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Houston Cinema Arts Festival guide: Local stars shine, plus Oscar buzz

It's the 10th year for the Houston Cinema Arts Festival, and the fest is going all out for its anniversary. The local film festival that merges film with the arts, put on by the Houston Cinema Arts Society, offers up a host of selections this year, each representing a genre of art (see a theme here?).

Movies for art lovers
Interested in a movie about opera? Maria by Callas, the new documentary on opera-singing great Maria Callas, will screen at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston on Saturday, November 10. Are you bookish about authors? The fest will screen Lethem, a documentary on acclaimed author Jonathan Lethem, at MFAH on Sunday, November 11. Lethem himself will be there, as he'll also be in town to read from his latest book, The Feral Detective, at Cullen Performance Hall on Monday, November 12. Are you feeling peckish for a film on culinary arts? Look for Chef Flynn, a doc on teenage chef Flynn McGarry, at Rice Media Center on Friday, November 9.

But this festival isn't just made up of docs on fascinating artists. Many artists will be around taking part in several, fascinating events. Things kick off Thursday, November 8 at noon at Rice Media Center with Queerskins: a love story, a virtual reality experience from Illya Szilak and Cyril Tsiboulski which positions visitors, wearing Oculus headsets, in the backseat of a car where two grieving parents take them on a journey of their son's life.

Star watching
Academy Award-nominated, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater, who kicked off the first HCAF with a screening of his film Me and Orson Welles, will discuss the music of his films Dazed and Confused and Everybody Wants Some! with rapper Bun B at White Oak Music Hall on Friday, November 9. Alex Cox, the British filmmaker behind the cult films Repo Man and Sid and Nancy, will introduce the late Dennis Hopper's long-lost, 1971 film The Last Movie at Rice Media Center on Monday. Composer/musicians Donald Sosin and Alicia Svigals will provide the music for a screening of the 1923 silent film The Ancient Law (Das Alte Gesetz) on Sunday, November 11.

The fest will end on Monday night at the Aurora Picture Show, where returning, experimental-film artists Brent Green and Vanessa Renwick will do some audio-visual wizardry with their films.

And the Oscar goes to...
HCAF will also show some highly anticipated films from visionary filmmakers that may possibly get some Oscar nods soon, including Steve McQueen's Widows, Alfonso Cuaron's Roma, and UH graduate Julian Schnabel's At Eternity's Gate.

A bittersweet curtain call
But this festival is also a bittersweet one, as this will be the final one for longtime artistic director Richard Herskowitz. He will step down to focus on continuing his work as executive and artistic director of the Ashland Independent Film Festival in Oregon, where he also lives.

While he has fond memories of bringing people like Robert Redford, Tilda Swinton, and even '90s hip hop duo Kid 'N Play (who showed up one year for a screening of House Party) to the HCAF, he's most proud of how the festival has became a yearly compendium of ambitious, experimental filmmaking, with various venues and organizations gladly coming onboard to help showcase the visual artistry.

"These are people who are like my allies all through the year," says Herskowitz. "They sometimes bring ideas to me. I bring ideas to them. I kind of make sure I'm in touch with them all the time, so when something pops up that I think will be of interest to the dance community or to the literary community or to the theater community, I'l consult with them... That's why it's a year-long process of pulling this together.

"It is unusual for a film festival," he adds, "because film festivals are usually compilations of movies that have been submitted and vetted and reviewed. This one is highly curated, but not just by me. It's by me in collaboration with all these partners I've built up over the ten years I've been here."

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The 2018 Houston Cinema Arts Festival runs Thursday, November 8 through Monday, November 12, at various locations. Ticket prices may vary. For information and daily schedules, visit the official site.

Oscar watch: the hyped and buzzworhy Widows.

Michelle Rodriguez and Elizabeth Debicki in Widows

Photo by Suzanne Tenner

Oscar watch: the hyped and buzzworhy Widows.

festivals movies

doubling down

Shepherd School builds on 50 years with a 2026-27 season of discovery

Rice University Shepherd School of Music

Photo by Michael Stravato

The Shepherd School's 2026-27 season includes six world premieres.

The next generation of classical music doesn’t wait in the wings at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.

It walks onto the stage, often with a world premiere in hand, and slaps listeners with music so energetically performed that they might need a glass of wine or a Xanax to come down from the thrill.

Fresh off its milestone 50th anniversary, the Shepherd School’s 2026–27 season doubles down on discovery. The lineup includes six world premieres, the Texas premiere of Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl’s opera Eurydice, celebrated guest artists, and a steady reminder that Houston audiences can hear rising talent before the rest of the world catches on.

For students, Shepherd continues to function as a foundation where rigorous conservatory training meets the resources of a major research university. For audiences, it’s an invitation to witness artists in the midst of becoming, tackling ambitious repertoire in halls whose acoustics reward every nuance.

The orchestral season, led primarily by Distinguished Resident Director of Orchestras Miguel Harth-Bedoya, embraces both pillars of the canon and brand-new voices. Opening night sets the tone with Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso, Richard Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration, the world premiere of Jake Berran’s Probabolophony, winner of the 2026 Cooper Prize, and Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis.

The season also launches what is planned as a multi-year exploration of Gustav Mahler with Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” while spotlighting Shepherd faculty members as soloists, including pianist Jon Kimura Parker and oboist Erin Hannigan. Along the way come additional premieres by alumni composers, concerto appearances from competition winners, and opportunities for conducting students to take the podium.

Shepherd will present a fully staged production of Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos before mounting the Texas premiere — and first university performance — of Eurydice, with composer Aucoin visiting campus to work directly with students and audiences.

Guest artists add another layer, from Aleko Endowed Artist Julia Bullock collaborating with Shepherd opera students to alumna Kate Soper returning with the acclaimed Wet Ink Ensemble. Chamber concerts, faculty recitals, festivals, and family programming round out a calendar of more than 400 events, many offered for free or at low cost.

The season also includes the Adventurous Electric Guitar Festival at Wortham Theatre, where concerts, workshops, and presentations explore contemporary electric guitar and electroacoustic performance in collaboration with Rice Electroacoustic Music Labs (REMLABS).

Notably, the school will also inaugurate its undergraduate orchestral conducting degree, the only program of its kind in the nation.

This author recently caught Miguel Harth-Bedoya deep in score study before a concert, next to his visiting family, meticulously parsing Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso.

It was a fitting snapshot of the institution itself: Craftsmanship behind moments that can feel effortless once the lights dim and the music begins. That dedication has defined Shepherd for more than 50 years, and the 2026–27 season suggests the next movement is well underway.

performing-arts rice university