The 2011 Cinema Arts Festival Houston is still several months away (it's set for November 9 through 13), but you won't have to wait that long to see Art Car: The Movie, slated to make its official world premiere on the festival's closing night.
Presented by the Houston Cinema Arts Society and the Orange Show, Art Car is set for a sneak peek screening on May 21, during Art Car Parade festivities at Discovery Green. The film by native Houstonians Ford Gunter and Carlton Ahrens follows two local artists as they craft their vehicles for the 2010 Art Car Parade. Rebecca Bass, a high school teacher, is working with her students on her twentieth, and maybe her last, art car, and Mark "Scrapdaddy" Bradford, creator of some of the most extreme cars seen over the parade's history, struggles to balance his artistic dreams with harsh economic realities.
Gunter and Ahrens simultaneously take a look at the organizers at the Orange Show and City of Houston as they prepare for the onslaught of spectators. Some 300,000 people were expected to attend the Houston parade, which is the largest of its kind in the world.
The co-directors also interview dozens of artists, experts and celebrities, including past Grand Marshal George Clinton and 2010 Grand Marshal Dan Akyroyd, as they explore art cars as a unique reflection of American pop culture.
Keep watching Art Attack for more news about the 2011 Cinema Arts Festival and its line-up of films by and about visual, performing and literary artists.
