The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “Tomato Republic” at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.
In this hour-long film, documentarians Jenna Jackson, Anthony Jackson and Whitney Graham Carter delve into the thoughts and feelings of rural East Texas residents during a heated mayoral race in Jacksonville, Texas, home of the annual Tomato Festival.
Texas Monthly writer Skip Hollandsworth described the film as “a marvel.”
“Unlike any other documentary I have ever seen, it takes its audience straight into the glorious, laugh-out-loud eccentricities of small-town Texas life,” he wrote.
The film website at tomatorepublic.vhx.tv/ has the following synopsis: “A flamboyant restaurateur, a good ol' boy and a political ingénue walk into a small-town political contest and compete head to head to head for the non-paid mayoral seat of the Tomato Republic. What happens next is anyone’s guess.”
“Tomato Republic” premiered last year at the Dallas Film Festival where it was given a special jury prize. It was also screened at the 2015 Nacogdoches Film Festival.
This screening is part of the School of Art’s monthly Friday Night Film Series and is sponsored in part by the Nacogdoches Film Festival, William Arscott, The Liberty Bell, Nacogdoches Junior Forum, Karon Gillespie, Mike Mollot, Main Street Nacogdoches, David Kulhavy, John and Kristen Heath, Brad Maule, Galleria Z, Jill Carrington, Jean Stephens and Jim and Mary Neal.
The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.
