By Laura Coburn
Houston is the most ethnically diverse city in the United States. With more than 2 million people living in the city, creativity blossoms from the wide array of cultures that reside in the community. Artists express themselves through film, integrating the culture of their heritage with that of the metropolitan city of Houston.
14 Pew, a non-profit founded in 2024, strives to provide a forum for the discussion, experience, and celebration of the performing and media arts and to foster cross-cultural experiences.
The non-profit will be sponsoring the H-Town Multicultural Film Festival, organized by Director of Programming for Austin Film Festival Bears Fonte and Executive Director of 14 Pews Cressandra Thibodeaux. The collaborators have merged their talents as renowned filmmakers to produce three programs as part of the Shorts Program.
The program runs from Friday through Sunday, each screening a different series of films, discussion panels, and festivities.
Shorts Program One on Friday from 7-9 p.m. will feature a talkback with film producer and director Diania Espita and John Carey. The film is entitled “The View From Outside” and includes powerful documentaries. A patio party with cocktails and appetizers for Badge Holders and Opening Night Ticket Hoders will follow the screening.
Saturday’s Shorts Program Two will show “The World Comes of Age,” a collection of seven stories from across the world. The film illuminates the different experiences and hardships that youth encounter growing up across the world. The Brazilian film “Elena” directed by Petra Costa plays next, a story tracing the journey of a Brazilian aspiring actress who moved to New York to follow her dreams, leaving behind a military dictatorship. There will be a patio happy hour with appetizers and drinks before the next film “”With My Heart in Yambo” shown at 7 p.m. After the film will be a patio party and then an after party.
Shorts Program Three held on Sunday will project “Love is simple. Sex is complicated” a film discussing the complexities of love and sex. The next film of the day is “When Hari Got Married,” a movie based in the UK and India, a love story of a couple that has never met besides communicating through a cellular phone. The setting takes place during a time of modernization in India, which complicates the couple’s wedding. The final film of the series is “Houston” about a man enduring family, health and employment struggles who overcomes his hardships through an opportunity working for a German company. The closing party finishes the evening on Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m.
The film exhibition is an opportunity for filmmakers with diverse backgrounds to collaborate in producing a series that illuminates the hardships and life experiences of people across the world. The film festival attempts to garner a deeper cultural understanding for attendees. This event is just one of the numerous programs 14 Pews hosts year-round. To learn more about cross-cultural programming visit the 14 Pews website: http://14pews.org/pages/default.asp
Admission:
VIP Film Festival Badges: $100 (gets you into all films, Backyard Parties with food and drink and After-parties)
Opening Night Ticket: $40 (gets you into the opening film, talk-back with film producer, Backyard Party with food and drink and After Party)
General Tickets: $10 (gets you into a single film)
Venue:
14 Pews
800 Aurora Street
Houston, TX 77009
