Opening night is a smash hit

Cinema Arts Festival Houston got off to a strong start last night. Both screenings— Precious at the Angelika and Me and Orson Welles at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston —were virtual sellouts.

The MFAH was also home to a lively opening night scene, complete with red carpet and mostly local celebrities, such as Chloe Dao and Larry Dierker.

How many times have these two names appeared in the same sentence?

Director Richard Linklater was also on hand to present his film. Seen through the eyes of an impressionable teenager (Zac Ephron), Me and Orson Welles recounts the behind-the-scenes drama that accompanied the opening of Welles’ celebrated 1937 theater production of Julius Caesar.

As Welles, British actor Christian McCay gives a tour de force performance, and by the end of the film you’re convinced that you’re watching the great man himself.

After Linklater’s post-screeing Q &A, the crowd partied in front of the museum’s new acquisition, Frank Stella’s 50-foot-long Damascus Gate.

For his part, Linklater said he was “proud of Houston” (his hometown) for putting on a festival that “takes on the notion of film as art."

• Cinema Arts Festival, movie
• Chloe Dao, Christian McCay, Larry Dierker, Richard Linklater, Zac Ephron

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