Erin Owens
A&E Editor
@TheErinOwens
Dr. Matt Jenkins’ latest feature film “Veda” will show in two Texas film festivals the weekend of Sep 23-25. The film will premiere at the Austin Revolution Film Festival followed with a screening at the Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival.
“Veda” is a finalist at both festivals. The Austin Revolution Film Festival nominated “Veda” for the Best Texas Feature Drama award, and the Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival nominated it for Best of Drama.
Jenkins said he enters films festivals to gain feedback for his movies.
“I want other people to appreciate my work, and the way they appreciate it is to put their stamp of approval on it,” Jenkins said.
James Christopher, director and programmer for the Austin Revolution Film Festival said their festival’s goal is to represent independent artists who make great films without Hollywood budgets.
“I thought it was just a very tight thriller,” Christopher said of Veda. “I thought that it definitely would be a fit at our festival.”
Hal Wixon, director of the Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival said that Charles Stanley did a good job directing the film.
“You gotta remember I’m not a film maker, so I may not look at it with the same eye that a film maker [would],” Wixon said. “I liked the girl [Phoenix Sloane] who played Veda very much, I thought she was good. I liked the storyline. In general I thought it was one of the better dramas. I just enjoyed it.”
Jenkins, who is in the pre-production stages of his next feature film ‘Texoma’, said he will attend one more festival after this and then Veda’s festival run will be complete.
AUSTIN REVOLUTION FILM FESTIVAL
Christopher said the Austin Revolution Film Festival started out very small five years ago and has grown into Austin’s fourth largest festival.
He added that the festival’s premise is to focus on independent, low-budget film makers who have created a great product but have a difficult time competing in Austin.
Christopher said the festival creators are focused on networking and growing the independent film maker community.
“Our hope is that film makers come, they have a good time, and they feel comfortable getting to know each other so that they might find future collaborators,” Christopher said. “That’s actually the guiding principle of our fest.”
The festival receives around 1,200 submissions per year and usually accepts about 125 for screening.
GULF COAST FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL
This is the eighteenth year for the Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival.
Five individuals created the event in order to allow film makers the opportunity to promote their films and advance their careers in the film industry.
Wixon said the festival only accepts about 20 to 30 films each year, and the judges look at many aspects of the film when deciding which to accept.
“First of all quality,” Wixon said. “I guess that’s the most important thing, idea, storyline [and] content.’
Wixon said his hopes for the future are that more people will get involved in the film industry.