a boarding school who find something strange is going on; and Cannes Film Festival award nominee “Pure Hearts” (Cuori puri), a love story between a 25-yearold guy with little future and a sheltered, religious 17-year-old girl who seems to have nothing but a future in front of her.
Also showing at the festival are the comedy “Let Yourself Go” (Lasciati andare) about a psychoanalyst who falls for her personal trainer and the fantasy-drama “The Awful War” (Le guerre horrende) about a war veteran who lives in a strange forest. When: Oct. 26-28 Where: Sugar Land Auditorium, 226 Lakeview, Sugar Land
Details: $10; facebook.com/ umbriainsugarland/
Houston Greek Film Festival
This is a brand-new festival on the Houston film scene, and no titles have been announced yet. But Greece has a notable film history — including recently giving the world idiosyncratic director Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Lobster,” “Dogtooth”) — so this is definitely one to watch. When: Nov. 16-18 Where: MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theater Center), 3400 S. Main Details: $15; houstongreek filmfestival.com