Going Against the Grain

By presenting Third Annual Best of the Fest Showcase, Bosque Film Society rolls out red carpet for filmmakers from Sixth Annual Billy The Kid Film Festival at The Cliftex Theatre Nov. 17

CLIFTON – What does it mean to be an outlaw? And not just a Wild West standoff, but stories of going against the grain, taking the trail less traveled, exploring the lives of the disenfranchised, the broken, and the outcast. Think of the stories that need to be told – the good, the bad and the ugly.

As its challenge to creative filmmakers, the Sixth Annual Billy The Kid Film Festival based in Hico held Nov. 1-3 included 50 films – 12 feature-length, 38 short films and music videos – screened over the three-day festival in different locations in picturesque Hico. Over the last six years, the film festival has successfully carved out a loyal local fan base and regard with Texas-based filmmakers, especially within the western genre.

Working in collaboration with the Billy The Kid Film Festival, the Bosque Film Society offers free screenings of award-winning selections by hosting its Third Annual Best of the Fest Showcase at the Cliftex Movie Theatre in Clifton on Sunday Nov. 17, starting at 2 p.m. As a free-to-the-public red carpet event to the film-loving community of Bosque County and beyond, the Best of the Fest Showcase expands this year to offer three two-hour blocks of films, entitled Wild Western Perspective, Cowboy Way of Life and Worldly Points of View.

“Bringing independent films and filmmakers to Bosque County with a showcase like this is a dream Matt and I shared years ago,” said Bosque Film Society founder and board president Brett Voss, referring to a discussion he and Matt Wallace, Bosque Film Society filmmaker-in-residence and founding board member, had while attending a film festival in East Texas. “We are excited about the growth the Billy The Kid Film Festival has undergone over the last three years, and we remain honored to be a partner for the event.

“Beyond that, the historic and beautifully-restored Cliftex Theatre represents the perfect kind of venue for these award-winning filmmakers to get to see their film presented in a grand way on the longest continuously operating silver screen in Texas.”

Opening the Third Annual Best of the Fest Showcase, Block 1’s Wild Western Perspectives opens at 2 p.m. features Wild West-themed short films and music videos. It includes:

With two outlaws disguising themselves as priests for a robbery at a desert chapel, Anthony Parisi’s Best Western Short Film winner “Ambush at St Mary’s” sees their plan disrupted when parishioner Hannah comes by looking for help.

As a trailer for a full-length feature by Bob O’Dell, “Tonkawa: They All Stay Together” tells the story about the remaining members of the Tonkawa American Indian tribe fighting to keep their heritage and language alive. The Tonkawa were the primary people group to inhabit Central Texas in the hundreds of years that preceded the establishment of Texas.

Winner of the Best Foreign Short and the People’s Choice Short Award, “The Last Cowboy in Salford” from the United Kingdom’s Jakob Lancaster is a darkly comic neo-Western set in Manchester, England. Jonny Richman is a 17-year-old Jew, imagining himself a cowboy, much to his parent’s frustration. When he should be at Jewish Sunday school, he’s out on his horse patrolling the streets. When he should be in for Friday night dinner, he’s sleeping out under the stars in his back garden.

In the Ruth Buzzi Music Award winning seven-minute music video “Top Secret Jazz” by Tommy Simms and Joe Ludwig, a lone stranger rides into a weathered settlement and tussles with the locals. After a lethal encounter, the gunslinger is transported to a mysterious lounge, where he learns secrets of a trade he never imagined.

In Joseph Stevens’ Pine Moore Studio Award-winning “The Satchel,” a mysterious traveler riding aboard a steam locomotive in the heart of the Wild West enlists the help of a seasoned outlaw to retrieve his stolen satchel, which contains a deadly secret.

For the third year, Dennis and Amanda Moore from Pine Moore Old West Studio presented the award – which included a day of filming at the studio – during the Man in Black Tequila and Tamale Awards Party at Hico Hall on Sat., Nov. 2., the famous western and Old West location set and stages which has been utilized by countless films, television shows, commercials, and music videos for scenic backdrops

Winning the People’s Choice Music Video award, the five-minute music video “Every Heart Breaks The Same” from Michael Scott Payton shows a deteriorating city as a metaphor for the cliché deteriorating relationship. As the Hispanic religious candles fall and break in slow motion, you watch the literal heartbreak as the singer plucks away on his guitar.

The Western-themed block concludes with past Billy The Kid Film Festival award winner and crowd-pleasing western comedy “Javelina Run,” about two ranch hands pretending to be fugitive train robbers to get attention from the ladies at an old west saloon. The short stars BTKFF lifetime achievement honoree Wally Welch, known for roles in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and 2016’s remake of “The Magnificent Seven.”

The Cowboy Way of Life Block 2 starts at 4 p.m. and features Will Fitzpatrick’s “The Roping Fools,” the People’s Choice Documentary Feature Award winner, which looks at the captivating history of the western art of Trick Roping as it evolves from the Mexican Vaqueros to the dazzling arenas of American Rodeos. This documentary unveils a story of resilience, entertainment, and the enduring legacy of an underground culture.

