Mother of Marfa! A Film Festival
by Jaden
Marfa, Texas rose over the horizon into my view when my unconventional 
brother and his herd of exceptionally talented artist friends migrated there from San Francisco, California.
What everyone wonders is: Why on earth would you move out to Texas and why are you talking with a reversed-lisp? (Marfa is spelled with f and not th; it takes a long time to accept this.)
Marfa is said to be a microcosm of Manhattan in the way that 10% of the 2,000 town folk are art enthusiasts who open galleries, create art installations, and host performances.
Oscar winning films shot in Marfa are: There Will Be Blood (2007), No Country for Old Men (2007), and Giant (1956), a fantastic film starring James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson.
Do you love actors like Dennis Hopper and Daniel Day-Lewis? If so, go to marfafilmfestival.org to learn more about the Marfa Film Festival that gallops May 1 - 5, 2008 in Texas. If you are spontaneous and have some extra rope, jump on a plane and rent a horse to get yourself out to Marfa for a wild and weird filmophile adventure.
Screenings in the corral are: There Will Be Blood On the Set, Night of the Hunter, True Stories by David Byrne (from Talking Heads), plus 40 other feature, short and experimental films.
While you are out there, check out the Marfa Lights at night, it is some kind of alien-science-military-astronomical-electro-thermal-automobile-mountain-quartz mystery.
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[…] Jaden placed an observative post today on Mother of Marfa! A Film FestivalHere’s a quick excerpt […]
Thanks for bringing this offbeat locale and festival to light. This is so interesting, and important to remember as “traditional” arts centers become overpriced. What’s the point of spending 60 hours a week working in an investment bank if you are an artist? (Having done it, I can say that the best part is writing at one’s desk!)
This is a wonderful reminder that there is art and culture, dance, film etc. west of the Hudson River and East of L.A. Musicians already know that! :-)
(Okay, so I’m saying this — today — from smack in the middle of the Tribeca Film Festival, with theaters on either corner from my apartment. Some years ago, though, there wasn’t a theater in sight here in the East Village, unless you counted the revival house, Theater 80.)
We spend part of each year in western Pennsylvania, where the arts scene would surprise you. Johnstown PA has its own film festival in the summer now! (And some great gallery spaces.)