By Brian Landa
@BrianLandaLawyer
Waco Indie. The Waco Independent Film Festival. You read those words and certain things spring to mind. Chip and Joanna Gaines and Baylor University are the most common among out-of-staters. For Texans, we might think of Waco as the birthplace of certainly two of my favorite beverages, Dr Pepper and Big Red.
But for those of us who love film, this festival is a jewel in the crown. Formerly known as Deep in the Heart for several years, this was my second year at Waco Indie and it sure did deliver. For a town with a university of 16,000 students that has a heavily religious bent, the programming choices would be daring for any international city.
This year’s theme was “Tell Great Stories.” There wasn’t a weak film in the bunch. You don’t arrive at this festival by accident, but once you’re there, nobody seems to be complaining. And if they do, fest-runners Samuel Thomas and Louis Hunter will talk to them swiftly and directly.
These films went there emotionally, visually and viscerally. One of the highlights among the short films was Healing Hands. Made by Baylor grad student Jordan Ochel as a thesis project, and based on his own experiences being hearing impaired, this one explores religion and childhood health in such a way that it is a true act of bravery. It follows a deaf child and his parents to a faith healer, and how that contrasts with a public school education of American Sign Language. Moving and emotional, this is important cinema on a massive scale. But it wasn’t all like that.
I saw the real-life drama shorts on Friday night, and the love/relationship and horror shorts early Saturday. And many went beyond the beyond in terms of shocking hilarity. Several standout titles involved extreme danger to body parts. To reveal much more would be spoiling the fun, but The Bride’s Curse and Banjo are two titles where an ironclad stomach and a diverse open-minded sense of humor would definitely help.
This is a Top 50 ranked festival on Film Freeway. They spread the wealth at this festival and the winners are definitely the winners. Waco is the real deal. And one of the screening venues where I spent all Saturday was spectacular in its own right, A large Masonic temple, museum and theater space. You could feel the history in there.
Horror feature The Twin, from J.C. Doler and Paul Petersen, was a different kind of horror: Intense Doppelganger body drama based on Irish folklore. I was glad to see that one in the Masonic temple with a captive audience. And no escape. Horror films are best that way.
I was also able to observe a live reading of a short film script called Meeting Your Maker from director Gregory Kasunich and producer Lee Sacks, about a Muppet-like puppet suffering suicidal ideation. But it is a black comedy. Jonathan Kite, best known as Oleg from the TV show “Two Broke Girls” plays the puppeteer and voices and acts Otis the puppet as well. It was fascinating to see the creative process and compare it to the trailer, which already had dialogue changes from the version they read to us. And then there was a lively Q&A.
The shorts went in some weird and wacky directions. Mr. Mittens features a killer cat much like Toonces on Saturday Night Live. Another one out of Oklahoma City (By way of Canada, specifically Gander, Newfoundland), When Shadows Lay Darkest features a slasher, but with a fascinating and novel angle. There was certainly some deeper darker stuff. A couple films were about human trafficking and refugees and there was a very intense one about a school shooter. But all were so well-made that the dark emotions didn’t eclipse the fine filmmaking. In fact, the dark emotions enhanced the filmmaking.
An outlier and a gem on its own was Rolling Film, Rocking History, Al Maysles Captures the Beatles, from Bart Weiss and Andy Streitfeld. A brief ten minute conversation with legendary late documentarian Albert Maysles about filming the Beatles upon their arrival in America in 1964. It was far too short.
Filmmakers are by their very nature daring and take chances. Many people resist coming to Waco for this festival, but when they do, they find a community like no other. And I’m not necessarily talking about the city. I’m talking about the filmmakers and supporting artistic teams. The networking at Waco is fantastic and tales of people who meet there for the first time and go on to huge things are numerous.
One of the perks of attending the festival as a passholder is the ability to watch things for a week or so at home that you may have missed (with some limitations based on geography and distribution factors). I was able to catch The Ego Death of Queen Cecilia that way. The title reveals little. This is an intense and relentless crime thriller and it won the top festival award.
I was also able to watch fest favorite feature Peeping Todd. A huge crowd pleaser with an audience, which is the best way to see that one. A dark musical comedy from Josh Munds and Chris Alan Evans that leans towards horror at times. A little goes a long way. The tunes are decently executed, and the cinematography is fantastic, but the dudebro exploring his sexuality and constantly repeating a certain two-word phrase to persuade his girlfriend to participate is humorous for a moment, but not for an entire film.
I also watched another moving and impressive ten minute short after the fact, Heavy is the Head, from director/producer Chap Edmondson. The history of black masculinity is explored in a stunning way. Several actors play a boy who becomes a young man and sees what it is to be a man. Many of the shots are of the crowned actors staring directly into the camera as if staring into our souls.
This fest is heavily Texas-oriented, as it should be. Queen Cecilia is set mostly in Laredo. And Texas-based filmmaker Ya’Ke Smith won an award for his short The Texas/Ohio Remix. The wealth was definitely spread across subject matter at the award ceremony. This fest is not flashy or fancy, but the humanity is heartfelt.
The activities beyond the films were also part of the fun and VIPs and filmmakers were able to participate in all of it. This is a participatory festival, more than many. Friday night, which I had missed last year, is known as Game Night, which is a group activity at a brewpub where teams of six or so use whiteboards and magnet words to create wacky and mostly obscene responses to various questions, some straightforward, and some a lot more subjective, which again for Waco could get the average student (at least back in the day) disciplined.
The awards brunch was a simple breakfast buffet with quiche and fruit, because the event is really about the filmmakers and Waco. The mayor was in attendance along with several other local notables. Most everything happens within a few block radius in the center of downtown, but a few things are a little further away. Some things required a bit of a drive, but shuttle buses are provided for the filmmakers.
Again, this is Waco, Texas. The programmers are certainly leaning in. We have to in this day and age. The oddballs cannot be silenced. We are diversity. And diversity is the way of the world. Waco Indie is definitely on my fest schedule for the foreseeable future.
