The competition for Best Film Festival is always fierce. Between the dozens of themed festivals including the Indian Film Festival of Houston, which hosts dozens of exciting contemporary Indian filmmakers every year, and Latin Wave, which brings in provocative, cutting-edge Latin American filmmakers; a half-dozen superior micro-cinemas in town; Rice Cinema; Houston Cinema Arts Society; and all the pop-culture cons that are bringing in more films every year, it's a crowded field. So what tips the scales in favor of Jazz on Film? Curator Peter Lucas. He finds an exciting mix of films that show on-screen jazz performances, films that skillfully utilize the music to further the plot line and, as he did with Mark Cantor this year, knowledgeable film archivists/historians who present rare clips and insider stories. A favorite film in the festival this year was Jack Johnson, a documentary about the Galveston boxer who became the first black world heavyweight champion in 1908; it featured a dazzling jazz score by Miles Davis, recorded shortly after his landmark Bitches Brew.