SAN ANTONIO — South Texans looking to chase the moviegoing high of this summer’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon can do so while supporting local filmmakers at the 29th edition of the San Antonio Film Festival, which kicks off this week and will feature a record-number of offerings.
The six-day festival’s program is comprised of 248 movies – including more than 60 features – that will be screened at multiple venues for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic: the Tobin, Radius Center and Santikos Palladium theater.
“We’re stretching out this year,” said Adam Rocha, the festival’s founder and executive director. “(This is) really the first summer out of COVID that’s really out of COVID.”
The event runs through Sunday, with tickets to individual features starting at $8.99. More avid cinephiles can also buy $59.99 day passes, $99 weekend passes or a $149 all-festival pass. A free-to-attend awards ceremony will bring the curtain down on the festival Sunday evening.
As with prior years, the 2023 San Antonio Film Festival offers an eclectic mix. There are psychological thrillers and imaginative fantasies; documentaries about the political razorwire faced by migrants making their way to the U.S.; and dramas from Mexico, Switzerland and China. For the culinarily curious, the festival has a “foodie” category with appropriately grouped-together shorts as well as the feature-length documentary “Terroir to Table.” Friday morning brings a curated festival-within-a-festival of kid-centric movies at the Radius.
In Rocha’s conversation with KENS 5, he’s eager to highlight the documentary “#BUTGOD,” about a teen’s odds-defying recovery after a car crash; it screens twice this weekend at Tobin’s Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater. And there will be a golden opportunity for those who want to hear more about the craft of Hollywood’s most iconic genre films: A free Saturday afternoon panel will feature Paul Hirsch, an editor who won the Oscar for “Star Wars: A New Hope."
It all kicks off with Tuesday’s opening-night movie “The Adults,” an indie dramedy starring major names like Michael Cera (of “Scott Pilgrim” and, most recently, “Barbie”) and Sophia Lillis (“Dungeons & Dragons," the “IT” movies). Though it sports names more recognizable to the average audience member, Rocha says the production is on a similar scale as other San Antonio Film Festival entries.
“It’s not a tentpole, it’s not million of dollars pumped into this project," he says. "It’s an intimate story.”
Staying the course amid industry uncertainty
Though the pandemic is all but over, a different existential threat looms over the festival. Hollywood writers and actors continue a dual-strike over wages and movie studios’ use of AI technology, the ripple effects of which are starting to be felt through delays of major films.
That the strikes don’t impact the San Antonio Film Festival to nearly the same degree as its glitzier cousin events in Venice, Toronto, Telluride and elsewhere speaks to the Alamo City event’s longstanding mission of spotlighting Texas filmmakers. But Rocha acknowledges some stars who were previously set to appear at this week’s screenings are no longer doing so (SAG-AFTRA actors aren’t allowed to promote their films during the strike, per union rules).
Himself being a local cinema studies teacher, Rocha notices the trickle-down effect of strike headlines on his students and festival team.
“We have interns – graduate students, college students, even high school students – and some of them are ready to get into the industry. Some of them are thinking about it,” he says. “From what I’ve heard, this is gonna go on for quite a while. Some of them are asking, ‘Hey, is this a good decision? Should I really go into this?’”
Still, the benefit of being a largely local festival means many of the Texas filmmakers whose works will screen at the San Antonio Film Festival are set to attend and interact with audiences in lobbies and at Q&As, which Rocha says will follow every feature and short-film block.
“That’s what you don’t get at the regular movie theaters,” he says. “You don’t get Christopher Nolan coming out to meet and greet, chat with them like, ‘How did you do that? What was the decision-making process of that shot?’”
One of the directors set to attend is Aaron Lee Lopez, whose black-and-white, John Hughes-inspired “American Teen” will screen 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Tobin.
A San Antonio native who built a Hollywood resume working under Robert Rodriguez and others in LA, he returned to Texas in 2004 and created Mutt Productions to pay it forward to filmmakers just starting out.
“I wanted to give kids in San Antonio an opportunity to be seen on the screen,” he said.
A few years later, he set about directing his own features, coming full circle after picking up the family camera and making home videos starring his little brother. He’s no stranger to the festival, and his previous movies have premiered in Alamo City theaters as well.
“It’s grown here because it’s easier to get movies made (here),” Lopez said, referring to the local film community. “There’s a lot of support.”
The 2019 event saw about 4,000 attendees before the pandemic forced the San Antonio Film Festival to adjust. But Rocha is confident 2023 will meet that pre-COVID number.
“People want to get out of the house,” he says. “Movies are a form of escapism. You live through the characters, through the obstacle courses they go through.”
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