Awards, films dazzle at the Gulf Coast Film Festival

Padmashree Rao

The Signal

Talent and love for films had a rendezvous at the 13th annual Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival, which celebrated the art of independent filmmaking and honored actress Marsha Mason with a lifetime achievement award.

With screenings that showcased and encouraged emerging talent, and opportunities to interact and learn about artists and upcoming film projects, the Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival (GCFVF) took place in Kemah Sept. 22-25.

“We are a little festival that know we can,” said Hal Wixon, director and founder of the festival, referring to how the GCFVF was praised several years ago as “the little festival that could” by Indie Flick, an independent film magazine. Though the festival is small in stature, it has a big impact for being recognized as a noteworthy, internationally juried event.

“We get films in every genre with totally different running times, from two-and-a half minutes to 90 minutes long,” explained Wixon, who also acts. “We accept drama, action, musical, animated, foreign, student projects, horror and so on.”

Wixon plans to add a special feature every year to keep the festival interesting and innovative. This year, the new add-on was the Producers and Directors Forum, which enabled creative discussion on filmmaking trends.

The spotlight in this year’s festival shone on Mason, a four-time Academy Award nominee and two-time Golden Globe winner, who was honored with the Cascade Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mason received Golden Globe awards for her roles in “The Goodbye Girl” and “Cinderella Liberty”and was an Oscar nominee for her appearances in the above-mentioned films, as well as in “Chapter Two” and “Only When I Laugh.” She also received an Emmy nomination for her role as “Sherry,” the banjo-playing girlfriend of Frasier Crane’s father in the humorous sitcom “Frasier.” Currently, she stars in a guest role as the mother of Frankie Heck, played by Patricia Heaton in the ABC sitcom “The Middle.”

“We are having a woman, an actress, who has won or been nominated for just about every type of award that you can win in film, TV and theater. She is even a Grammy nominee for a record she and Richard Dreyfuss made. She is very masterful at her trade and very deserving of the Cascade Lifetime Achievement Award,” praised Wixon as he talked about the best moments of the GCFVF this year.

At the Festival Mix and Meet, held at the Tabella Clear Creek Winery Sept. 23, Mason shared her memories and future plans. Her career started with the theater. After two decades of movies and life in Los Angeles, Mason moved to New Mexico 17 years ago. Today she manages her 273-acre organic farm and produces a beauty line called “Resting in the River.” She also authored her memoir, “The Journey,” which was published last year.

“These 17 years are very important because they helped in my personal maturation,” Mason said. “My personality, my humanity is more fully realized. Acting is my passion, something I love to do.”

Mason explained how she has returned to her roots with her renewed love of theater.

“What reignited my love for the theater is that it offered more challenging roles as I got older,” shared Mason. “I have done several readings of plays with some new directors in New York and I am excited about that.”

Mason is appreciative of the independent film industry.

“I also get excited when I see someone do something creative within just a $30,000 budget,” said Mason praising the indie filmmakers. “The independent film industry has to be supported. It is where all the great creativity is coming from.”

The same sentiment was echoed by Candice Michelle Barley, an emerging actress who acted in the film “Where I Begin,” judged the best of the festival this year.

“I have worked both in big budget films and indie films,” Barley said. “My experience is that doing independent films just blows out of the water the big films. There is just so much heart, so much passion. Everyone is there for the love of the project.”

Barley described how “Where I Begin” was filmed in Oxford, Miss., last summer. With the summer heat, she recalled how the actors had to change their sweaty clothes every 20 minutes as they could not use air conditioning during filming. Still, Barley calls it the best filming experience she had so far.

Another participant in the film festival, Vince Privitera, is an indie film director with close ties to UHCL, having earned a master’s degree in humanities from UHCL. Privitera described his movie ventures as having incorporated both his learning and his career as a psychiatrist and filmmaker.

“All of human behavior is explorable,” Privitera said. “My movie ‘The Disappointed Sniper’ talks about hidden, narcissist rage. The boundary between reality and fantasy is a fine one and I want the audience to think about that.”

Privitera explained how his cast and crew have worked with such commitment, only to be paid with pizza, gas money and potluck dinners.

What stood out at the Gulf Coast Film Festival was the love for the art of filmmaking, despite the hardships in the process. That is the inspiration Wixon drew upon in his message exclusively to the UHCL students:

“I’d like to see films entered from UHCL next year,” Wixon said. “Don’t be afraid to do it. Like Steven Spielberg said to his kids, ‘Pick up a camera and start filming everything you can think of.’ Nothing like OJT – On the Job Training. Don’t wait until the day when you turn around and say, ‘Gee, I wish I had tried that.’”