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5th Annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival

The documentary Shepard & Dark, a look at the unexpected friendship between Academy Award-nominated actor and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard and reclusive deli clerk Johnny Dark, is among the many offerings at the 5th Annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival. The 2012 American documentary by Treva Wurmfeld chronicles the surprising relationship between the two men, from when they met in Greenwich Village in the 1960s to the recent examination of their correspondence for inclusion in a book. Shepard married a woman, Dark married her mother. The two couples spent years together, until 1983, when Shepard began a relationship with actress Jessica Lange. In 2010, Shepard and Dark agreed to publish their extensive correspondence (their letters number in the hundreds), and Wurmfeld was there to capture the two as they looked back on their friendship.

The seven-day festival features dozens of films, many attended by the actors and filmmakers, at an array of locales around the city. Times and locations vary. For a full schedule, visit cinemartsociety.org. $8 to $600.
Nov. 6-10, 2013

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Olivia Flores Alvarez