Danielle Gaither
It’s almost time for one of Denton’s biggest annual events – Thin Line Fest! Denton’s own festival celebrating film, music, and photography is just around the corner, starting April 18th and running through the 22nd.
Film
Thin Line Film celebrates the art of documentary filmmaking. This year’s festival will feature more documentaries than any other festival in Texas! Festival goers will have their pick of 31 feature-length documentaries and 43 short films made by filmmakers from 13 different countries. In many cases, the filmmakers will be in attendance.
Several films will be making their world premiere at Thin Line, while many others will be shown in Texas for the first time. Some films come in with acclaimed pedigrees, such as Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable, which is the first documentary about the life and work of the famous photographer. The film considers Winogrand’s influence on contemporary photography and received a Special Jury Recognition award at South by Southwest this year.
The Cleaners is another film that comes from larger festivals, having been shown at Sundance 2018. This film tracks people whose jobs are to delete inappropriate content from the Internet. To do this, a “cleaner” has to view thousands of jarring images every day, which can have a lasting psychological impact. The film also looks at the effects of online censorship around the world.
Music
Like the Denton music scene itself, Thin Line Music features a variety of musical styles. Jazz, punk, hip-hop, folk, and creative fusions of those genres and more will be available at this year’s festival. Many of the acts are local to North Texas, but there are also performers from as far away as Los Angeles and New York.
OG Garden is one of the local favorites performing at Thin Line Music. This diverse group fuses pop, funk, and R&B into a style all their own that they call “Future Soul.” To sample some of OG Garden’s music, check out their website.
An act that is traveling to us is Flor de Toloache, New York’s first and only all-women mariachi group. The group’s members hail from around the globe, which gives them a fresh take on their chosen musical style. Their fusion of traditional and modern approaches to mariachi music earned the group a Latin Grammy in 2017 for Best Ranchero Album.
Photo
This year, Thin Line Photo will feature over 200 printed photographs from photographers around the world. These photos will be presented in three different professionally curated galleries. Photography workshops will also be conducted during the festival, including a talk on instant film photography.
Admission
You might think that with all these events, Thin Line Fest tickets would be expensive. But general admission to Thin Line Fest is free, and most of the festival’s events are open to all. To get a General Admission wristband, all you have to do is register on the festival website. For discounts, merchandise, and special perks like priority seating and live streaming of selected events, Premium Registration options are also available.
Thin Line Fest runs April 18-April 22 in multiple locations throughout Denton. For more information about the festival, check out the event website or its Facebook page.