San Marcos Public Library to host Lost River Film Fest screenings

The San Marcos Public Library is set to host free screenings of new, independent films during the Lost River Film Festival.

The library will host screenings throughout Friday and Saturday.

Two dramatic films will screen Friday, beginning at 1 p.m. —  "Jump" and "Kendrick," from Oklahoma and California, respectively. The films examine the challenges of getting ahead amid violence in urban communities. A thrilling modern Western at 3 p.m. called "Dangerous Ones" follows a New York City couple visiting South Texas and crossing paths with black-market thugs along the border. At 5 p.m., "Utakata Shojo" plays, an experimental Japanese short film that probes the limits of childhood friendship.

Saturday morning has long been associated with cartoon-watching time for children. On Saturday, the library will embrace that tradition by showing animated films from across the globe, starting at 9:30 a.m..

Attendees can enjoy new short films from Austria, Hong Kong, Russia, Canada and South Africa — the latter is titled "The Cloud Princess," an adaptation of a story told to Nelson Mandela as a boy in the village of Qunu, depicting history and folklore of the African Continent.

More kid-oriented content continues at 11:30 a.m. with a bloc titled "The Fruit of the Thomas Family Farm": five delightfully creative and funny new films out of rural California, where adults and children combined forces to produce wonderfully engaging stories.

Actor Adriane Shown will host audience reflections, with an eye toward our younger viewers, following these two blocs of films.

Lost River Film Fest screenings will feature other films of local interest at the library following the Saturday cartoonfest.

Director David Reyes will accompany a screening of his new Austin-set comedy "Texas AF," at 1:30 p.m. “Texas AF” examines a pair of roommates testing the freedoms of college life. Local actress Barbara Williamson will lead a Q&A afterward.

Saturday's programming ends at 4 p.m. with a couple of bicycle-themed documentaries: "Cycle of Memory," of two brothers recreating their grandpa's 1945 ride from New York City to Philly, and "Kanymda Kumiss," chronicling a mountainous trek across the ruggedly gorgeous landscape of Kyrgyzstan.

The Lost River Film Fest will host screenings in San Marcos, Lockhart and Seguin and at several venues, some with a fee.  All of the screenings at the San Marcos Public Library are free and open to the public.  To see the full schedule of festival programming, visit www.TheLostRiverFilmFest.org.

Information provided by San Marcos Public Library