River Reels Film Fest in Martindale to be held this weekend

     As part of the third annual River Appreciation Weekend taking place in downtown Martindale, Lost River Film Fest is presenting various films for free to the public.

     The screenings will take place in the Old Crook Store in downtown Martindale.

Saturday, October 18

6PM – THE IN BETWEEN 

(1hr 22 min, Eagle Pass)

     Replete with gorgeous cinematography, THE IN BETWEEN chronicles a grieving young filmmaker’s return home to the Texas/Mexico border as she contemplates her unruly adolescence – quinceañeras, river excursions, teen makeovers & beyond.   THE IN BETWEEN premiered at SXSW in 2024 and was picked up by PBS’s five-time Emmy-winning series Independent Lens.

     Jesse Flores – a kayak enthusiast in Eagle Pass who made national headlines after suing Governor Abbott for installing deadly razor-wire buoys in the Rio Grande – will lead a Q&A afterward about Operation Lone Star and the militarization of the river.

* Sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Southwest at TXST & Organiza Texas

Sunday, October 19

2PM – A MEDLEY OF SHORT, INDIE FILMS ON TEXAS RIVERS FLOODPLAIN 

(17 min, ATX)

     Residents relive memories of a 2013 catastrophic flood in Onion Creek, a once-thriving community, now scarred by disaster. Ten years later, they are determined to prevent history from repeating itself. 

ECHOES OF THE RIO 

(9 min, El Paso)

The voice of the Rio Grande guides a woman through the history of migration & the symbiotic relationship with the indigenous people of the land. As the river speaks, echoes follow, ultimately exposing the socio-ecological destruction caused when the river became a border & political weapon. 

SAN MARCOS RIVER PROJECT 

(21 min, Buda)

     Chronicling a community-wide attempt to keep the river alive: fighting invasive plants, replacing them with native species (including Texas Wild Rice that grows only in this river and nowhere else on the planet); cleaning up tourists’ trash; and spreading knowledge of this magical area.

A TEXAS MERMAID MOVIE 

(19 min, San Marcos)

    Eleven-year-old Katie and her dad reconnect after many years apart, with the help of a mermaid they meet in the San Marcos River.

* Sponsored by Printing Solutions in Lockhart

4:30PM – RAISE HELL: 

THE LIFE & TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS 

(1 hr, 33 min; 2019)

The story of media-making rabble-rouser Molly Ivins, six feet of Texas trouble who took on Good Old Boy corruption wherever she found it – and a lifelong, childhood friend of our beloved Carlton Carl, who appears in this stirring documentary.  Ivins served as editor of Texas Observer from 1970-1976, where Carlton assumed the duties of CEO/publisher in 2008, before transitioning to the Board in 2010.

Current Texas Observer staff will lead Q&A after the film.

* Sponsored by Stand Up Martindale & Step Up San Marcos

     From February 5-8, 2026, Lost River Film Fest will host its 9th annual festival in downtown San Marcos, composed of new, independent films culled from across the planet.