Fourth Annual Inspire Film Festival in The Woodlands Begins February 13

THE WOODLANDS, TX – ‘Visionaries’ is the theme of this year’s Inspire Film Festival, a program that will showcase 24 feature-length and short non-fiction films. The five-day festival is Feb. 13 through Feb. 17. Thursday night is free and open to the public at Waterway Square, where six of the shorter films will be presented.

In a nod to the phrase, ‘2020 vision’, each film focuses on a central visionary character who had and carried out an idea with incredible effects. Founder and Festival Director, Jane Minarovic, handpicks each film shown. “It has to fit our criteria,” she said. “It has to make you laugh, it has to make you cry, and you have to leave feeling hopeful,” she said.

The documentary, I Want My MTV, will play opening night, Friday. It’s about the young executives that started MTV in 1981. Saturday, one of the films featured will be, Mission Control, centered on the original flight controllers during the Apollo 11 moon landing.

There will be a North American premier of Australian film, Back Track Boys, which is about a man who takes a chance on a group of troubled youth. To help them avoid juvenile detention he brings them aboard his legendary dog-jumping team.

HBO film, Ernie and Joe Crisis Cop, will be displayed as well. A close up into the work of two police officers in San Antonio's mental health unit. There will be a free showing of this documentary for any police officers, first responders, or teachers, Feb. 17 at 11:30 a.m. in front of the Pavilion.

Pass holders will have access to all 24 films, Q&As, and panel discussions. Around 22 guests from around the world will be in attendance. Four of them are filmmakers and the rest are the actual film subjects.

“When you’re watching a film about a women who did this amazing thing and then she walks on the stage its very, very exciting,” Minarovic said. “It’s chilling and wonderful to meet that person.”

A panel discussion will be held Saturday and Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Special guests from different walks of life will be given a topic to discuss.

Minarovic said that she started Inspire Film Festival as a way for people in our community to view documentaries that motivate change, and hearten hope. That spark, “conversations with your kids about things other than what not to do, and to get away from the news on T.V.,” she said. To experience a weekend that just kind of reboots your whole soul.

Purchase your pass today, or view further information here.

Already planning to attend? Make sure to download the Inspire Film Festival App to learn about the films and view the schedule.