The film explores the unique characters who made their names in the spotlight, early figures like Will Rogers and Montie Montana, and more modern figures like legendary Charro, Tomas Garcilazo – Winner of Go Big Show – and Wild West Performer Loop Rawlins – AGT, Kingsman The Golden Circle. In last year’s BTKFF, Fitzpatrick entered the trailer to “The Roping Fools.”

The Worldly Points of View Block 3 of films features seven selections beginning at 6 p.m. showcasing a wide variety of narratives and filmmaking styles.

In the Ruth Buzzi Comedy Award winning short film “Silver Sizzle,” director Brian Russell follows a cemetery caretaker as he embarks on a quest to help two recent widowers find new love among widows visiting their departed spouses. Engulfed in loneliness, Jamie who just lost his wife, gets pulled into life in all its messiness when Buddy tells him about getting old, “the options are not kind. Loneliness, irrelevance, invisibility.”

Robin Scovill’s Best Music Video winner “The Deep Rolling: Magma” delivers with an explosive Detroit jazz sextet rehearsal in a desolate industrial lounge. Their music awakens iconic producer Warren Defever from a transcendental hibernation and, guided by unseen forces, he drives his classic Ford to where they are playing, and utilizing vintage gear and old school recording techniques, captures and inspires—live on tape—the band’s virtuoso, unrivaled performance.

For the third straight year, the Bosque Film Society will be represented by Mustang International’s “Alisher’s Gift,” the 16-minute short film situated in Kyrgyzstan produced, directed and written by filmmaker-in-residence and board member Matt Wallace. An Uzbek-Kyrgyz blended family learns there are more than ethnic issues behind their historic misfortune. The recent death of their uncle Alisher prompts the delivery of gifts to a nephew and niece who learn important truths about both their recent and ancient past.

Winner of the Best Animated Short Film award, the six-minute “Lithium” by Smitch Sifuentes explores the concept “You don’t get better until you accept the process.”

“Bisected” by former music video director Danny Pineros is an eight-minute teaser for a feature film that’s in the works about a couple witnessing a paranormal event that separates them into two distinct dimensions.

As the People's Choice Best Student Short Film, "The Fork" directed by Jay Haru Potaraju tells the story of a divorced dad, Rockwall, who wants to reconnect with his son, Jimmy, through a game of chess.

Music video “Grace – My Heart’s Desire” from Jan Francine Sustaita offers a melodic inspiration beckoning the spirit into a moment of repose. Soulful lyrics that remind us of the essence of experiences, deeply rooted in each one’s life. An original song written by Scott Grace and Will Kimbrough, the video seeks to resonate with a broader audience, encouraging them to recognize and cherish the grace they encounter in their own lives.

Pablo Federico Schmitt’s 68-minute film noir feature “The One That Got Away” concludes the Best of the Fest Showcase with the story of the town’s richest man going missing, and P.I. John DeWitt hired to find him. But as the clues unravel, finding him might prove to be deadly.

Since its 2019 film festival debut in Hico – the Hometown of "Brushy Bill" Robert, alias "Billy the Kid” –the film festival’s mission has focused on celebrating filmmakers from all over the world, while giving local filmmakers and residents a place to come together and appreciate the art of making movies – while pushing the boundaries a bit; to be a bit of an outlaw when it comes to conventions.

In addition to the screening presentations, the Billy the Kid Film Festival offers a film festival workshop with local filmmaker consultant Rebecca Smith, a free-to-the-public opening night under the stars at The Green Canoe’s beer garden, and live music performances at the VIP red carpet event at Hico Hall.

“In our sixth year, the Billy the Kid Film Festival has really hit its stride in terms of the entertaining films we offer, many of which highlight our up-and-coming Texas-based filmmaking talent,” Festival founder Luci DiGiorgio, said. “It’s also wonderful to have this year’s lifetime achievement honoree, Wally Welch, here alongside returning BTKFF alumni and ambassadors like Barry Corbin, Kent Perkins, and Rebecca Smith to add to the mix of our filmmakers and film fans here in Hico.”

“The 2024 Billy the Kid Film Festival had great attendance Friday Saturday and Sunday,” DiGiorgio added “Lots of film makers said it’s one of their favorite festivals. We were thrilled to have Film makers from ZGN productions filming the festival this year for a short film to be submitted to festivals in 2025. We showed over 50 films from all over the world. My favorite part of the vestigial is the VIP and red carpet event at Hico Hall on Saturday evening.”

Other 2024 Billy the Kid Film Festival award winners included:

“On the Edge of Freedom” – Billy the Kid Award; “Harsh Treatment” – Barry Corbin Award; “Texas Music Revolution” – Hico Hall Award; “The One That Got Away” – Best Narrative Film; “Kielia” – Most Inspirational Film; “Showdown on the Brazos” – Best Texas Feature Film; “City of Hate” – Best Documentary Feature Film; “Cycles” – Best Comedy Short Film; “Blood Dried Hands” – Best Horror Film; “Nobody’s Perfect” – Best Student Short Film; “False and Baseless” – Best Texas Short Film; “Titty Boy” – People’s Choice Best Local Film; “The Fork” – Best High School Short Film & People’s Choice Student Film.