Descending yellow cobblestone steps lead to an amphitheater filled with people engrossed in the films playing on a TV screen.

The Front Festival — a four-day film, music, performing arts and visual arts festival hosted by arts and culture non-profit Future Front Texas — showcased 13 independent films by Texas-based women and LGBTQ+ directors, editors, producers and actors in Austin on Friday. The two-hour film showcase included films reflecting on loss, whimsy and identity, said Jane Hervey, the Future Front Texas founding director.

“We’re trying to reflect a cultural context and experience,” Hervey said. “What is it? What does it mean to belong to these identities?” 

“A Little Prayer,” a film written by local actress and filmmaker Marliza Mendez, screened at the festival. Mendez said she wanted a production team of primarily women and LGBTQ+ individuals to ensure those perspectives came across in front of and behind the camera.

“That was part of making sure that I aligned, not just by my personal values, but seeing how I could also align (with) something like The Front Festival,” Mendez said. 

Festival attendee Kristine Polanco said the openness of the festival served as her favorite part of the event.

“It felt comfortable, like you’re amongst friends, which is weird because you don’t always get that,” Polanco said.

The Front Festival specifically invites women and LGBTQ+ creatives from or based in Texas to highlight their vision and narrative about growing up in or experiencing life in the state.

“Creative people come out of this state, despite whatever challenges or identities intersect within them as individuals,” founding board president Xochi Solis said. “We want to be able to give them a platform…to celebrate that.”

Hervey said the festival includes a day dedicated to film because during Future Front’s beginning days, filmmakers struggled to get their films screened in Texas.

“Showcasing shorts and non-commercial films requires a lot of community building and community festivals,” Hervey said. “That became a theme over two years. We have all these filmmakers who are interested in our work and have been coming to our events, (so) what would it look like to put their work on screen?”

For creatives interested in submitting to the festival next year, Mendez said to consider the film’s “why now?” aspect and keep the festival’s mission in mind.

“As someone gets into their distribution phase, or when they’re in their pre-production, (thinking) ‘How would my film align with the values and artistic goals of a particular festival (I’m) interested in?’” Mendez said.

This year marked the festival’s third anniversary. Solis said after years of trials and tribulations producing events for Future Front Texas, she looks forward to the festival serving as a space where connection and collaboration amongst artists can occur organically.

“Those kinds of connections, creativity and relationships that begin or further deepen during these kinds of programs that our organization does is my favorite thing,” Solis said.