The annual Lone Star Film Festival has not only become a Big Deal in the cinema world, but it's given Fort Worth a reason to throw a glamorous gala every fall. This year's fête, held November 14 at the Worthington Renaissance Hotel downtown, was no exception.
More than 200 guests — including Nancy Lamb, Dashelle Murrin, Angelique De Luca, Alyson Powers, Matthew Mar, Ariana Nolan, Amy Creager, Christy Dunaway Smith, Holland Sanders, and Mike Lopez — walked the red carpet, posing at a step-and-repeat and hobnobbing with stars of screen, stage, and song.
They were all there in support of the Johnny Langdon Film Education Initiative, an arm of the Lone Star Film Festival nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring underserved youth through filmmaking.
After an open-bar cocktail reception, patrons gathered for a three-course dinner and drinks in the ballroom and were welcomed by Lone Star Film Festival Executive Director Chad Mathews, who spoke to the importance of the festival's educational initiative and the impact the organization has made in underserved communities.
The "unofficially official" mayor of Cowtown, Steve Murrin, was honored for his longtime service on the Lone Star Film Society Board with a special Chairman Emeritus Recognition ceremony. Following the special moment, a spirited live auction featured two Nancy Lamb-artworks, a five-course dinner at the home of Chef Kent Rathbun, a one-of-a-kind sculpture by artist and musician Pat Green, and more.
Producer and screenwriter Michael De Luca presented the 2019 Bill Paxton Achievement in Film Award to award-winning actor-director Tim Blake Nelson, known for HBO's Watchmen, the movies The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and O Brother, Where Art Thou, and many more. The award is presented to artists who have distinguished themselves over time by the quality of their work and continue to excite audiences with their risk-taking craft.
Then another star took the stage: Grammy-award winner Lee Ann Womack, forever tied to her hit “I Hope You Dance,” presented her friend and fellow musician Waylon Payne with the Stephen Bruton Award. The honor celebrates exceptional artists whose careers, although anchored in music, include artistic expression in film. In addition to Payne’s career as a country music artist, he starred in Walk The Line as Jerry Lee Lewis in 2005.
To cap off the star-studded evening, Payne serenaded the audience with a heartfelt commemoration of his late friend and award namesake, singing “Getting Over You” by Stephen Bruton.
Gala-goers spotted in the crowd, having a great time, included Rob Dupree, Jenny Pace Dupree, Blair Hamburg, David Hamburg, Chris Maunder, Amanda Chromaster, Josh Mills, Jessica Christopherson, Camille Scioli Chambers, Taylor Hardy, Anita Paulus, Shannon McCourt, Stephanie Parker, Jessica Spawn, Lauren Foster, Rob Schumacher, and Justin Anderson.
Anita Paulus, Shannon McCourt
Maestro Robert Spano leads the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra on opening night at Bass Hall.Photo by Randal Vanderveer
