Debuting the weekend before Halloween, Garland’s inaugural It Came From Texas Film Festival will celebrate the 49th anniversary of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” with a Garlandite who helped make it happen!
Academy Award-winning film producer and 1965 Garland High School graduate Ron Bozman grew up watching movies at the Plaza Theatre, 521 W. State St. in Downtown Garland. He now lives in New York City but will return to his hometown Oct. 28-29.
"When I heard they were reopening the Square with a new film festival focusing on Texas-made films at the Plaza, and they were showcasing one of the first films I worked on, ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ I knew I had to be there,” Bozman said. “Growing up in Garland and graduating from Garland High School holds such fond memories for me.”
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” co-creator Kim Henkel hails from Texas too, graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 1969. Joe O’Connell, writer, director and producer of “Rondo and Bob,” a documentary focusing on “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” artistic director Bob Burns, will moderate a question-and-answer session with Bozman and Henkel after “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” screening Saturday, Oct. 28.
In addition to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Bozman’s career includes work on such notable film and TV projects as “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), “Something Wild” (1986), “Philadelphia” (1993) and HBO’s “Succession” (2018), among many others.
Sponsored by the City of Garland and Garland Cultural Arts, the It Came From Texas Film Festival features 11 quirky, campy horror films made in Texas in the 1950s and '60s. It also includes a 15-minute series of short films made entirely by the Garland High School IB Film Program, Reel Owl Cinema. See the full lineup of films.
Find all the festival details at GarlandArts.com, and get your tickets today!