Texas Theatre
Common Ground ft. Donna Missal
7:00PM – 9:30PM
We’ll open our 2023 festival weekend at the historic Texas Theater with a screening of Common Ground, and a music performance by indie powerhouse, Donna Missal. Common Ground is the follow-up film to Kiss the Ground from filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell.This feature will explore the regenerative farming movement as narrated by Rosario Dawson, Laura Dern, Jason Momoa and others. Following the screening, we will be joined by filmmaker, Josh Tickell, and local farmers for further conversation around the subject.
Ticket Breakdown:
$37 – Film Screening, live Q & A + concert by Donna Missal
$50 – same as above + after party
Doors to the venue will open at 6pm. The program will begin promptly at 7pm.
Donna Missal
Donna Missal started out as a songwriter and backing artist, collaborating with artists like Tinashe, Sharon Van Etten, Macklemore, and Lee Fields, and landing a publishing contract in her early 20s. After her 2020 release of ‘Lighter’, Missal became a sought-out vocalist, tapped to contribute a cover of Cigarettes After Sex’s “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby” for the Oscar-winning film ‘Promising Young Woman’. In the past five years, Donna has collected tens of millions of streams across platforms, cultivated a passionate fan base for her heartfelt songwriting, played festivals from Bonnaroo to Bottle Rock, and toured with high-profile artists including Lewis Capaldi, CHVRCHES, and King Princess. Rolling Stone calls her music “stunning”, and Billboard has hailed her “drop kick of a vocal.”
At the beautifully restored Arts Mission Oak Cliff in the heart of historic Winnetka Heights, we welcome guests to an evening of environmental film, food, music and storytelling. The evening will begin at 6pm with food and beverage service in the side garden, and will continue at 7pm in the “sanctuary” theater space of this church-turned-performance-venue. Beautiful projection mapping from Lightware Labs will transport our audience to far off land and waterscapes, followed by a thoughtful short film block and conversation centered around the powerful ways in which nature communicates with us. The evening will close with extraordinary music performances from the Nick Rothouse Trio and world-renowned cellist and multi-instrumentalist Ben Sollee, augmented by the captivating acoustics that only a former church could provide. Valet parking available.
Tickets are $60.00
Ben Sollee
American cellist, singer-songwriter, and composer known for his political activism. His music incorporates banjo, guitar, and mandolin along with percussion and unusual cello techniques. His songs exhibit a mix of folk, bluegrass, jazz, and R&B elements. Sollee has also composed longer instrumental pieces for dance ensembles and for film.
Our closing screening will take place at The Kessler Theater in the heart of beautiful, historic Oak Cliff. At 5:30pm, doors will open to the theater. At 6:30pm, we will share a selection of short films that highlight stories of characters that not only find purpose in the outdoors, but strive to share that opportunity with others. Themes of conservation, food sovereignty and intersectionality will also be discussed both on screen and in thoughtful panel conversations. The evening will close with an intimate performance from Danielle Ponder, a rising R&B/Soul singer who left her career as a New York public defender to pursue her calling in music. Valet parking available.
Following the event, guests that purchase a ticket including after party admission are invited to join us at The Wild Detectives for drinks, dancing, and music by DJ Elkin Pautt as we celebrate our final festival night.
Ticket Breakdown
$30 – Floor Level: Film Screenings, live Q & A + Concert by Danielle Ponder
$40 -Same as above + entry to Afterparty
$50 – All of the above on the Balcony Level
Danielle Ponder
Bravery can take many forms. For Danielle Ponder it took the shape of a leap of faith: leaving her successful day job working in the public defender’s office in her hometown of Rochester to devote herself full-time to sharing her powerful voice with the world.
The singer-songwriter’s mesmerizing eight song debut Some of Us Are Brave reinforces that her faith was not misplaced, and her leap has been rewarded with a safe landing.
Written and recorded over three years, the album is a refreshingly original, shiver-inducing mix of pop, R&B, blues, rock, and moody trip-hop topped by Ponder’s celestial voice— an instrument that can plumb melancholy depths with a heartsick murmur and scrape the sky with hurricane force wails
Wild Detectives
Closing Night Afterparty
8:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Following the event, guests are invited to join us at The Wild Detectives for drinks, dancing and music by DJ Elkin Pautt as we celebrate our final festival night.