The Lost River Film Festival unfolded at the Price Center in downtown San Marcos and Texas State University’s film school, showcasing a dynamic weekend of indie cinema, live music, poetry, and forums from February 5–8. Presented by San Marcos Cinema Club, the festival energized the local arts scene.
Opening Night showcased Leadbelly (U.S./Hays County, 2hr 6min), a powerful semicentennial screening of the regionally filmed biopic. Celebrating 50 years, the film boldly chronicles blues legend Huddie Ledbetter’s journey—surviving the segregated South and chain-gang imprisonment, wielding music as his weapon for freedom. Directed by Gordon Parks, filmed in San Marcos, Uhland, Fentress, and Lockhart.
Friday and Saturday featured a variety of shorts and feature films. Sunday showcased Texas Standouts shorts. According to the San Marcos Daily Record, the final day is “dedicated to new Texas cinema” with “48 films recently produced in the Lone Star State.”
Among them was the World Premiere of Fracine (ATX, 18min), written and directed by Julian Montez. Synopsis: Francine, a young woman with a supernatural ability to see into people’s memories, uses it to hunt down those who have wronged those she looks into. It is an interesting story and one that makes the viewer want to know more about the characters. The story and cinematography were good, as were the performances.
A Q&A was led by Robert Rodriguez of the Texas Film Commission. Among the directors participating was Julian Montez and actress/co-producer Sophie Niles (Francine). Additional directors include Joshua Raley (Blood Box), Brett Alistar Redden (Tangelo Is Not a Frog), Nick Nielsen (Sweetwater, Texas), and Jody Stelzig (Crude).
About Julian Montez (director) and Sophie Niles (actress/co-producer, playing Francine).
The filmmakers, who began collaborating as teenagers, have been working together for over ten years. In 2015, they made a short film that was screened at the LA Film Fest, which helped them secure funding for their first feature, ‘Wind.’ This film premiered at the Lost River Film Festival in 2018. Reflecting on the experience, Niles stated, “Making ‘Wind’ was like our film school, and while we were happy with a lot of the film, we weren’t fully satisfied.” After this, they created three more short films, ending with ‘Francine,’ which was shot entirely in Austin, TX, by a crew of four friends. Julian also served as director of photography, editor, and colorist.
Ms. Niles stated, “We’re thrilled to premiere at Lost River this weekend and are aggressively pursuing submissions to additional festivals. We are actively developing our next project, a feature film, and are seeking funding while launching ‘Francine.’”
For additional information about submissions and dates for the 2027 festival, visit filmfreeway.com/LostRiverFilmFest
Source: LRFF and Francine filmmakers