Known for its iconic antique fair, Round Top introduces another event to push the destination as your next Texas road trip. Founded by mother-daughter duo, Shanna and Skylar Schanen, this year marks the inaugural celebration of the Round Top Film Festival.
Running November 7-10, the festival features more than 40 film screenings along with industry panels, workshops, and networking parties.
Inspired by the local scenery and culture, RTFF aims to bring visitors to celebrate cinema in the growing presence that is Round Top, Texas. “I think back to the times of like Sundance and how they started, and their location. Telluride, how it started. It’s all these small locations that become something much bigger,” says Programming Director Mickey Duzdevich.
“We’ve organized the schedule in such a way as to highlight all of the unique elements that make Round Top such a special place,” says Blair Hunt, Round Top Film Festival director. “I encourage anyone interested in attending to look through the schedule and plan your experiences day by day.”
This year’s festival promises a captivating slate of films, including Takin’ Care of Business, a music documentary that follows rock star Randy Bachman and his children as they search for his 1957 Gretsch guitar that was stolen after a roadie forgot to pack it. Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s Los Frikis is a coming-of-age story that follows two impoverished brothers who deliberately inject themselves with HIV in order to live at a utopian, government-run sanatorium in Nineties Cuba.
Along with these indie standouts, the festival offers a special Veteran’s Day screening of John B. Benitz’s Behind the Lines and the Spirit of Texas screening of Richard Linklater’s 2016 baseball comedy Everybody Wants Some!!. “It’s Richard Linklater. You can’t have a festival without honoring him in some way,” says Duzdevich.
The November 9 Rising Star Showcase brings a group of notable actors together for a chat, including Brianna Hildebrand (Deadpool series), Kyle Allen (West Side Story), Lilli Kay (Yellowstone), and Sasha Lane (The Crowded Room). With parties at the iconic Junk Gypsy, Market Hill, and the festival hub, 550 District, there is tons to do beyond the film screenings.
A Perfect Day at RTFF, According to Programming Director Mickey Duzdevich
“An ideal day would be to start with a film up at Festival Hill, and then make your way to 550 [District] for one of our panels, whether that be the Women in the Industry panel, the Fashion in Film panel, or How to Break In.
“Then I would make my way back to Festival Hill. Enjoy another film. Enjoy the intermission between films, because there’ll be live music, there’ll be food vendors with Lulu’s, and then there’ll be drinks by Ellis Motel available outside as well. It’s just a nice little spot to network and talk with everyone.
“And then, at dinner time, I would actually head down to the town square area and take a walk around. Maybe grab a drink, enjoy yourself a little bit, get to know some people in the community, and then come back to one of our parties and dance the night away until 11 o’clock and do it all again the next morning.”
Round Top Film Festival
November 7-10
Round Top, Texas
For festival schedule and to purchase a pass, visit www.roundtopfilmfest.org.
This article appears in November 1 • 2024.