Celebrate the unique qualities, possibilities, and challenges of the rural with the best of 2015’s Rural Route Film Festival entries, ten short films in all. The Rural Route Film Festival was created to highlight works that deal with unique people and places outside of the bustle of the city. Since 2002, the Rural Route Film Festival has been centered in New York City, where both founders (originally from Iowa) met working in the film industry.  The content is more relevant every year, tackling some of the most important topics of the day within the slow food movement, global warming/environmental arena, and life sustainability symposium. 

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Enjoy a panel discussion on following the history of horses in movies and television with film historians Petrine Mitchum (daughter of actor and director, Robert Mitchum) and author of Hollywood Hoofbeats, Christopher Langley from the Museum of Western Film History and renowned cowboy poet, Larry Maurice. 

Guests will enjoy a short intermission where Petrine Mitchum will be on hand to sign copies of Hollywood Hoofbeats after which guests will enjoy a screening of the 1951 film, The Flame of Araby.

Based on a Will James story, Sand is a prized stallion, belonging to Mark Stevens (Jeff Keane) that disappears into the Colorado wilderness (filmed on location in Lone Pine, California) after a train accident. When recovered, Sand has developed a mean streak. Suffering various abuses, the original owner finally regains Sand’s trust.

A cowboy (Tom Mix) seeks revenge against the man who shot him in a bar-room brawl. While searching for him, he comes across a wild stallion that he is determined to capture and break, and unknowingly falls in love with the daughter of the man who shot him. Based on a Max Brand short story “Alcatraz,” Just Tony tells the fictitious story of how Tom Mix acquired his famous film horse, Tony. This film made Tony a national star and a favorite of fans.

Scott Jordan (Roddy McDowall) must tame a wild horse he names Midnight and stand by the horse when he is falsely accused of murder, while his prodigal son works to sell stolen horses. The seldom seen picture, filmed in the windy mountains of Lone Pine California, is directed by famous western director Oscar “Budd” Boetticher.

Celebrate the opening of The Horse with your family and enjoy a special screening of the childhood classic, The Black Stallion, starring Kelly Reno and Mickey Rooney. Free for members or with paid admission.

Now in its fifth season, the Third Coast Dance Film Festival celebrates the intersection of contemporary dance and the moving image with a screening of a series of short dance films. The 2016 Festival’s 90-minute program features fourteen film shorts, including eleven international films from Canada, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Jordan, Finland, Armenia, the UK, and Italy. (90 minutes, unrated)

Troublemakers unearths the history of land art in the tumultuous late 1960s and early 1970s. The film features a cadre of renegade New York artists that sought to transcend the limitations of painting and sculpture by producing earthworks on a monumental scale in the desolate desert spaces of the American southwest. Today these works remain impressive not only for the sheer audacity of their makers but also for their out-sized ambitions to break free from traditional norms. The film casts these artists in a heroic light, which is exactly how they saw themselves. Iconoclasts who changed the landscape of art forever, these revolutionary, antagonistic creatives risked their careers on radical artistic change and experimentation, and took on the establishment to produce art on their own terms.

This feature-length documentary tells the stories of 15 dogs and their owners, from the military veteran riding cross-country with his dog Hercules to visit war memorials, to European immigrants exploring the open road with their two beagles, it’s a fun movie that combines two things almost everyone will love. Across America, dogs are riding in the open air of motorcycle sidecars, whether on short trips around town or extended adventures on the highway. Sit Stay Ride: The Story of America’s Sidecar Dogs is a delightful and inspiring documentary film about motorcyclists and their beloved canine co-pilots.

Celebrate architecture and the built environment with the Museum and the Black Rock Design Institute through a series of fun and interesting short films exploring architecture and urban design. Networking hour with beer provided by Silver Peak Brewery at 5pm. Films follow at 6pm.