P. 2
APRIL 14-27, 2014
Editor’s Note
You can get more info on SprATX at spratx.com and follow them at instagram.com/spratx.
When I first walked up the street to the Welder Center in Victoria a huge mural caught my eye a block before the theater. Turns out SprATX (pronounced Spray-TX) and other artists from around Texas were called on to paint murals around the city on huge blank walls. And after the Victoria Texas Independent Film Festival, the art won’t be painted over or covered. It’s there to be enjoyed by the entire city as well as visitors. And that’s another reason why the VTXIFF is such a unique film festival. Anthony Pedone, the festival creator and director, is constantly making going out of his way to blend the art and film worlds into one collective movement. Last year, Moviemaker magazine ranked VTXIFF among the top 25 film festivals in its list of 50 worth the submission fee for 2013. This is just the festival’s third year, so Pedone is obviously doing something right. And by visiting the festival in it’s first year and now it’s third, seeing the camaraderie of the filmmakers and artists as they joke, laugh and talk to one another, you forget it’s a competition. Victoria is transformed for a few days into an artist’s haven for creativity and enlightenment that hasn’t been seen in any film fest in Texas, much less the rest of the world. As the crowds grow bigger and bigger with every passing year, you have to start asking yourself why you’re not there. There’s literally something for everyone over the four-day festival, and it’s just up the road. And as the fest grows larger, it’s always interesting to see what Pedone has up his sleeve for next year.
editor: Paul Gonzales email: Paul@stxscene.com phone: (361) 358-2550 website: stxscene.com twitter: @stxscene facebook: facebook.com/stxscene Published bi-weekly by Beeville Publishing Co.
contributors Daphne Garcia Cate Grimes Lindsey Shaffer