Fort Worth’s Major Movie Fest Goes Virtual, Unveiling Free Panels With Big Stars — Your 2020 Lone Star Film Festival Guide

Each year the Lone Star Film Society brings the world of movies to Fort Worth in November with the Lone Star Film Festival (LSFF). This five-day celebration focuses on the art of independent film and the creatives behind the content.

For the first time this year, the entire event will be streaming, so if you’ve never taken part before, this might be your year to enjoy the Film Festival in the comfort of your own home. In your fuzzy slippers and stretchy pants.

“This is the 14th edition of the Lone Star Film Festival. It’s an annual event, held each November,” Chad Mathews, director of Lone Star Film Festival and the Lone Star Film Society, tells PaperCity Fort Worth. “We hope to incorporate monthly online screenings, plus virtual Q&As starting in the new year.”

Even without the usual soirees, red carpet entrances, theatres packed for screenings, and requisite photoshoot backdrops ― this year’s festival will still make a splash.

Lone Star Film Festival (LSFF) and the Fort Worth Film Commission (FWFC) have revealed the addition of eight virtual panels and eight film talks to the 2020 festival lineup. All panels and conversations ― including an exclusive talk with actor Ethan Hawke, and 2020 Bill Paxton Achievement in Film Award recipient, director and screenwriter Paul Schrader — will be available virtually.

The much anticipated Hawke and Schrader talk is scheduled for Friday November 6 at 4 pm, and will be free to the public via the Lone Star Film Festival website. Hawke is a four-time Academy Award nominee. Shrader’s screenwriting successes include four Martin Scorsese films: Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999).

“We are excited to offer so much great content for free to festival goers and the general public this year,” Mathews says. “Our partnership with the Film Commission has allowed us to spotlight the local Fort Worth film community in addition to filmmakers featured in the festival.”

Panels produced by the Film Commission feature local film industry experts, Fort Worth production company and studio representatives, theater owners and directors, producers and more.

One of the other panel discussions, titled “Marketing Your Film During a Pandemic,” also scheduled on November 6 at 2 pm will feature panelists: Tracy Rector, executive producer; Holland Sanders, CEO of Holland Collective; and Chyna Robinson, director/writer/producer. PaperCity Fort Worth first brought you the story of Robinson’s feature film, No Ordinary Love, last month.

Find the full list of this year’s panel and film talks schedule here.

“Fort Worth is home to so many talented filmmakers, unique independent theaters and production companies” says Jessica Christopherson, assistant vice president of marketing & film commissioner for Visit Fort Worth & the Film Commission. “The panels we produced for the festival this year give just a taste of what our city has to offer.”

Ticket prices start at $5 for individual film screenings; $25 for Short Film Access, $40 for Feature Film Access, $50 for an All Access Pass and $75 for an Ultra All Access Pass which includes Lone Star Film Festival and Visit Fort Worth swag. For more information about tickets visit the Lone Star Film Festival’s full site.

The Lone Stat Film Festival is set to take place from November 4 through November 8 this year with programming continuing into 2021.