ROCKPORT, Tx — The Rockport Center for the Arts will host 46 films at the 18th Annual Rockport Film Festival, beginning Thursday, Oct. 31.
"It's a balance of documentary and fictional work," Center for the Arts Deputy Director Karen Ernst told KRIS 6 News. "A committee this year reviewed over 100 hours of film submissions and narrowed it down from 170 films to those 46."
Ernst has been with the festival since 2007, beginning as a concession stand worker before eventually becoming the managing director for the event.
Ernst describes the Rockport Film Festival as a four-day "showcase of independent cinema" and a competition that gives filmmakers "bragging rights" if their films are selected. In addition to a panel of judges, the audience will also score the films and help decide the finalists.
"They get to be Siskel and Ebert and score the films," Ernst explained.
"Ullberg: Wind in the Sails" will kick off the event following a red carpet party. The documentary feature centers around the life of Kent Ullberg, the Swedish sculptor responsible for recognizable pieces across the country, including the Merry Time Romance sculpture outside the Rockport Center for the Arts.
Speaking with the film's director, Matthew Thornton, he said he was honored to tell Ullberg's story. "He's such an inspiring guy, and I want to thank him and Viola for opening their lives up to this," Thornton told KRIS 6 News. "He (Ullberg) was told that was never going to work. He was never going to make a living. And so right there for me, it felt like that. There's a story here, there's a movie here."
The documentary is not the only feature Thornton will debut during the festival. In addition to running his company Griffyn CoProductions with his wife, Thornton also teaches a film program at Rockport-Fulton High School, funded by the Arts Center.
Since February, a team of students, with guidance from Thornton, has shot, written, and edited their own short film titled "The Amazing Ada," which will premiere on the final day of the festival, Nov. 3.
"They had to start brainstorming ideas, and then we had to choose one and move into the next phase of writing. It really allowed them to be creative, but it also forced them to realize what goes into making a film," he said.
A full list of the films and their screening dates can be found on the Art Center's website.
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