The USA Film Festival is a Dallas-based, 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to the recognition and encouragement of excellence in the film and video arts through the presentation of diverse cultural and educational programs.
Schedule
4:00pm - The Michoacan File
For over 300 years, Mexico was the place where European and Asian trade routes collided leaving behind a vast and strong gastronomic culture with an enormous recipe repertoire. In 2010, UNESCO designated Mexican food as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and, for the first time ever, a gastronomic culture was to be protected and elevated to the same level as art or science. Exploring through past and present -- and told from the viewpoint of culinary experts, anthropologists, and traditional cooks -- Bernardo Arsuaga’s fascinating, timely and culturally significant documentary details the origin, history, and impact of Mexican food on modern society. 91mins.
7:00pm - Badlands
Includes film clip tribute honoring Martin Sheen Terrence Malick’s chilling debut feature (USAFF4) was inspired by the real-life Midwestern killing spree by Charles Starkweather and his teenage girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate in 1958. The project marked the first significant film roles for the two young leads -
- Martin Sheen electrifies the screen as the magnetic sociopath Kit Carruthers, while Sissy Spacek is mesmerizing as the innocent Holly who is indifferent to the stunning violence that becomes part of their fairy tale world. When Kit casually kills Holly’s father (Warren Oates) because he disapproves of their relationship, the young lovers leg it toward the badlands of Montana, leaving a trail of random murders in their wake. And yet, despite the carnage,
we still root for the two starry-eyed criminals on their dead-end journey. Though critics praised the film when it was released, it achieved little box office success. Fifty years later, we celebrate Malick’s memorable, atmospheric neo-noir for what it truly is -- a classic. 95mins.
4:00pm - Exposure
Against all odds and polar advice, a Muslim chaplain, a French biologist, a Qatari princess and eight other women from the Arab World and the West attempt to ski across the melting Arctic sea ice to the North Pole. Director Holly Morris and her crew capture the struggle of these boundary-breaking adventurers who, led by veteran polar explorer Felicity Aston, navigate everything from frostbite and polar bear threats to sexism and self-doubt in a visually stunning, intimate story of resilience, survival and global citizenry. Exposure is the story of the audacious women who are, to date, the last to ski over the ice to the North Pole. 88mins
8:00pm - Slide
What if Clint Eastwood and Mel Brooks became cartoonists and united to create the wackiest, most surreal musical western ever? Bill Plympton’s Slide is the story of a corrupt logging village ruled by two evil twin brothers who enjoy nothing more than killing and greed. One day, a mysterious cowboy arrives in town carrying nothing but his slide guitar. Further complicating matters is the arrival of a Hollywood studio coming to shoot their new feature film in the village -- with the final Armageddon battle interrupted by the failure of the village’s dam. 78mins.
