Year’s best Texas indie movies

It has been a good year for films with Texas ties — either shot here or by Texas directors elsewhere — with several strong releases that made it to either theaters or streaming sites. Here are some of the best.

1. ‘Bull’ : Though technically a 2019 release, Annie Silverstein’s heartfelt, Houston-shot drama about the sometimes fraught friendship between an aging rodeo rider and his teenage neighbor, wasn’t widely available until going to video-on-demand in May. The central performances from Rob Morgan and Amber Havard are pitchperfect and made all the more immediate by being set in a story about the world of Black rodeos that feels authentic. Available on Amazon Prime.

2. ‘Miss Juneteenth’: Fort Worth director/writer Channing Godfrey Peoples turned to something she knew for her first feature: Tarrant County’s annual Miss Juneteenth beauty pageant for young Black women. Nicole Beharie is persuasive as a mother and former contest winner who just wants her unwilling daughter to follow in her footsteps. A directorial debut this confident portends well for what Peoples will do next. Amazon Prime.

3. ‘The Vast of Night’: This wonderfully inventive, 1950s-set alien-invasion movie is full of dizzying tracking shots (one in particular had everyone from Entertainment Weekly to

Variety wondering how director Andrew Patterson pulled it off ) and an impressive sense of place and time — especially given Patterson’s limited budget. Though taking place in New Mexico, “The Vast of Night” was filmed in the Texas town of Whitney. Amazon Prime.

4. ‘Boys State’: Amanda Mcbaine and Jesse Moss’ documentary about the annual Boys State convention, where high school boys descend on Austin for several days to form their own government, is a fascinating look at power and politics in a microcosm. Apple TV+.

5. ‘Yellow Rose’: Diana Paragas’ narrative feature debut about a young Filipina struggling to make it as a country singer in Austin rings with sincerity and promise. And she gets a believable acting performance out of singer Dale Watson. Amazon Prime.

Courtesy photo “Boys State,” a Sundance documentary winner follows a group of over a thousand young men who descend upon the Texas State Capital for a week of teenage politics and other fun during its famous Boys State week.

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Burt Marcus Film Amber Havard and Rob Morgan in the movie “Bull” directed by Annie Silverstein