Austin (and Me) in Marfa in May

in

Marfa Film FestivalWhat are you doing in early May? Join a bunch of other Austin film lovers (including me) and head over to West Texas for the Marfa Film Festival, which takes place from May 5-9 this year.

For years -- well, as many years as MFF has been happening, which is two -- occasional Slackerwood contributor Chris Holland has been bugging me to go to Marfa, because he thinks I need to get out of Central Texas for my film festivals. (He also bugged me to go to CineVegas, but by the time I agreed, the fest went on hiatus. This better not happen with Marfa.) But Chris is absolutely right. So I am going to MFF ... and of course he backs out, the noodle. It appears, however, that a ton of Austin people make the drive or take the Marfa Bullet to the film festival, so I know I'll see a few familiar faces.

Why Marfa? Well, why not. I thought I would enjoy a film festival that is a little smaller, and that isn't showing movies I might have already seen at other festivals or would get to see in Austin anytime soon. So far I've only noticed one film on the Marfa Film Festival lineup that I've seen, the excellent short film Quadrangle from Austin filmmaker Amy Grappell, which debuted at Sundance earlier this year.

A couple of other Austin-related films are playing in Marfa next month. Art Elimination Project is a short film from Marfa artist/musician Adam Bork, who hails from Austin. Echotone is a documentary feature about working musicians in Austin. A Lone Star State may or may not have Austin connections; I can't quite tell. Also, numerous Texas shorts and features are playing, with settings from Houston to El Paso. Most of the screenings are in a single theater, but a few will be outdoors at night, which I look forward to (note to self: bring the outdoor moviegoing blanket).

I'm planning to arrive on Thursday late afternoon and leave on Sunday, which means I'll miss the Mexican films on opening night (to celebrate Cinco de Mayo) and even more unfortunately, won't get to see Lou Reed as he presents Red Shirley, the documentary he made about his 100-year-old cousin. But MFF has scheduled so many interesting films every night that I believe I won't feeling like I'm missing anything.

It's not too late to spontaneously decide to take a long weekend trip to Marfa ... if you are going, let me know in the comments and perhaps we can say hi at one of the screenings. (And anyone I know who wants to carpool with me, drop me a line. It's a rather long and dull drive alone.)