The first-ever Hill Country Film Festival took place in Fredericksburg, April 22-24. Screenings were held at the Stagecoach Theater with nightly after-parties at Main Street restaurants. Attendees included Fredericksburg locals, guests from across the state, and filmmaking professionals from California, Mississippi, and Florida.

Festival Director Chad Mathews is a graduate of Texas Christian University and has strong ties to the Fredericksburg community. He had the idea for a Hill Country-based film festival in October 2009; not wanting to wait until 2011, Mathews quickly enlisted the help of other Los Angeles filmmakers. California-based staff members included programming director Gary Weeks, technical director Harry Frishberg, videographer Bill Reed, event host Brad Kammlah, and photographer Caroline White. Mathews also recruited a Texas staff that included event coordinator Amy Miskovsky and design director Natalie Burge.

The city of Fredericksburg was central to the festival idea. “This is the best city to have [a film festival],” said Miskovsky, who managed festival logistics within the community. Local volunteer Peggy Simmons agreed, calling the festival “a perfect fit” for Fredericksburg. The Stagecoach Theater was also an essential element; Gene Oliver became the theater’s owner in March and had already envisioned it as a festival venue. The Stagecoach is the only independently owned theater in the U.S. with all-digital technology and 100% 3D capability. Oliver was thrilled to host the Hill Country Film Festival and says he looks forward to it becoming one of the nation’s major festivals.

The programming team accepted submissions from December through March; about 150 films were submitted from the U.S. and around the world. Screenings began Thursday night with the documentary Official Rejection, which follows a group of independent filmmakers as they navigate the film festival circuit, complete with all its frustration, glamour ...

Read the entirety of this article in the print edition.

Subscribe online — it's quick and easy